cam_uk

Our stuff arrived yesterday and I had to go out to bunnings to get a load of plugs for our electrical stuff

The guy in bunnings told me that it was against the law to change the plugs myself and that i needed to get a certified electrician in to do it ..

He also told me that if someone died from electric shock in my house i would be done for MURDER!! :scared:

They were still happing to sell me the plugs ...

Was he talking crap? I've done it anyway

Pollyana

Unfortunately, he's not talking kr*p! Do a search on plugs or electrics, its been discussed many times, and its one of those Aussie red tape issues that amazes us Brits every time

Rachel1978

Surely he's not suggesting you hire an electrician to do it. Fraser did all of ours when our stuff got here. I do think they go over the top with all their rules and regs. For god sake I was taught in school at 15 how to change a plug.

gedge

I knew this but still went ahead and changed all our plugs with ones bought from Bunnings and similar places.
What gets me about this law is that unless someone tells you, you are non the wiser. There is no sign next to the plugs telling you this, the packaging doesn't stipulate who is allowed to follow the difficult steps, nor does the checkout operator check your electricians certificates before selling them to you.
Yes, my ignorance is bliss.

Wol

I cannot believe that any of you would do anything so dangerous and complicated as changing a plug!

I suppose some of you would even change a lightbulb instead of calling in a professional?

cam_uk

mine too ...

I've been changing plugs all my life so i feel qualified to do it safely

cam_uk

yeah he mentioned that we weren't supposed to do that either .. i actually laughed at this point!!!

gedge

I'm looking for a sparky to come and switch our kettle on.

Jimclevs

............and me to! At the last count, it was 26 here!!

I've heard that the "solid" white and black versions are no longer "legal" (although they are still on Bunnings shelves!) and that the "clear plastic see through" ones are to be used.

Either you think they look all hi-tech or, like me, you reckon they are naff - the choice is yours.

Jim

Gary&Family

Dumb question, if a disaster occured and you had to make an insurance claim, how would they actually know that you had changed them yourself, unless you told them ?

(not that I'm suggesting dishonesty of any kind)

cam_uk

I'm guessing you'd get some king of certificate ... but it doesn't look like any of us would know

gedge

So if that heater you rewired burns down the house (hopefully not with you in it) you just say to the insurance bloke "Aw mate, I bought that bloody thing from a garage sale. Some pommie bastard that was moving back to the UK, selling all his stuff. Didn't know it was dodgy."

Rachel1978

They go from one extreme to the other here, saying you can't change your own plugs but building new houses and putting plug sockets next to the sinks in the bathrooms as standard :scared:

We were shocked when we first started seeing this in houses we were looking around, especially with the children, too easy for an acident to happen. We even saw a house on realestate.com with a TV in the bathroom hanging over the bath :scared:

moneypenny20

Not this old chestnut again I thought it had been agreed that it was ok to change plugs. You just can't start fiddling with fixed wiring. I believe the rules are the same in the UK now as well.

Amazulu

This is an Aussie urban myth. You can change plugs yourself. I have a leaflet at home somewhere given to me by a work colleague who has his own electrical business. I'll try & find & scan it.