Feature Article 1 - Case Sharing – Issuing and Using False Work Completion Certificates

According to the Electricity (Wiring) Regulations, a fixed electrical installation shall, after completion (including any work completed after repair, alteration or addition) and before it is energised for use, be inspected, tested and certified with a Work Completion Certificate (i.e. Form WR1) by a registered electrical worker (REW) to confirm that statutory requirements have been met. The Electricity Ordinance also stipulates that a registered electrical contractor (REC) shall endorse the certificate.

We have identified a number of suspected cases of issuing and using forged Form WR1 in our recent enforcement actions. In-depth investigation found clear evidence that in some of these cases, the persons involved had issued Form WR1 in the name of other RECs or REWs. Such cases have been referred to the police for follow-up and investigation. Please note that the use of a false instrument is a criminal offence. Offenders are liable on conviction to imprisonment for up to 14 years. Let us share two referral cases from other government departments on verification of Form WR1 as follows:

Case 1
We discovered that the name of an REC's authorised person on Form WR1 was different from our record, and thus realised that the electrical work concerned had been carried out by a non-REW. He even completed and signed the form (including the part to be completed by an REC) in the name of his father who was an REW. We have taken prosecution action against that non-REW, and the case has been referred to the Police for follow-up and notified to the government department concerned.

Case 2
We discovered a case that involved an REC who had entered certain particulars in advance in several copies of Form WR1 without signing them to facilitate issuance by it and its REW upon completion of electrical work. It was suspected that the person involved had abused these forms by using them, without the knowledge of the REC, on electrical work not taken up by the REC. The case has been referred to the Police for follow-up and notified to the government department concerned.

Points to Note on Issuing and Using Form WR1 Properly

In addition to effective supervision of their employed REWs as required by the Electricity Ordinance, RECs are appealed to refrain from completing and signing Form WR1 in advance for convenience sake so as to prevent unlawful use or abuse by others. The following sets out some points to note on issuing and using form WR1 properly in accordance with the Electricity (Wiring) Regulations:

• The REC or REW shall complete and issue Form WR1 and pass it to the owner of the installation before the installation is energised for use.
• The signature of REW and REC (including those authorised by the REC) on Form WR1 shall be in agreement with our record. Those who are not an authorised person must not sign the form.
• The REC shall make and keep all relevant records of electrical work (including Form WR1) carried out by its employees for the lesser of five years.
• The time interval between the inspection date (see Part 1 of the illustration) and the date signed (see Part 2 of the illustration) as entered in Form WR1 by the REW shall normally not exceed one month.

Feature Article 2 - Safety Tips on Electrical Products

Household electrical products supplied in Hong Kong and operating at a voltage exceeding 50V a.c. or 120V d.c. are regulated by the Electrical Products (Safety) Regulation (the Regulation). Under the Regulation, suppliers of household electrical products supplied for use in Hong Kong must ensure that their products have been issued with a valid certificate of safety compliance beforehand. Suppliers shall obtain documentary proof from their supplying sources to confirm that the products have indeed been issued with a certificate of safety compliance. It is important that suppliers shall keep the relevant documentary proof for record purpose and for inspection by EMSD. However, the categories of persons that are regarded as suppliers and affected by the Regulation are many and varied. These include manufacturers, importers, wholesalers that supply electrical products designed for household use in Hong Kong; persons who sell or hire out household electrical products; and persons who give the household electrical products as a prize for commercial purpose or make a gift of such a product. EMSD has published the Guidance Notes for the Electrical Products (Safety) Regulation (the Guidance Notes), and uploaded it onto the web page for public reference.

Section B8 of Part 3 of the Guidance Notes stipulates the detailed requirements regarding valid certificates of safety compliance. The international standards applicable to some of the more common household electrical products are cited in Item 1.2 of Section C1 of the Guidance Notes. Due to the innovations of household electrical products, please visit the web page of the International Electrotechnical Commission for any information not covered in Item 1.2 of Section C1 of the Guidance Notes.

Feature Article 3 - Code of Practice for the Electricity (Wiring) Regulations (2015 Edition) (Continued)

In the last issue of Electricity News, we provided a preliminary introduction to some of the major revisions of the Code of Practice for the Electricity (Wiring) Regulations (2015 Edition), including the extension of coverage to include high voltage installations; inclusion of requirements concerning the use of lockable switches; review of the Risk Assessment Report on Live Work at Appendix 15B; review of the permit-to-work system at Appendix 16; and review of the diagrams used in Code 21, etc. This issue of Electricity News continues to feature other major revisions of the new Code of Practice and explain the ways to use the permit-to-work and the Electrical Safety Assessment Form. Please note that since there is a grace period of about two years following the publication of the new Code of Practice on 31 December 2015, the newly introduced codes will therefore be fully applicable to any fixed electrical installations completed and connected to electricity supply on or after 30 November 2017. Nevertheless, the new codes only apply to newly installed electrical installations and existing installations that have undergone alteration, with no retrospective effect for other existing installations.

Other Major Revisions of the New Code of Practice

1. Power Suspension Arrangement for Periodic Inspection, Testing and Certification (PITC) Work on Main Switchboard Connecting to Power Company's Transformer

   In order to ensure personal safety of the electrical workers and avoid affecting building power supply in case of an electrical accident, with effect from 1 December 2011, electrical workers are required to have the power company's electricity supply cut off first before carrying out PITC work on main switchboard that is connected to power company's transformer. The relevant requirements of power suspension arrangement have now been officially incorporated into the Code of Practice, with details set out in Code 21F.

2. Electric Heating Systems Installed in Building Structures

   In light of the increasingly popular practice of installing electric heating systems (e.g. Khan steam room) in building structures in Hong Kong in recent years, international standards on heating elements are introduced to the new Code of Practice. These include the provision of an appropriate degree of mechanical protection on heating elements to prevent penetration of object and ingression of water, and the use of residue current devices with a rated residual operating current not exceeding 30 mA for protection for the case when appropriate earthed mechanical protection cannot be provided. The relevant guidelines have now been officially incorporated into the Code of Practice, with details set out in Code 26R.

3. Charging Facilities for Electric Vehicles

   With the growing popularity of electric vehicles, the demand for installation of charging facilities for such vehicles has also increased accordingly. In view of this, safety and technical guidelines in relation to these installations are introduced to the new Code of Practice for the trade to design and install them in accordance with the requirements specified in the relevant guidelines published by EMSD as appropriate and other relevant national/international standards or equivalent. The relevant guidelines have now been officially incorporated into the Code of Practice, with details set out in Code 26S.

How to Use the Permit-to-Work and Electrical Safety Assessment Form

Here we will introduce the ways to use the permit-to-work and Electrical Safety Assessment Form. Before that, let us first take a look at the definitions of the following three types of person in the new Code of Practice:

Permit-to-Work

According to Code 4G(1)(e), where danger cannot be avoided for work on energised equipment, the electrical equipment should be isolated and verified dead with a voltage indicator; a permit-to-work should be issued. As shown in the table above, under the permit-to-work system, the Responsible Person is responsible for issuing the permit-to-work before commencement of work and cancelling it upon completion of the work. The Person in-charge, on the other hand, is responsible for the receipt of the permit-to-work issued by the Responsible Person before work commences, as well as withdrawing all persons and removing all tools and temporary connections from the relevant electrical installation upon completion of the work. As regards who should assume the roles of Responsible Person and Person in-charge in practice, it will be illustrated in the example below:

Take shopping malls as an example. A registered electrical worker of an appropriate grade posted to a shopping mall, who is responsible for its daily operation and maintenance work and possesses a certain degree of understanding of the power system on which electrical work is to be performed, is a suitable candidate to be the Responsible Person, as he is required to render the electrical equipment dead, isolated, discharged and earthed (if necessary) in accordance with the safety requirements in Code 4, in order to ensure that the electrical equipment is dead for the Person-in-charge to conduct electrical work safely.

As for the Person in-charge, he is a registered electrical worker of an appropriate grade who takes charge of the carrying out of the electrical work for the installation. Depending on the arrangement of individual electrical work, the role of the Person in-charge could be taken up by different suitable persons such as registered electrical workers of an appropriate grade arranged by the contractor.

Example: Shopping Mall Management Company Commissioning Contractor to Conduct Electrical Installation Replacement Work

Electrical Safety Assessment Form

As stipulated in Code 4G(1)(d) and Appendix 15(A)(2)(ii), where live work (including live work that cannot be fully isolated from electricity supply) is unavoidable, electrical safety assessment should first be carried out by the Responsible Assessor who should examine the relevant power system on site and recommend precautionary measures based on his assessment of possible hazards. Upon completion of the assessment, the Electrical Safety Assessment Form should be passed to the Person in-charge who should then conduct the relevant live work according to the assessment and recommendations of the Responsible Assessor so as to prevent electrical accidents.

On the other hand, the new Code of Practice has also defined "isolation" in detail, specifying that working on 3-phase 4-wire a.c. system without removing its neutral conductor is not regarded as complete "isolation". Besides, from the analysis of some previous electrical accidents, it is revealed that there is a certain degree of danger (e.g. current from neutral) associated with live work where the neutral conductor is not isolated. Given the live work nature of the relevant electrical work on 3-phase 4-wire a.c. system with neutral conductor not disconnected from the supply, the new Code of Practice therefore requires that electrical safety assessment should first be carried out. For details of the relevant requirements, please refer to Code 8A(1)(a).

News-in-brief 1 - Points to Note on Preparing "Competent Person Written Report"

Pursuant to the Code of Practice on Working near Electricity Supply Lines, upon completion of active cable detection, the competent person is required to prepare a "Competent Person Written Report" for subsequent submission to the working party appointing him and clearly mark the cable alignment and depth on site so as to reduce the risk of causing electrical accidents or electricity supply interruptions. As such, the quality of work and the conduct of competent persons have significant impact on electrical safety of the general public and power supply. In light of this, common problems in the "Competent Person Written Report" are listed below for reference by competent persons:

1. No photos clearly showing the toroidal active detection and site markings for cable alignment and depth in the report;
2. No entry in respect of the voltage level of each underground (U/G) cable in the report;
3. No cable layout plan detailing the alignment of each U/G cable based on common reference points (e.g. lamp pole, traffic light post, or hydrant, etc.) and any cable sections in shallow depth in the report;
4. No result of passive detection for locating cable alignment in the report for reference by the working party; and
5. The interval between passive detection points exceeded three metres. (Note: in accordance with the Code of Practice 3.3.1(b), the distance between passive detection points shall not exceed three metres. If a directional change of the U/G cable is noted during detection, the above distance should be shortened as appropriate for more accurate detection of cable alignment and depth.)

News-in-brief 2 - Notice of Correction Regarding Code of Practice for the Electricity (Wiring) Regulations (2015 Edition)

As a result of some printing errors found in the Code of Practice for the Electricity (Wiring) Regulations (2015 Edition), corresponding corrections were made on 25 February 2016 and 31 March 2016 respectively with the relevant corrected parts tabulated below. Readers may also visit the following web pages of EMSD to view or download the corrected content/the full corrected Code of Practice.

1. http://www.emsd.gov.hk > Electricity Safety > Publications > Codes of Practice > under "Code of Practice for the Electricity (Wiring) Regulations (2015 Edition)" click "Individual Pages of update for Hard Copy"
2. http://www.emsd.gov.hk > Electricity Safety > Publications > Codes of Practice > click "Code of Practice for the Electricity (Wiring) Regulations (2015 Edition)"
3. http://www.emsd.gov.hk > Electricity Safety > Publications > Codes of Practice > under "Code of Practice for the Electricity (Wiring) Regulations (2015 Edition)" click "Summary of Updates"
4. http://www.emsd.gov.hk > 電力安全 > 刊物 > 實務守則 > 在「電力(線路)規例工作守則(2015年版)」下按「為硬複本的個別頁面更新」
5. http://www.emsd.gov.hk > 電力安全 > 刊物 > 實務守則 > 按「電力(線路)規例工作守則(2015年版)」
6. http://www.emsd.gov.hk > 電力安全 > 刊物 > 實務守則 > 在「電力(線路)規例工作守則(2015年版)」下按「更新摘要」

News-in-brief 3 - Registered Electrical Workers and Registered Electrical Contractors - Don't Miss the Deadline for Registration Renewal

The Electricity (Registration) Regulations stipulate that registered electrical workers (REWs) and registered electrical contractors (RECs) shall submit to the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department applications for registration renewal at least one month in advance, but no more than four months before the expiry date of the current registration. Renewal applications submitted before or after the above-mentioned period will not be considered. REWs and RECs are reminded again to apply for renewal of registration accordingly. Applications submitted after the expiry date of the current registration will be treated as new registration applications, and will be assessed in accordance with the statutory requirements of the day. These include requiring REWs applying for registration to possess recognised academic qualifications in electrical engineering and electrical work experience. If the applicant does not possess the required academic qualifications and thus is considered to be unable to fulfil the relevant registration requirements, the application will be rejected regardless of the previous registration history of the applicant.

In applying for registration renewal, the applicant is required to submit the duly completed Form 8 together with a copy of HKID card and a colour passport photograph with a plain white background, and pay the application fee.

On the other hand, the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Scheme for REWs has been included as a requirement for renewal of registration since 1 January 2012. According to the CPD Scheme, REWs applying for each registration renewal are required to have completed two modules of training, including Module (1): Legislative and Safety Requirements and Module (2): Technical Knowledge, before submitting their renewal application.

Therefore, REWs must complete the CPD training required prior to application for registration renewal at any time within the three-year period before the expiry date of the current registration. To allow enough time for preparing for and completing the training, REWs are reminded to receive CPD training at the early stage of the three-year period before the expiry date of the current registration as far as possible.

For details of the CPD Scheme, please visit EMSD's web page.

Electrical Safety Quiz

Readers Feedback and Update

We look forward to receiving your valuable feedback about this newsletter for continuous improvement. Please complete the readers feedback and update form and return it to the Electricity Legislation Division of EMSD by post, fax or e-mail (contact details at the bottom of this page) on or before 30 November 2016.

Contact Information

Electricity Legislation Division, EMSD, 3 Kai Shing Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong

1823

2895 4929

info@emsd.gov.hk