What is an Electrical Defect Notice?
An electrical defect notice is a document issued by the electricity distributor that notifies you of defective wiring in your property. Defect notices are typically issued to the owners, tenants, or occupants of the property.
Currently, five electricity distributors are responsible for separate geographic regions in Victoria. These are:
- Citipower
- Jemena
- Powercor Australia
- AusNet Services
- United Energy Distribution
A sixth distributor, Essential Energy, also serves a small number of customers.
Your installations should be carried out by licenced professionals and meet Australian safety requirements. If they do not comply, this is when you’ll get defect notices.
All critical details and electrical defects from the inspection will be outlined in the notice, which an emergency electrician near you can help resolve.
Electrical Defects Lists from Safety Inspections
How are these electrical defects found? Homeowners are expected to perform regular Electrical Safety Inspections to ensure their homes are safe. During this routine, your mixed installations will be tested for fit, including but not limited to your sockets, light fittings, wiring, and fuse boxes. Electrical defects lists are created after this assessment, which will then warrant a notice.
Electrical Defects: reasons why you may get a defect notice
There are three main reasons why you might get an electrical defect notice:
- An electrical fault resulting from poor wiring and defective electric wires, especially if the wiring is old or damaged
- An electrical fault as a result of a defect in installed electrical equipment (such as light fittings or switches)
- An electrical fault due to problems with your installation, such as having too many power points connected, or faulty wiring work done by someone else
What to do when you get a defect notice
As soon as you receive the notice, it’s essential to address these issues through maintenance work or repairs. Call your licenced local electricians, who are qualified to carry out necessary procedures. Maintenance work and repairs are the homeowner’s responsibility, so if you’re a tenant you must follow up with your property manager or landlord to avoid delay.
If the defect isn’t resolved within 21 days from receipt of the notice, you run the risk of disconnection until your installations meet safety standards. This means you could lose access to electricity until all issues are resolved.
Do you need a different electrician or can poor wiring and defective electric wires be resolved by your original contractor?
The choice is up to you. Your original contractor can carry out the repairs, but you are also free to hire another licenced electrician to do the work.
Some people opt to employ a new contractor, especially when there are legal actions involved as a result of the unsatisfactory electrical installations.
STL Electrical is qualified and licenced to assist you with defective electrical wiring
While it may be tempting to ignore a defect notice, this is an extremely important document. Contact STL Electrical for 24-hour services in Melbourne, with years of experience in installations and repairs. To learn more about the services our commercial and domestic electricians can help you with, visit the 24-Hour Service page. To speak to a member of our team, contact us now.
