From 27 April 2007 the administration of the Scheme for the accreditation of service providers to undertake contestable work was transferred from the former Department of Energy, Utilities and Sustainability to the Office of Fair Trading.

The following work on the electricity distribution network is contestable and must be done by a suitably qualified person:

• designing network assets
• extending or increasing the capacity of the network
• connecting or disconnecting installations
• installing and energising service lines
• installing meters or
• relocating network assets.

To ensure the electricity distribution network and customer connections in NSW remain efficient, reliable and safe, contestable work can only be undertaken by accredited service providers.

The Department of Water and Energy is responsible for the policy and technical documents that are essential to persons accredited under the Accreditation Scheme. These include the Code of Practice Contestable Works, the Service and Installation Rules of NSW and the Code of Practice - Service and Installation Rules for NSW, which are available from the Department of Water and Energy website. All comments or questions about these documents should be directed to the Department of Water and Energy.

Accreditation levels

There are three levels of accreditation under the Scheme. An accredited service provider (ASP) may be an incorporated business or an individual, and may be accredited at more than one level.

• Level 1 accreditation relates to work on distribution network assets
• Level 2 accreditation relates to the service lines between the distribution system and the point of supply to the premises, energising and metering services
• Level 3 accreditation relates to the design of distribution network assets.

Applying for accreditation

Level 1 accreditation

Level 1 service providers may be accredited to work on overhead or underground distribution networks.

To apply to become a Level 1 ASP complete the Level 1 ASP application form in PDF format (size: 302k).

Level 2 accreditation

Level 2 service providers may be accredited for the following categories:

• Category 1 – disconnection/reconnection
• Category 2 – underground service lines
• Category 3 – overhead service lines
• Category 4 – metering service (types 5 – 6) and energising installations
• Category 5 – installing contestable market metering (types 1 – 4).

To apply to become a Level 2 ASP complete the Level 2 ASP application form in PDF format (size: 176k). A list of the items required in your application is in the Level 2 ASP application checklist in PDF format (size: 136k).

Registration of employees or sub-contractors

Employees and sub-contractors of Level 1 and Level 2 ASPs must be suitably qualified and registered with the accreditation scheme before seeking authorisation from the local electricity distributor to work on or near the electricity network.  Employees and sub-contractors must also receive training in the safety and operating procedures of the local electricity distributor. Cancellation of authorisation by an electricity distributor may result in cancellation of accreditation under this scheme.

To register your employees or sub-contractors, Level 1 and Level 2 ASPs must complete the Level 1 and 2 ASP registration of employees or sub-contractors accreditation scheme registration form in PDF format (size: 119k).

Level 3 accreditation

Level 3 service providers may be accredited to design overhead and/or underground network assets, including substations.

To apply to become a Level 3 ASP complete the Level 3 ASP application form in PDF format (size: 105k).

Contact

For further information contact the Accreditation Branch of the Office of Fair Trading:
Tel: 9895 0008
Fax: 9895 0841
Email: aspscheme@oft.commerce.nsw.gov.au