Electrical appliances must be designed and manufactured so that they’ll not, in normal use, result in electric shock, injury or death to the user, or fire damage to the user’s property. NSW Fair Trading, through the Electrical & Gas Unit of NSW Fair Trading Specialist Services, administers a compulsory pre-sale approval process for specific types of electrical articles known as ‘declared articles’ and a voluntary approval process for all other electrical articles referred to as ‘non-declared articles’.
The Electrical & Gas Unit of NSW Fair Trading Specialist Services also investigates complaints and accidents relating to the failure of equipment or installations and conducts audits and proactive marketplace checks to detect the appearance of unsafe or unapproved electrical appliances or products, including items sold online. Fair Trading also regularly carries out investigations in the marketplace to check for any unapproved or unsafe electrical products that are on sale.