New Zealand’s engineering and electrical industries are urging the Government to reverse controversial changes to electrical safety regulations, warning the country could be heading towards a preventable serious injury or death.
Engineering New Zealand Te Ao Rangahau, alongside other industry representatives, is calling for urgent changes to the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010 and New Zealand Wiring Rules before amendments become mandatory across the sector in November.
The dispute centres on rules governing protective earth and neutral conductors, known as PEN conductors, and whether they should ever be switched or interrupted.
Industry experts argue the Government’s changes have moved New Zealand away from established international safety practice despite warnings from electrical specialists — and despite an independent review commissioned by WorkSafe concluding PEN conductors should not be switched.
What changed?
Last year, the Government made regulatory changes intended to reduce barriers to installing technologies including solar panels and electric-vehicle chargers.
Among the modifications was the removal of provisions prohibiting switching of PEN conductors.
A PEN conductor performs a critical electrical safety function by combining protective earthing and neutral functions.
Engineering New Zealand warns that if the conductor is interrupted, an installation’s earthing system can become energised, creating the potential for electric shock, serious injury or death.
That has put the technical detail of electrical wiring rules at the centre of a much bigger debate about deregulation and how governments balance faster development against public safety.
Industry says international practice is clear
Engineering New Zealand chief executive Dr Richard Templer says the organisation’s Electrical Engineering Group and experts from across the wider industry consider PEN switching both unnecessary and inherently dangerous.
The organisation says New Zealand’s approach is also at odds with major overseas jurisdictions.
According to Engineering New Zealand, switching PEN conductors is prohibited in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The industry wants the prohibition restored before the revised requirements become mandatory.
Its argument is not that renewable-energy technology should be made harder to install.
Engineering New Zealand says it supports attempts to streamline regulation and improve productivity, but believes deregulation cannot come at the expense of fundamental electrical safety.
WorkSafe review adds to controversy
Perhaps the most significant element of the dispute is the advice generated after industry concerns were raised.
Engineering New Zealand says an independent review commissioned by WorkSafe concluded PEN conductors should not be switched under any circumstances.
Despite that, WorkSafe has advised the Government to retain the revised standard and has proposed developing non-binding guidance as part of its response.
Engineering New Zealand describes that approach as wholly inadequate.
The organisation says it has engaged extensively with both WorkSafe and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment but has yet to be given an example where PEN switching is necessary to enable EV charging, household solar generation or other modern inverter-based technology.
That raises a fundamental regulatory question.
If a safety risk can be avoided without preventing the technology from being installed, why accept the additional risk at all?
Solar industry joins opposition
Concern is not limited to engineers.
Solar Association chairman Glenn Harvey is also opposing the changes, arguing allowing PEN switching creates unnecessary safety hazards without actually speeding up solar installations.
The industry’s preferred approach is the use of a dedicated earth conductor, which it regards as safer and consistent with best practice.
That is particularly notable because renewable-energy installation was among the reasons for changing the regulatory environment in the first place.
If the solar sector itself does not believe the change is required to accelerate installations, the Government could face increasing pressure to explain what practical benefit justifies retaining it.
Red tape versus safety
The controversy lands amid a wider Government drive to reduce regulation and improve productivity.
Ministers have repeatedly argued unnecessary compliance imposes costs on businesses and can obstruct investment and economic growth. The Government has continued removing regulations it regards as outdated or unnecessarily burdensome.
There is a legitimate economic argument behind that programme.
Poorly designed regulations can increase costs without delivering meaningful benefits.
But electrical safety demonstrates the other side of the equation.
Some regulations exist precisely because the consequences of failure can be catastrophic.
Electricity is largely invisible, and electrical installations can remain in buildings for decades. A poor regulatory decision today could therefore create hazards extending long beyond the political debate that produced it.
The challenge is distinguishing genuine red tape from safeguards written because somebody can be seriously hurt when something goes wrong.
November deadline approaching
The timing is becoming increasingly important.
Engineering New Zealand says the amendments are due to become mandatory across the sector in November 2026.
That gives the Government a relatively narrow window to reconsider the rules before the industry is required to work under them.
Engineering New Zealand wrote to Energy Minister Simeon Brown in July and says it is awaiting a response.
The organisation’s concern is that New Zealand is moving towards implementation despite substantial technical opposition and a WorkSafe-commissioned review supporting the industry’s central safety concern.
When expert advice and government policy collide
The controversy raises a broader question about how governments should respond when their regulatory objectives collide with specialist safety advice.
There is nothing inherently wrong with governments challenging existing standards.
Technology changes. Regulations can become outdated. Rules designed for yesterday’s electrical system may not always be appropriate for an increasingly electrified economy involving solar generation, batteries and EV charging.
But changing technical safety standards also requires confidence that the replacement is at least as safe as what came before.
In this case, engineers argue that threshold has not been met.
And because the potential consequences involve electrical shock and death, they say waiting for an accident to prove the danger would be unacceptable.
The Government’s ambition to make it easier for New Zealanders to adopt solar, EV charging and other modern technologies is unlikely to disappear.
The question is whether the regulatory shortcut at the centre of this dispute is actually needed to achieve that ambition.
With the November deadline approaching, Engineering New Zealand and industry experts are effectively asking the Government to make that decision before somebody becomes the evidence that the warning was right.
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