The amended Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010 (ESR) came into effect on 13 November 2025.

Electricity (Safety) Amendment Regulations 2025 | New Zealand Legislation(external link)

Key points

  • Updated standards: The amendment updates the standards referenced in Schedules 2 and 4.
  • A new version of AS/NZS 3000 has been cited.
  • A new version of AS/NZS 3001.1 and AS/NZS 3001.2 has been cited.
  • A new version of AS/NZS 3003 has been cited.
  • A new version of AS/NZS 3019 has been cited.
  • A new version of AS/NZS 4777.1 has been cited for the specific purpose of for a low voltage mains parallel generation system that is connected to the national grid.
  • A new version of AS/NZS 5033 has been cited.
  • A new version of AS/NZS 60079.14 has been cited.

Approximately 440 standards have been updated, for a complete list of the changes please see the amendment regulations:

Electricity (Safety) Amendment Regulations 2025 | New Zealand Legislation(external link)

What has the amendment changed?

AS/NZS 3000

The currently cited version, AS/NZS 3000:2007 including Amendments 1 and 2, changes to:

AS/NZS 3000:2018: including Amendments 1, 2, and 3.

Existing installations

This doesn’t mean that everyone needs to upgrade their old electrical installations and appliances. The amendment regulations allow current installations to continue to exist and be repaired so long as they are not unsafe. There is no time limit for this.

If you are relocating, adding, altering an existing installation, you can choose to use the new standard from 13 November 2025. There is no requirement to upgrade the current parts of the existing installation to the new standard. Only the parts that you change need to be to the new standards.

Where construction begins after 12 November 2026, the work you do needs to comply with the new standard.

If work on an installation is started after 13 November 2025, using the old version of the standard, it must be completed by 12 November 2026. If the installation is unfinished by that date, complete a Certificate of Compliance for the work completed up to that date. Then for the rest of the work it must comply with the new version of the standard.

If you had already started construction on these types of work before 13 November 2025, the old version of the standard may continue to be used, up to the point that the installation is complete. Theres no time limit on completion for using the old standard in this case.

Following 13 November 2025, you can use the newly cited version of the standard and modify the work that you have already done to comply with the new standard. 

Construction, in this context, also includes the design phase. This means work can be done to the old standard if the quote or tendering process is already underway.

Repairs

There is an allowance related to repair or maintain an existing installation. The old version of the standard can continue to be used for any repair work. If the repair work moves into any alterations or additions, then that alteration or addition work needs to comply with the newly cited standard.

It’s important to remember that Regulation 59 also allows you to maintain or replace an installation so that it complies with:

  • Part 1 or Part 2 of AS/NZS 3000 (as cited)
    OR
  • in such a way that it is restored to, or maintained in, its original condition
    OR
  • complying with all manufacturer’s instructions relating to the fittings used in, or affected buy, the maintenance or replacement.

New installations

A new installation is one where an electrical installation was not already present.

From 13 November 2025, you can choose to use the new standard when installing a new electrical installation.

All new electrical installations, where construction begins after 12 November 2026, must comply with the new standard.

If the construction of a new, or part installation, is started in line with old version of the standard after 13 November 2025, it must be completed by 12 November 2026. If the installation is unfinished by that date, complete a Certificate of Compliance for the work completed up to that date. Then for the rest of the work it must comply with the new version of the standard.

If construction a new installation began before 13 November 2025, the old version of the standard can continue to be used, up until the point that the installation is complete. There is no time limit on completion for using the old standard in this case.

From 13 November 2025 onwards, you are able to use the new version of the standard and upgrade the work that you have already done, to comply with the new standard.

Construction, in this context, also includes the design phase. This means it is possible to undertake work to the old standard if the quote/tendering process is already underway.

Clause changes

The Government has made some changes to AS/NZS 3000 in citation:

  1. In clause 1.5.6.3, after “predetermined value.”, insert: “Any RCD that forms part of an installation shall be selected and installed to be compatible with the types of load intended to be used within the installation. Consideration shall be given for potential pulsating and constant DC fault currents and waveform distortion.”
  2. In clause 1.6.2(c), delete note (b).
  3. Delete clause 2.3.2.1.2(b) and (c).
  4. Replace clause 2.6.2.2.3(b) with:
    “(b) be of a type that provides protection against electric shock that complies with the requirements of a Type A RCD in accordance with IEC 61009.1 or IEC 61008.1 or a Type F or Type B RCD in accordance with IEC 62423.”
  5. In clause 2.6.3.3.2, exception 2, delete the second bullet point.
  6. Replace clause 2.6.3.3.3 with:
    “The installation of medical electrical equipment in home care medical installations is not required to comply with clause 2.6.3.3.1 if it is installed in accordance with AS/NZS 3003.”
  7. In clause 4.18.2.3, figure 4.18, clause 4.18.5, and figure 4.20, replace “hazardous area” with “exclusion zone”.
  8. In the heading to clause 4.18.5, delete “lighter-than-air”.
  9. In clause 8.3.10, second paragraph, delete “either by the operation of the integral test device, or”.
  10. In clause 8.3.10, after the fourth paragraph, insert:
    “The function testing of the RCD must include the following:
    1. trip time:
    2. confirmation that the functions of the RCD operate as intended:
    3. confirmation that operation of the RCD provides protection against electric shock:
    4. for residual sinusoidal alternating current and residual pulsating direct current,—
      1. the presence of DC leakage:
      2. constant DC (where applicable).”
  11. In clause 8.3.10, delete note 4.

Other standards

From 13 November 2025 other electrical work is also impacted by the change in citation of the following standards:

  • For the supply for a connectable installation: AS/NZS 3001.1:2022, subject to the following modifications:
    1. In clause 2.3.3.2, delete the third paragraph and figure 2.2.
    2. Delete clause 2.4.2.2.
    3. Replace clause 2.4.6.5(b) with:
      “(b) are of a type that provides protection against electric shock that complies with the requirements of a Type A RCD in accordance with IEC 61009.1 or IEC 61008.1 or a Type F or Type B RCD in accordance with IEC 62423.”
    4. Delete clause C.3.3.2.
    5. Delete clause C.4 and the reference to C.4 in clause C.2.
  • For a connectable installation: AS/NZS 3001.2:2022, subject to the following modifications:
    1. Delete clause 1.1.3 and figure 1.2.
    2. Delete Section 5.
    3. Delete clause D.4.10(a).
    4. Replace clause D.4.11(a) with:
      “Any RCD provided shall operate in all live (active and neutral) conductors and have a residual current rating not exceeding 30 mA.”
    5. In clause D.4.13.1, delete the second paragraph.
    6. Delete clause D.4.13.2.
    7. Delete clause D.4.14.
    8. Delete clause D.4.15.
    9. Delete clause D.4.16.
    10. Replace clause D.5.2 with:
      “The operation of any RCD provided shall be tested to confirm that it operates in all live (active and neutral) conductors and performs in accordance with the requirements for an RCD having a residual current rating not exceeding 30 mA.”
  • For an installation intended for use with electrical medical devices: AS/NZS 3003:2018, including Amendment 1.
  • For an installation that is in a marina: AS/NZS 3004.1:2014 Electrical installations—Marinas and boats—Part 1: Marinas.
  • For a connectable installation in a pleasure vessel: AS/NZS 3004.2:2014, including Amendment 1, subject to the following modification:
    1. In clause C11.2, under the heading “RCD and insulation testing”, replace “In New Zealand, RCDs for personnel protection shall be verified as being type A” with “Any RCD provided shall have a residual current rating not exceeding 30 mA.”
  • Low voltage mains parallel system where the supply is from a generator: AS/NZS 3010:2017, including Amendment 1
  • For the periodic assessment of a low voltage installation at a demolition or construction site: AS/NZS 3012:2019, including Amendment 1, subject to the following modifications:
    1. In clause 1.4.17, delete “residual current device (PRCD)”.
    2. In clause 1.4.17, after the second paragraph, insert:
      “A PSOA is not considered to be a portable residual current device. All RCDs are to be either Type A in accordance with IEC 61009-1 or IEC 61008-1, or Type F or Type B in accordance with IEC 62423.”
    3. In clause 1.4.17, delete notes 1 and 2.
    4. In clause 2.9(a)(iii)(D), delete the paragraph after note 2.
    5. In clause 3.4, after “IEC 61009-1”, insert “or a Type F or Type B RCD in accordance with IEC 62423”.
    6. In clause 3.4, before the notes, insert:
      “Nothing in this standard requires the upgrading of an existing RCD in a transportable structure or transportable installation merely because it does not provide protection against pulsating DC current.”
  • For reconnecting installations that have been disconnected for more than 6 months: AS/NZS 3019:2022
  • AS/NZS 4777.1:2024 only for the specific purpose of for a low voltage mains parallel generation system that is connected to the national grid.
  • Safe working practises: AS/NZS 4836:2023
  • Photovoltaic: AS/NZS 5033:2021
  • Installation in a hazardous area: AS/NZS 60079.14:2022
  • Periodic on an installation in a hazardous area: AS/NZS 60079.17:2022

You must start using the new cited standards from 12 November 2026.

Electrical workers that also hold licenses issued by the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Board to preform gasfitting work should note that the Gas (Safety and Measurement) Regulations 2010 have been amended by the Gas (Safety and Measurement) Amendment Regulations 2025. You can find more about that in gas specific guidance.

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