THE CHANGE OVER

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 36, 11 August 1923, Page 8

THE CHANGE OVER

REWIRING OF HOUSES

WHAT THE COUNCIL REGU-

LATIONS STATE

NO BESPONSIBILITY ACCEPTED.

To tha average consumer of electricity, that is,- to the householder, the question of tha rewiring of his house is one of the tig features of the proposed elec/tncal: change-over from 105 to 230 volts, because that is where the consumer will probably directly feel the change as manifested in Jus share of the cost. Many houses will have to he rewired, and rewiring is a fairly expensive business, and what the householder particularly wants to know is whether he or the Corporation shall foot the bill. In the suggested schedule of procedure in the carrying* out of rewiring, Mr. Evan •Parry and Messrs. Cable, Lauchlan, and ■Slaunder, of the City Electric Power < ■Department, Mr. Birks, Chief Electrical I [Engineer to the Publio 'Works, and Mr. Shepherd, of the Fire Underwriters' Association, at their conference upon that point—the conference not being held for the purposex of considering the report proper, as might have been inferred from a statement previously made regarding that meeting—classify consumers' installations under three headings :— (a) An installation in which the wiring is found to be in accordance with the City Corporation's rules and regulations of 1909, and only requires alterations necessitated by the change of system. (b) An installation in which the wiring is found to be defective under the City Corporation's Tules and regulations of 1909. (c) An installation in which the wiring is worn out by effluxion of time or service, and under any conditions of supply would have to be rewired within a short period. ■ .ALLOCATION OF COST. ''They suggest in their schedule that "the cost'of carrying out necessary alterations, nhieh may amount to no more than fuse, switch, and such other alterations, as are called for by " phasing out," or may run into a complete or practically complete re-wiring of the premises, should .be allocated as follows,:—- ---; Class (a)— The whole of the cost to be paid by the Corporation, except in the case of unauthorised extensions and alterations. Class (fc).—The cost of removing all defects to be paid by the consumer, and. the cost of alterations due to change of system" to be paid by the Corpora"tion. . . Class (c.) —The whole cost to be paid by the consumer, except in cases where the installation has an existing value, ■when an allowance to that extent will be made by the Corporation; Provision is also made in the schedule for the " machinery " whereby the allocation may be made, the setting up of an appeal board, and so on to safeguard both council and consumer; but tha schedule as, presented by the committee named above will not, of course, become operative until it has been fully inquired into by the council's legal advisers. The law may be "a hass," but the law must be vary fully consulted in such a! far-reaching proposal as a city's change-over in voltage and system of distribution. "'. '•*■ <lne?*K>n that is bound to be asked is as to whether the three classes of installation referred to above are adequate, whether they include all house installations for the purpose of the proper^ allocation of cost. Clas3 A mentions installations in accordance with the roles and regulations drawn up in 1909, Class B deals with those that are not, and for the moment Class C may be passed over. . RESPONSIBILITY IN QUESTION. Do Classes A and B cover 1 the many cases of installations which have been passed by the City Corporation's inspectors as suitable to carry lighting power and yet cannot stand up to the requirements as set out in the regulations .of 1909 when re-examined for the purpose, of the change-over? That there were .many wiring systems in that position was freely stated when the changeover was first seriously considered a year or so ago. Does the council pay for the re-wiring of such installations, or does the consumer? It is a hie quention. LIABILITIES DECLINED. _ The council's 1909 regulations lay it Aawa clearly and quite definitely that the Corporation does not accept that responsibility. For instance, clause 16 of the regulations relating to the supply of alternating current—the current that lights the lamps at home—states :— The Corporation does not take any responsibility for the proper execution of any work on consumers' premises, nor for any loss or damage which may be occasioned by fire, or any accident arising from the wires, fittings, or other apparatus within the building, neither are they responsible for any loss due to failure of supply." ,WHAT CONSUMERS MUST DO. : ■Again, in those regulations attention is Hrawn to. a provision in the Municipal Corporations Act of 1908:— Every private consumer of electricity shall provide all necessary wiring, fittings, . and appliances, in accordance with the Corporation's regulations, and shall keep the same in goad repair, and if any person neglect to provide or repair such wiring, fittings, and appliances, when required to do So, by the council, the council may cut off the supply of electricity from the premises of such person. A very similar provision is made in the regulations dealing with the supply of.idirect current—the brand that drives the trams,- operates motors, lifts, harbour- machinery, and the like—but here the wording is still more definite: The inspection and tests made by the Corporation are made for the protection of the Corporation mains and the passing of an installation for connection to. the mains by no means im- - plies that the work has been done in t&e.best possible manner. The Cor...poration will take no responsibility in respect of testing a consumer's installation on his own behalf. . r ,,,; The,, Corporation will not supply or ftx any internal fittings, except the meter and the main fuse, on the con- . sumer's premises, and at the meter their liability ends. The responsibility for all wiring, fittings, and apparatus on the consumer's side of the Corporation meter rests solely with ; him. The work should be carefully inspected, on the consumer's behalf by Va/ petson independent of the contractor, where circumstances warrant it. The regulations, then, are very de- > finite. SPECIAL CONDITIONS IN WEL- -" LINGTON. • ' The Wellington Electric Power Department is in probably a unique position ,in the Dominion m that it is the only power supplying concern, at any rate, the only one of any magnitude, which does not supply under license irom tha Public Works Department, and

that has come about hecause the Corporation took over the old Electric Lighting Company, lock, stock, barrel, and charter, and operates to-day under a special Act passed for the purpose of enabling the company to be so taken over. The results of that peculiar—in the; sense of unusualness—position is that the council's power supply is not subt^l,-* 0 the snP« rvision exercised by the lublic Works Department over other power systems. Elsewhere, it appears, the Department has a power of supervision from the point of production of power right to the consumer's lights, and, moreover, has a duty in the supervision of street reticulation services. In Wellington that is not so. The Corporation supervises powe? from the power-house to the meter, and there, as set out in the regulations, its responsibility ends, me Jure Underwriters probably have the gieatest control thereafter to the lights, but only, it would seem, in houses over which an insurance policy had been taken. It is, therefore, the consumer's job to see that his installation is in order m Wellington, but elsewhere the Department may see that he is kept right up to the mark. Had Wellington contractors and consumers been shown the error of their ways in putting in passable but not thoroughly satisfactory installations in the past, one great Hem in the bill for the change-over would not have had to be met, for, apart from minor details, the actual requirements for wiring for 105 and 230 volts are practically the same. Those requirements are drawn up by the Fire Underwriters' Association, and are based upon the specifications laid down by the Institute of Electrical Engineers, England, but, if anything, are more stringent.