ELECTRICAL WIREMEN

Southland Times, Issue 19859, 3 May 1926, Page 8

ELECTRICAL WIREMEN

STANDARD OF WORKMANSHIP. APPLICATIONS FOR REGISTRATION. (Special to the Times.) Wellington, April 30. For the purpose of establishing a standard of workmanship and for protection of the public against accident and fire risks the Electric Registration Act of last session made it illegal for any electrical wireman to work at wiring work after April 1, 1925, unless such wireman is registered. The Act also prescribed a period of nine months from April 1, 1925, within which period (but not afterwards! a wireman might apply for registration without having passed the prescribed examination. This period of nine months was intended to provide a strictly temporary opportunity for the registration of wiremen who can prove their qualifications outside of the examination tests but it in no way alters the general requirements of the Act that no one unless registered can work as an electrical wireman after April 1 last. It is stated, however, that a great many wiremen, possibly confused over the nine months provision, are working although unregistered and they are no doubt unknowingly breaking the law. On inquiry at the hydro-electric branch of the Public Works Department a Dominion reporter was informed by the registrar of the Wiremen’s Registration Board, set up under last session’s Act, that the board wishes to draw 'the attention of electrical wiremen to the necessity of registering and the fact that the nine months is only an open-door period for qualifying otherwise than by examination. The electrical supply authorities consider that- at present there are about 2000 electrical wiremen actually at work in New Zealand, but the board has received only 1100 applications. Besides those actually working to-day there are other persons who. having acted at one time as wiremen or being occasionally engaged at wiring in a semi-professional way, will probably desire in the future to work as wiremen. These jieople—th°re are perhaps 100 of them, making approximately 3000 in all —will break the law if they work as wiremen without being registered and if they wish to escape the examination list the time to apply is now. Although the forms of application are made as simple as possible only about 50 per ecnt. of the applications received have been in order and some applications contain mis-statements of fact. The Act prescribes a £5O fine for a false statement. Of the 1100 applications so far received the majority have come from the North Island and there is an apparent lack of initiative in Canterbury. Otago and Southland. Efen* application must be accompanied by a fee of 5/-, but in about 25 per cent, of the applications this necessary adjunct has been omitted.