In short
A CCEW, or Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work, is the certificate a licensed electrician in NSW must lodge for any work that installs, repairs, adds or alters electrical equipment, including like-for-like replacements. It is lodged through the Building Commission NSW eCert portal no later than 7 days after the work and its safety and compliance test are finished, and the portal sends you a copy.
If you would rather have it checked, Ambient Electrical offers electrical safety inspections in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.
What is a CCEW?
In NSW, the licensed electrician must submit a Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work (CCEW) for any work that installs, repairs, adds or alters electrical equipment, including like-for-like replacement of electrical equipment such as water heaters, ovens, stove tops and electrical accessories. It must be lodged through the Building Commission NSW eCert portal no later than 7 days after the work and its safety and compliance test are finished, and the portal sends the customer a copy.
The NSW Government describes it as a uniquely numbered certificate that shows the work has been tested and complies with the regulations.
Which jobs need one?
Going by NSW's own wording, any job that installs, repairs, adds or alters electrical equipment. In a home that includes:
- New circuits, power points, lights and switches
- A switchboard upgrade, or safety switches added to a board
- Hard-wired smoke alarms, installed or replaced
- Like-for-like replacements: NSW's own examples are water heaters, ovens, stove tops and electrical accessories
- Repairs to fixed wiring after a fault
Smoke alarm and safety switch certificates
A hard-wired smoke alarm is a 240-volt alarm connected to the home's electrical system, with a battery back-up, as Fire and Rescue NSW describes it. Installing or replacing one is electrical work, so it gets a CCEW. The same goes for adding a safety switch at the switchboard.
A battery-only smoke alarm has no fixed wiring, so fitting one is not electrical installation work.
When and how do you get your copy?
The electrician has 7 days from finishing and testing the work to lodge the CCEW on the eCert portal, and the portal sends the customer a copy. Keep it with the property's paperwork: it records what was done and who did it.
What if I never got one?
Ask the electrician who did the work for the certificate number. A job done by someone who is not licensed has no CCEW at all, which is one reason DIY electrical work in NSW is a problem as well as a risk.
