Where the facts come from
We work from what regulators and governments publish: Energy Safe Victoria, Building and Energy in Western Australia, the NSW Government, Access Canberra, Consumer and Business Services in South Australia, and the state and territory legislation websites. National facts come from the Electrical Regulatory Authorities Council, the Australian Consumer Law website and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Each fact is recorded with the page it came from and the date it was read. When a page uses a fact, that source goes in the list at the foot of the page, so you can read the original and make up your own mind.
Rules we write by
- A rule only appears for the state it belongs to. Certificate names, licence registers and smoke alarm laws all differ, so one state's rule is never borrowed for another.
- No prices for electrical work. Every quote depends on the house and the job, and we'd rather you got a written one from the electrician.
- No DIY electrical instructions. Electrical work needs the right licence everywhere in Australia, so we say what you can safely check yourself and where the electrician takes over.
- Dates travel with the rule. When a law starts or changes on a set date, the page names the date and the state.
- Gaps are left as gaps. Where an official page couldn't be read or a rule couldn't be confirmed, we leave it out rather than fill it from memory or another website.
Two gaps we've left on purpose
We couldn't confirm South Australia's rule on licence numbers in advertising at an official source, so the licence-number rules we follow doesn't state one. We also found no official source linking salt air to corrosion in household fittings, so that claim isn't on any page here.
Who writes and checks each page
Pages are written and fact-checked by the Sparky Next Door team against the sources above.
The electricians we pass jobs to don't write, edit or approve guides. No product maker has paid to appear on our product pages.
Spotted a mistake?
Blufire Pty Ltd runs this site, and Blufire's privacy policy at blufire.com.au/privacy explains how to contact Blufire. Tell us the page and what's wrong. If you're right, the page gets corrected and its date changes. If a rule has changed, a link to the regulator's own page helps us confirm it quickly. Thanks in advance: a reader who spots a stale date is doing everyone a favour.