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A New Plymouth District Court has fined an apprentice electrician $10,000 for unsupervised work which could have resulted in death.
Bradley Carl Payne breached the Electricity Act 1992 when he installed conductors and fittings in a shipping container at a South Taranaki residential property without supervision in March 2022.
This resulted in Payne leaving an exposed live wire on the kitchen bench inside the container which resulted in the property owner suffering an electric shock.
Judge Tony Greig found Payne guilty of two counts of carrying out unauthorized prescribed electrical work and one count of negligently performing work in a manner dangerous to life.
Duncan Connor, Registrar of Electricians, said: “This type of negligent work shows that carrying out prescribed electrical work requires experience, training and qualification, without which it can be fatal.”
“All complaints of unauthorized, poor or dangerous work are taken seriously and investigated by the EWRB, which will not hesitate to prosecute those who carry out electrical work described as illegal.”
