This Act may be cited as the Electrical Wiremen’s Registration Act, 1925, and shall come into operation on the first day of April, nineteen hundred and twenty-six.

In this Act, unless inconsistent with the context,—

An Electrical Wiremen’s Registration Board is hereby established, consisting of five persons to be appointed by the Minister, of whom—

The powers of the Board shall not be affected by any vacancy in the membership thereof.

The Chief Electrical Engineer of the Public Works Department shall be the Chairman of the Board. In the event of his absence from any meeting of the Board some other person, to be appointed by him for the purpose, being an Electrical Engineer of the Public Works Department, may attend, and shall for the purposes of that meeting be deemed to be a member of the Board.

Save as provided in the next succeeding subsection, every member of the Board other than the Chief Electrical Engineer of the Public Works Department shall be appointed for a term of three years, but may from time to time be reappointed, or may be at any time removed from office by the Minister for disability, insolvency, neglect of duty, or misconduct, or may at any time resign his office by writing addressed to the Minister.

If any member of the Board dies, resigns, or otherwise vacates his office, the vacancy so created shall, within two months after the occurrence thereof, be filled in the manner in which the appointment to the vacant office was originally made. Every person so appointed shall hold office for the residue of the term for which his predecessor was appointed.

The first meeting of the Board shall be held at such place, and at such time, being not later than two months after the commencement of this Act, as may be determined in that behalf by the Minister.

At every meeting of the Board three members shall constitute a quorum, and no business shall be transacted at any meeting unless a quorum is present.

In the absence of the Chairman from any meeting of the Board the members present thereat shall choose one of their number to be chairman of that meeting. At every meeting of the Board the Chairman shall have a deliberative vote, and, in the case of an equality of votes, shall also have a casting-vote.

Every question before the Board shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present at a meeting of the Board.

A meeting of the Board may be demanded at any time by notice signed by any two members thereof and sent to the Registrar, who shall thereupon convene the meeting.

Every member of the Board, not being an officer in the service of the Government, shall be paid such allowances as may be lawfully appointed, and all travelling-expenses reasonably incurred by him in respect of his attendance at meetings of the Board and in transacting the business thereof.

All such amounts shall be paid out of moneys to be appropriated by Parliament for the purpose.

The functions of the Board shall be—

There shall be appointed an officer of the Public Service to be called the Registrar of Electrical Wiremen. Such office may be held concurrently with any other office.

The Registrar shall keep in his office a Register of Electrical Wiremen in which shall be entered the names of all persons registered under this Act, the qualifications by virtue of which they are so registered, and such other particulars in relation thereto as may from time to time be prescribed.

Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, every person shall, on payment of the prescribed fee, be entitled to be registered under this Act as an electrical wireman who—

In addition to the persons entitled to be registered as aforesaid the Board may, on application made at any time within one month after the expiry of a provisional license issued under section sixteen hereof, register as an electrical wireman the person to whom such license was issued if the Board is satisfied that the applicant had been employed as an electrical wireman for at least three years prior to the issue of such provisional license, and that during the currency of such license he has satisfactorily performed the work of a registered electrical wireman.

No person shall be registered as an electrical wireman—

Every application for registration under this Act shall be in writing addressed to the Board, and shall state an address at which notices may be served by the Board pursuant to subsection two of section thirteen hereof.

No entry in the register of the name of any person shall be made by the Registrar without the direction in writing of the Board.

Every person who makes any false or fraudulent representation, or produces to the Board or the Registrar any false certificate or testimonial, for the purpose of securing registration under this Act commits an offence and is liable to a fine of fifty pounds.

No person shall be registered under this Act who is less than nineteen years of age.

The Board shall not direct the registration under this Act of any applicant who is not, in the opinion of the Board, of good character and reputation.

Every person registered as an electrical wireman under this Act shall be entitled to receive a certificate of registration under the hand of the Registrar. Every such certificate shall remain the property of the Board, and shall be surrendered on demand.

The Board may cause to be removed from the register the name of every person who—

In addition to the powers conferred on it by the last preceding subsection the Board may cause to be removed from the register the name of every person who, within the time limited in that behalf by a notice served on him by the Board, fails to notify the Board that he continues to be engaged in the calling of a registered electrical wireman, or that, though not so engaged, he desires his name to be retained on the register. The time limited as aforesaid shall in no case be less than three months from the date of the Board’s notice. It shall be sufficient service of such notice on any person to post the same to him at the address stated by him in his application for registration as an electrical wireman pursuant to subsection one of section nine hereof, or at an address furnished by him to the Board in substitution for that address.

The Board may at any time without payment of any fee re-register any person whose name has been removed from the register pursuant to the last preceding subsection.

The Board shall in the month of April in every year furnish to the Minister a copy of the register as at the thirty-first day of March then last past, and the Minister shall cause the same to be published in the Gazette.

The Gazette containing any such copy shall, unless the contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence in all judicial proceedings that on the thirty-first day of March immediately preceding the date of the Gazette every person whose name appears therein as a registered electrical wireman was duly registered as such by virtue of the qualifications therein appearing, and that no person was so registered whose name does not appear therein as a registered electrical wireman; and also that every person has continued to be so registered at all times after the said thirty-first day of March and before the date of the next annual publication of the register.

A copy of the register as published in the Gazette shall be kept at the office of every electrical-supply authority, and shall be open for inspection by any person during office hours.

The Board may grant to any person not qualified to be registered under this Act a provisional license for a period not exceeding six months at any one time, and while such license remains in force the holder thereof shall be entitled to carry out any work as if he were a registered electrical wireman.

Any such license may at any time during the currency thereof be withdrawn by the Board.

While any person is registered under this Act or is the holder of a provisional license under the last preceding section it shall not be lawful for any electrical-supply authority to require him to pass any examination to test his competency as an electrical wireman or to require him to pay any license fee under any by-law made by such authority and relating to electrical-wiring work.

No person other than a registered electrical wireman, or the holder of a provisional license, with or without the assistance of apprentices in any case, shall be engaged in the work of wiring any premises for electric lighting, heating, or power purposes.

Before any work is begun in connection with such wiring the person undertaking such work shall notify the electrical-supply authority concerned of the name of the registered electrical wireman or holder of a provisional license by whom such work will be performed, or, if there is more than one such person, the names of all such persons, or, in the alternative, the name of the person charged with the supervision of the work.

The electrical-supply authority shall cause to be inspected all electrical-wiring work in any premises before the same are connected with the source of supply, and shall forthwith report to the Board any fault or defect in such work which in its opinion would justify the removal from the register of the name of any registered electrical wireman, or the endorsement of his certificate of registration, or the withdrawal of a provisional license, as the case may be; and may, pending the decision of the Board, suspend any such wireman for a period not exceeding one month, and during the period of suspension it shall not be lawful for him to do the work of a registered electrical wireman.

On receiving such a report as aforesaid the Board may,—

If, in any case where a wireman has been suspended pending the decision of the Board as provided in subsection one hereof, the Board is satisfied that there were no reasonable grounds for his suspension, the electrical-supply authority shall pay to the wireman an amount equal to the loss suffered by him during the period of suspension by reason of any consequent reduction of wages or loss of employment, and the said amount shall be recoverable as a debt due by the electrical-supply authority to the wireman.

No electrical-supply authority shall cause any inspection of wiring of any premises to be made for the purposes of the last preceding section by any person other than a person appointed by it for the purpose and registered or licensed as an Inspector of electrical wiring as hereinafter provided.

No person shall be so appointed who is not a registered electrical wireman, save that any person employed by such supply authority as an Inspector before the commencement of this Act may be appointed for a period not exceeding six months after the commencement of this Act.

Every electrical-supply authority shall forthwith in the prescribed form notify the Board of its appointment of any person as an Inspector of electrical wiring.

If the person whose appointment is so notified is a registered electrical wireman the Board shall enter his name in a Register of Inspectors of Electrical Wiring to be kept by it; and if such person is not a registered electrical wireman but is otherwise qualified under the last preceding section to be appointed an Inspector the Board shall issue to him a license to make inspections for the purposes of section nineteen hereof for a period of six months after the commencement of this Act; and if at the expiration of that period the Board is satisfied as to his competency to make such inspections as aforesaid it may register him as an Inspector of electrical wiring.

If at any time a complaint as to the manner in which the inspection of any wiring has been or is being carried out by an electrical-supply authority is made to the Board by the body recognized by the Minister as representing electrical traders or electrical contractors in New Zealand, the Board shall appoint some competent person to inquire and report to the Board in the matter of the complaint. If as a result of such inquiry and report the Board is satisfied that such inspection has been or is being made in an unfair manner, the Board may cancel the registration under the last preceding section of the Inspector making such inspection, or may withdraw his license, as the case may be, or may suspend him for such period as it thinks fit, and during the period of such suspension it shall not be lawful for him to act as an Inspector of electrical wiring.

The cost of making an inquiry and report pursuant to this section shall be ascertained by the Board, and shall be claimed by it from the body making the complaint or from the electrical-supply authority as the Board may determine, or may be apportioned by the Board in such manner as it thinks proper, and the amount so claimed shall constitute a debt due to the Crown, and shall be recoverable in any Court of competent jurisdiction.

Every person who is aggrieved by any decision of the Board under this Act in relation to registration or an application for registration, other than a decision under the last preceding section, may, within three months after notice of such decision has been communicated to him by the Registrar, appeal in the prescribed manner to a Board of Appeal consisting of a Magistrate and two assessors, of whom one shall be appointed by the Board and one by the appellant.

The Board of Appeal shall thereupon hear the appeal, and may either confirm the decision of the Board, or order the registration of the appellant, or the restoration of his name to the appropriate register, and the determination of the Board of Appeal shall be final and conclusive.

Forthwith after the removal of the name of any person from a register under this Act or after the withdrawal of a provisional license the Board shall give notice thereof to the Minister.

The Minister shall cause to be published in the Gazette a quarterly return showing the names and addresses of persons whose names have been removed from any register as aforesaid, and also of persons from whom a provisional license issued under section sixteen hereof has been withdrawn.

A copy of every such notice published in the Gazette shall be kept in the office of every electrical-supply authority, and shall be open for inspection by any person during office hours.

Every person commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of twenty pounds who,—

Every person commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of five pounds who fails or refuses to surrender to the Board on demand in writing his certificate of registration as an electrical wireman, or who fails or refuses so to surrender on its withdrawal or suspension any other certificate of registration or any license issued to him under this Act, and in the meantime such certificate or license shall not be an authority to do any work that it purports to authorize.

Every person who commits an offence against this Act for which no specific penalty is elsewhere provided is liable on summary conviction to a fine of ten pounds.

All fees, fines, and other moneys received or recovered under this Act shall be paid into the Public Account to the credit of the Ordinary Revenue Account of the Consolidated Fund, and, except as otherwise provided by regulations in that behalf, all expenses incurred by or on behalf of the Board or otherwise incurred in carrying out the provisions of this Act shall be paid out of moneys to be from time to time appropriated by Parliament for the purpose.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, make regulations—

Nothing in this Act shall render it unlawful for any person registered under the Engineers Registration Act, 1924, as an electrical engineer, but not registered under this Act, to do any electrical-wiring work, or to be appointed and registered as an Inspector of electrical wiring without being registered as an electrical wireman:

Provided that if any such person does in fact act with respect to any electrical-wiring work in the capacity of a registered electrical wireman he shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be a registered electrical wireman, and for any fault or defect in the work for which he is responsible the Board may either suspend him for such period as it thinks fit or disqualify him permanently from acting in such capacity, and while he is so suspended or disqualified it shall not be lawful for him to do the work of a registered electrical wireman.