Electrical work in schools

All electrical work in schools must comply with our electrical installations standard.

It must also comply with the Australian/New Zealand wiring rules.

Australia/New Zealand Standard 3000: 2018: Electrical installations – Standards New Zealandopen_in_new

Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010 – New Zealand Legislationopen_in_new

Projects that increase electrical demand (such as new heating, hot water systems, or additional teaching spaces) must be designed to ensure the new electrical demand does not exceed the capacity of:

• sites mains
• submains, and
• protective devices.

Key safety requirement – Voltage drop

Electrical installations must comply with AS/NZS 3000. Voltage drop must not exceed 5% from the supply point to the furthest circuit. Excess voltage drop can reduce performance of safety devices like circuit breakers and emergency systems and create safety risks.

Before starting a project that may increase the electrical demand, the school’s existing electrical infrastructure needs to be assessed. Project teams assess the impact by confirming:

• existing supply capacity
• load balance across phases (for multi-phase systems)
• size of additional demand
• how new load will be distributed
• whether load management is required
• Certified Design requirement.

All new electrical work in schools shall be Certified Designs in accordance with the Electricity (safety) Regulations. The Certified Designs shall ensure compliance with all requirements in the Electrical Installations: Standard for Schools. This is to be completed by a competent professional (electrical engineer, licensed electrician, or equivalent).

Certified Designs shall comply with all requirements of the NZSPA electrical installations: Standard for schools.

Designs typically include:

• site and layout plans
• cable routes including lengths, cable types, number of cores and sizes.
• location of switchboards, transformers, and earthing systems
• equipment schedules
• utility room layouts.
• layout drawings of switchboards and associated equipment enclosures
• maximum demand calculations
• specialised report requirement.

For projects managed by NZSPA this will be considered at the initiation stage. For school-led projects, this is likely to be identified in the 10YPP condition assessment or as part of the initial scoping for a planned project.

When increasing electrical demand

When planning a project which will increase demand for electricity, Delivery Managers or Project Managers must obtain a specialised report to assess whether the system can safely accommodate the increased electrical demand.

Schools can contact their property advisor for support and guidance throughout this process.

The specialised report must include:

• existing capacity
• protection ratings
• single-line diagram
• connection details for new demand.

The report needs to confirm:

• if infrastructure can handle the load
• if voltage drop will stay within 5%
• if capacity is limited – solutions may include:
  • load management systems
  • efficient technologies (LED lighting, heat pumps)
  • energy storage or solar.

Send the completed report to electrical.services@schoolproperty.govt.nz for review and endorsement.

When a project that increases the electrical demand of a school requires an upgrade to the electrical infrastructure for the site, an electrical infrastructure capacity report must be completed. Information on this can be found on our Designing Quality Learning Spaces page in the reports section.

Designing Quality Learning Spaces

Key activities to assess the impact of the increased electrical demand

The sequence of events table below sets out the recommended process for assessing existing electrical infrastructure. It identifies the key activities required at each stage and who is responsible for completing each activity.

The assessment process typically includes the following activities.

1. Identifying the project requirements and engaging an appropriately qualified specialist.
2. Engaging professional services to prepare and submit a specialised report.
3. Reviewing the findings of the report to determine whether sufficient infrastructure capacity is available.
4. Proceeding with design where sufficient capacity exists or undertaking an infrastructure upgrade report where capacity constraints have been identified.