For the purposes of the Act, electrical equipment includes apparatus, conduits, plant, pipes, poles, works and any other regulated product that is used, designed or intended for use for or in connection with the generation, transmission, supply, distribution, or use of electrical energy for any purpose.
In this regulation:
Act means the Safety Standards Act;
B.C. Electrical Code means the B.C. Electrical Code adopted under section 20;
electrical work means regulated work in respect of electrical equipment;
fully detached dwelling means any of the following if occupied or intended by the owner to be occupied as a permanent residence:
any detached building containing only one dwelling unit;
a manufactured home as defined in the Manufactured Home Act;
a recreational vehicle;
homeowner means the owner of a fully detached dwelling who lives in or intends to live in that dwelling as a permanent residence;
licence means a licence issued by a provincial safety manager in respect of electrical equipment;
licensed electrical contractor means a person who holds a licence as a licensed contractor in respect of electrical equipment;
manufacturer's technical representative means an individual authorized by the manufacturer of a regulated electrical product to provide technical services in respect of that product;
regulatory authority means the ministry or local government which provides for an inspection service and has authority to require inspection of electrical work in an area of British Columbia;
rough wiring means a phase of construction in which an electrical installation is fully accessible for inspection;
SkilledTradesBC certificate has the same meaning as "certificate of qualification" in the Skilled Trades BC Act;
testing means the evaluation and verification of electrical equipment by means of instruments and testing devices;
utility means a person who owns or operates equipment or facilities in British Columbia for the generation, transmission or distribution of electricity or communication signals that are for sale.
This regulation, except for section 3.1, does not apply to a public utility as defined in the Utilities Commission Act in the exercise of its function as a utility with respect to the generation, transmission and distribution of electrical energy.
Despite subsection (1), this regulation applies to the electrical equipment owned or in the possession or control of a public utility if the electrical equipment is not used directly in the generation, transmission and distribution of electrical energy.
The range of electricity consumption prescribed for the purposes of the definition of "residential electricity information" in section 19.1 of the Act is 93 kilowatt-hours per day or more, averaged over one billing cycle.
This regulation is subject to the Safety Standards General Regulation.
General Qualification and Licensing Provisions
Individuals Who May Perform Regulated Electrical Work
Subject to subsection (2), an individual must not perform regulated work in respect of electrical equipment unless the individual
holds an appropriate SkilledTradesBC certificate in respect of electrical work,
has successfully completed training recognized by a provincial safety manager,
is employed by an organization that utilizes training programs that are approved by a provincial safety manager and the individual
has successfully completed the relevant training, and
does not perform regulated work for any person other than the individual's employer who provided the training,
is a homeowner acting in accordance with section 17,
is a manufacturer's technical representative,
holds another certificate of qualification under the Gas Safety Regulation or the Power Engineers, Boiler, Pressure Vessel and Refrigeration Safety Regulation, or
is permitted to do so under section 5 of the Safety Standards General Regulation.
Any right referred to in subsection (1) to perform electrical work is limited by
any exception under this regulation,
any terms and conditions imposed under a permission issued under the Act, or
by the scope of the individual's certificate of qualification or SkilledTradesBC certificate.
Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 327/2005, Sch. 1, s. 2.]
Certificates of Qualification for Field Safety Representatives
Only the following individuals are eligible to apply for a certificate of qualification as a field safety representative:
an individual referred to in section 4 (1) (a) to (c);
an applied technologist referred to in section 9 (1);
a professional engineer referred to in section 10 (1).
Class A, class B and class C certificates of qualification as a field safety representative are established.
The classes of certificate established under subsection (1) are in addition to other certificates of qualification for electrical work issued by a provincial safety manager.
The holder of a class A certificate of qualification may make declarations for any type of electrical work.
The holder of a class B certificate of qualification may make declarations only with respect to electrical installations in which the voltage of the completed installation does not exceed 1 000 volts.
The holder of a class C certificate of qualification may make declarations only with respect to electrical installations in which the current and voltage in the installation do not exceed current of 200 amps and voltage of 150 volts to ground, single phase power.
In order to obtain a certificate of qualification for Class A, B or C as a field safety representative under section 7, an individual must
hold an appropriate SkilledTradesBC certificate,
complete a course in the application of electrical codes and standards required by the provincial safety manager,
pass an examination required by the provincial safety manager, and
have work experience acceptable to a provincial safety manager.
In order to obtain a class A certificate of qualification as a field safety representative under this section, an individual must also complete three high voltage installations.
An individual who qualifies for a class A certificate of qualification as a field safety representative may obtain a certificate of class B or C but may hold only one of those certificates at any time.
An individual may apply to a provincial safety manager for a certificate of qualification as a field safety representative in one of the classes of certificates referred to in section 7 if the individual
holds qualifications in electrical engineering technology,
is registered as an applied science technologist under the Professional Governance Act,
completes a course in the application of electrical codes and standards required by a provincial safety manager, and
passes an examination required by the provincial safety manager.
An applied technologist who applies for a class A or class B certificate of qualification as a field safety representative must have
2 years of work experience, acceptable to a provincial safety manager, after receiving a class C certificate of qualification as a field safety representative, or
3 years of work experience, acceptable to a provincial safety manager, with electrical installations in which the voltage of installation is more than 150 volts to ground.
An applied technologist who applies for a class C certificate of qualification as a field safety representative must have one year of work experience acceptable to a provincial safety manager.
An individual who holds qualifications in electrical engineering and is a member in good standing with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia may apply to a provincial safety manager to obtain a certificate of qualification as a field safety representative in one of the classes of certificate of qualifications as a field safety representative referred to in section 7 if the individual passes an examination required by the provincial safety manager.
A professional engineer who applies for a class A or class B certificate of qualification as a field safety representative must have two years of work experience acceptable to a provincial safety manager.
A certificate of qualification issued by a provincial safety manager to a field safety representative is valid until the expiry date stated on the certificate.
A provincial safety manager may renew a certificate of qualification only if the certificate holder applies to renew the certificate before its expiry.
Subject to subsection (5), a Class A, B or C certificate of qualification may be renewed only if the certificate holder does one of the following:
completes at least 8 hours of continuing education;
passes an examination required by a provincial safety manager.
Subject to subsection (5), a certificate of qualification other than a Class A, B or C certificate of qualification may be renewed only if the certificate holder does one of the following:
completes at least 4 hours of continuing education;
if an examination is available for the class of certificate of qualification that is the subject of the application, passes an examination required by a provincial safety manager.
Despite section 3 of the Safety Standards General Regulation, if a certificate holder fails on the initial attempt to pass an examination referred to in this section, the holder's certificate of qualification may not be renewed unless the certificate holder completes the applicable number of hours of continuing education required under this section.
For the purposes of subsections (3) (a), (4) (a) and (5), a certificate holder must do all of the following:
complete continuing education that a provincial safety manager recognizes or evaluates as being relevant to the scope of the certificate;
complete the required number of hours of continuing education within the term of the certificate of qualification that is to be renewed;
In this section:
application requirement means a requirement of the Safety Standards General Regulation or of this regulation that applies with respect to a certificate of qualification of the same class as that of a transitional certificate being renewed under this section;
transitional certificate means a certificate of qualification issued under this regulation that does not have an expiry date specified on the certificate.
A transitional certificate expires July 31, 2019, unless renewed in accordance with subsection (3).
A transitional certificate holder may apply to renew the certificate by providing to a provincial safety manager, before July 31, 2019, the following:
proof, acceptable to the provincial safety manager, of the applicant's identity;
any further information the provincial safety manager requires to evaluate the application;
any required fees.
A transitional certificate holder is exempt from meeting all application requirements other than
as provided under this section, and
those requirements, if any, imposed by a provincial safety manager.
Permits, Inspections and Regulated Products
Permits
When electrical work is performed on electrical equipment, a permit is required
for each structure with a separate electrical supply, or
for each portion of a structure with a separate electrical supply service.
A permit is required for any electrical work that requires the attendance of a utility to connect or reconnect an electrical service.
Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 255/2022, Sch. 1, s. 4.]
If a person holds a permit under the Elevating Devices Safety Regulation or the Gas Safety Regulation to do work on an elevating device or gas system that includes electrical work, no additional permit under this regulation is required to do the electrical work.
If electrical maintenance is performed on a building or premises, the application for the operating permit must include the name, class and certificate of qualification number of the field safety representative who will perform or supervise the regulated work under the permit.
An operating permit under this regulation is not required for a utility that is regulated under an enactment of Canada.
In this section, utility representative means individual specified in an application for an operating permit for a utility as the applicant's utility representative.
A utility representative must provide the name, class and certificate of qualification number of at least one field safety representative who will perform or supervise all electrical work under the permit.
Subject to this section, a homeowner may perform electrical work in their fully detached dwelling under an installation permit.
An installation permit may be issued to a homeowner only if
electricity is not fed or supplied from the fully detached dwelling to a separately owned or occupied property, and
the electrical work involves only installations in which the current and voltage do not exceed current of 200 amps and voltage of 150 volts to ground, single phase power.
An installation permit issued under subsection (2) does not authorize the issue of a permit to install the connection from a manufactured home or recreational vehicle to the power supply of a manufactured home park or recreational vehicle park.
A homeowner who performs electrical work under an installation permit must request that the work be inspected by a safety officer
if the work or a phase of the work is completed, promptly on that completion, or
if no other inspection has been made within 180 days from the start of the permit, immediately before the expiry of the 180 day period.
If an inspection is required after a request under subsection (4), the inspection must be made after completion of the electrical work and before
the concealment of any portion of the rough wiring, and
the connection of power to the electrical supply system.
A homeowner may perform the electrical work in the homeowner's fully detached dwelling under an installation permit issued to a licensed electrical contractor for that work if
the contractor who holds the permit supervises the work, and
the homeowner only performs work referred to in subsection (2).
No permit is required if the only electrical work performed is testing.
An individual may replace the following regulated products without a permit, up to a maximum rating of 150 volts to ground, with electrical equipment of a similar type or rating:
receptacles;
cord attachment plugs;
snap switches;
ballasts;
dimmer switches;
fan speed controllers;
thermostats;
overcurrent devices.
An individual may replace, without a permit, a lamp of up to 347 volts to ground with a lamp of a similar type or rating.
An individual may replace, without a permit, a fuse of up to 750 volts with a fuse of a similar type or rating.
If a licensed electrical contractor or a manufacturer's technical representative performs repairs involving the components of existing installed and certified regulated electrical equipment, no permit is required if
there are no modifications or additions to the electrical installation,
neither the electrical rating nor the characteristics of the equipment is altered, and
the replacement components are of a type which do not invalidate the original certification mark.
If a licensed electrical contractor or a manufacturer's technical representative performs maintenance on, or a repair of, a class 2 security alarm system, or replaces parts of a class 2 security alarm system, no permit is required if the conditions set out in subsection (5) (b) and (c) are met.
For the purposes of subsection (6), class 2 security alarm system means a security alarm system that is powered by a class 2 circuit.
If a person holds an electrical installation permit, the field safety representative named on the permit must request an inspection at least once in every 180 day period.
If no inspection request under subsection (1) has been submitted within a 180 day period, the holder of the permit must have the permit amended to allow for the extra time before performing any regulated work.
On the completion of each phase of electrical work under an installation permit, the field safety representative named on the permit must request an inspection.
A person must not do any of the following unless the regulated work has been inspected or the inspection has been waived:
conceal any portion of the rough wiring;
connect power to the electrical supply system;
if the inspection is required for other than the last phase, work on the next phase of the electrical work.
If an inspection is required for regulated work, other than the regulated work in the last phase, a person must not do regulated work on the next phase of electrical work.
an inspection, or
a declaration that the work performed under the permit complies with the Act and the regulations.
Regulated Product Standards and Certification
The Canadian Electrical Code, Part I, Twenty-sixth Edition, Safety Standard for Electrical Installations, Canadian Standards Association Standard C22.1:24, amended as set out in the Schedule to this regulation and including any errata, is adopted by reference as the B.C. Electrical Code.
Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 170/2018, Sch. 1, s. 2.]
a certification mark;
a label or mark of a certification agency that is acceptable to the appropriate provincial safety manager to certify electrical equipment for a specific installation;
an approval mark issued under section 10 of the Act;
in the case of used manufactured homes, used factory-built structures and used recreational vehicles, a label supplied by the appropriate provincial safety manager.
An approval mark under subsection (1) (c) signifies compliance with requirements in respect of fire and electrical shock hazards only.
Electrical equipment that does not require approval under the B.C. Electrical Code does not require a label or mark.
Electrical equipment that has not been approved under subsection (1) may
be displayed for not more than 14 days if the regulatory authority gives written permission to do so, or
be used by a utility in its capacity as a utility if a professional engineer has certified that the use of the equipment is safe.
Combustible Wood Dust Hazards
In this Division:
acceptable industry standard means any of the following:
NFPA 499, "Recommended Practice for the Classification of Combustible Dusts and of Hazardous (Classified) Locations for Electrical Installations in Chemical Process Areas)";
Part 10-2 of IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) 60079-10-2 Explosive Atmospheres;
a standard, acceptable to a safety manager, for classifying CDH locations;
CDH location means combustible dust hazardous location;
combustible dust has the same meaning as in section 18 of the B.C. Electrical Code;
hazardous location has the same meaning as in section 0 of the B.C. Electrical Code, as it applies to combustible dust;
NFPA means National Fire Protection Association;
qualified professional means an individual described in section 23;
wood processing facility means a sawmill, planer mill or other facility that
cuts, planes or otherwise mills raw lumber,
is capable of producing Zone 20 or Zone 21 CDH locations, and
first began cutting, planing or otherwise milling raw lumber before February 29, 2016;
Zone 20 has the same meaning as in section 18 of the B.C. Electrical Code;
Zone 21 has the same meaning as in section 18 of the B.C. Electrical Code.
An individual who acts independently of any other person is a qualified professional for the purpose of this Division if the individual has, in the opinion of a safety manager, professional qualifications, or a combination of skills and experience, relevant to all of the following:
the operation of a wood processing facility, including knowledge of potential failure modes within the meaning of NFPA 664, "Standard for the Prevention of Fires and Explosions in Wood Processing and Woodworking Facilities" that may cause a CDH location to form;
the application of acceptable industry standards for the purpose of classifying CDH locations;
the proper installation and operation of electrical equipment present on the premises of a wood processing facility;
the application of the B.C. Electrical Code, the British Columbia Fire Code, the B.C. Natural Gas and Propane Code and other relevant regulations.
An individual who is a member of a group is a qualified professional for the purpose of this Division if
the group members collectively have, in the opinion of a safety manager, the professional qualifications or combination of skills and experience described in subsection (1), and
the individual exercises the functions of a qualified professional under this Division only while acting together with other members of the group.
An owner of a wood processing facility must retain a qualified professional to
assess the wood processing facility for the purpose of identifying and classifying, in accordance with an acceptable industry standard, CDH locations within the wood processing facility, and
prepare the records referred to in this section.
Following an assessment, a qualified professional must prepare a written report that does all of the following:
details the results of the assessment and the process used to conduct the assessment, including confirming that the assessment was conducted using an acceptable industry standard;
confirms that the results of the assessment are documented in records located at the wood processing facility;
contains all further information, if any, required by a safety manager.
Following an assessment, a qualified professional must prepare a written CDH location management plan that does all of the following:
either
satisfies a safety manager that electrical equipment in CDH locations in the wood processing facility complies with the B.C. Electrical Code, or
includes a dust management plan made in accordance with subsection (4);
details a process for the regular evaluation of
the currency of the assessment conducted under subsection (1), and
the effectiveness of combustible dust management practices used in the wood processing facility and, if applicable, the dust management plan;
contains all further information, if any, required by a safety manager.
A dust management plan must do all of the following:
set out the details of the processes that will be used to manage the combustible dust hazard;
provide procedures for monitoring the implementation of the plan;
provide procedures for recording and keeping the results of the monitoring referred to in paragraph (b), in sufficient detail and in a manner that a safety officer or safety manager, on inspection, will be satisfied that the plan is being implemented as intended.
An owner of a wood processing facility must ensure that a CDH location management plan is revised, by a qualified professional, as follows:
in accordance with the directions of a safety officer or safety manager, within the time required by the safety officer or safety manager;
if electrical equipment within a CDH location is changed in a manner that affects the level of safety to be achieved by complying with the plan;
if changes are made to
combustible dust management practices used in the wood processing facility, or
processes detailed in a dust management plan used to manage combustible dust hazards;
if changes are made to the type of raw lumber being processed in the wood processing facility;
if significant changes are made to how raw lumber is processed in the wood processing facility, including any changes to the equipment used in processing or the introduction of a new type of processing.
Within 30 days of revising a CDH location management plan for a reason described in subsection (1) (b), (d) or (e), an owner of a wood processing facility must submit to a safety manager a declaration stating
that the plan has been revised by a qualified professional, and
the reason for the revision.
An owner of a wood processing facility must submit to a safety manager any further information the safety manager requires after receiving a declaration under subsection (2).
An owner of a wood processing facility must do both of the following with respect to the records referred to in section 24:
keep a copy of the records within the facility;
keep a copy of the records for at least 5 years from the date on which they were made.
For the purpose of subsection (1), the original record and each revision to the record are to be treated as separate records.
An owner of a wood processing facility must ensure the operation of the wood processing facility is in compliance with the CDH location management plan that applies to the facility.
The following persons must promptly notify, in writing, a safety manager or safety officer if a CDH location management plan that applies to a wood processing facility is not being complied with, or if circumstances in the facility have changed in a manner that affects the adequacy of the plan to achieve safety:
the owner of the facility;
the qualified professional who prepared the plan;
a field safety representative named on a permit for electrical equipment located within a CDH location identified in the plan.
Annually, or more often if required by a safety manager, an owner of a wood processing facility must submit to a safety manager, in the form and manner required by the safety manager, a declaration stating
that the owner's wood processing facility is being operated in compliance with the CDH location management plan that applies to the facility, and
all further information, if any, required by the safety manager.
An owner of a wood processing facility must promptly notify a safety manager, in writing and accompanied by proof acceptable to the safety manager, of any of the following circumstances:
if all electrical equipment in CDH locations in the wood processing facility complies with the B.C. Electrical Code;
if electrical equipment in a CDH location that did not comply with the B.C. Electrical Code is permanently removed from the CDH location or replaced with equipment that complies with the B.C. Electrical Code;
if a CDH location identified in a CDH location management plan that applies to the facility no longer exists.
No later than 30 days after the occurrence of either of the following events, an owner of a wood processing facility must notify a safety manager, in writing and accompanied by proof acceptable to the safety manager, of the event:
if ownership of the wood processing facility is transferred to another person;
if the wood processing facility ceases to operate for a period of more than 30 days.
Schedule [en. B.C. Reg. 222/2015, s. 2; am. B.C. Regs. 183/2019, App. 2, ss. 3 and 4; 179/2022, s. 5; 118/2024, s. 2.] Amendments for the Purposes of Adopting the Canadian Electrical Code as the B.C. Electrical Code 1 For the purposes of section 20 of this regulation, the Canadian Electrical Code, Part I, Twenty-sixth Edition, Safety Standard for Electrical Installations, Canadian Standards Association Standard C22.1:24, is adopted as if it were amended as follows: (a) in section 0 by deleting the definition of Electrical contractor and substituting the following: Electrical contractor means a licensed electrical contractor, as defined in the Electrical Safety Regulation; National Building Code of Canada, National Building Code of Canada or local building legislation or words of similar effect, except in Appendix C, mean the British Columbia Building Code and local building bylaws; National Fire Code of Canada means the British Columbia Fire Code; . (b) to (f) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 183/2019, App. 2, s. 4 (b).] (g) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 118/2024, s. 2 (b).]