Electricity Act
(Chapter 89A, Section 103)
Electricity (Electrical Workers)
Regulations
Rg 1
G.N. No. S 602/2002

REVISED EDITION 2004
(29th February 2004)
[1st December 2002]
Citation
1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Electricity (Electrical Workers) Regulations.
Definitions
2.  In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires —
“authorised high voltage switching engineer” means a licensed electrical engineer who is —
(a)authorised by the Authority to operate a high voltage apparatus; and
(b)employed or appointed by the licensee of the electrical installation of which the high voltage apparatus forms a part to be in charge of or to control such apparatus;
“voltage” means —
(a)an electro-motive force between any pair of conductors forming part of an electrical circuit or between any part of either conductor and Earth; and
(b)in the case of alternating current, the virtual voltage or root mean square value (or the square root of the mean or average value of the squares of the instantaneous values) of the voltage during the complete cycle.
Classes of licence
3.  There shall be 3 classes of electrical worker licences as follow:
(a)the electrician’s licence;
(b)the electrical technician’s licence; and
(c)the electrical engineer’s licence.
Qualifications
4.—(1)  An electrician’s licence may be issued to any person who —
(a)satisfies the Authority that he —
(i)possesses a National Technical Certificate which curriculum is relevant to the electrical work which an electrician is authorised to perform under regulation 5(1), or such other qualification as may be acceptable to the Authority; and
(ii)has not less than 2 years practical experience relevant to the electrical work which an electrician is authorised to perform under regulation 5(1); or
(b)had been registered as an electrical contractor by the Public Utilities Board before 1st January 1975.
(2)  An electrical technician’s licence may be issued to any person who satisfies the Authority that he —
(a)possesses a technician diploma majoring in electrical power engineering relevant to the electrical work which an electrical technician is authorised to perform under regulation 5(2), or such other qualification as may be acceptable to the Authority; and
(b)has not less than 2 years practical experience relevant to the electrical work which an electrical technician is authorised to perform under regulation 5(2).
(3)  An electrical engineer’s licence may be issued to any person who satisfies the Authority that he —
(a)is a registered professional engineer in electrical engineering under the Professional Engineers Act (Cap. 253); and
(b)has not less than 2 years post-graduate experience in electrical power engineering relevant to the electrical work which an electrical engineer is authorised to perform under regulation 5(3).
Authority conferred by licence
5.—(1)  The holder of an electrician’s licence shall, subject to any condition imposed by the Authority under regulation 8(3), be entitled to —
(a)design, install, repair, maintain, operate, inspect and test an electrical installation where the operating voltage of such installation does not exceed 1,000 volts and the approved load of such installation does not exceed 45 kVA, except that the limitation of 1,000 volts shall not apply in the case of an Electric Discharge Lighting Circuit;
(b)install, repair, maintain and operate, under the supervision of an electrical technician, an electrical installation where the operating voltage of such installation does not exceed 1,000 volts and the approved load of such installation is more than 45 kVA but does not exceed 500 kVA; and
(c)carry out any work as instructed by or under the supervision of an authorised high voltage switching engineer.
(2)  The holder of an electrical technician’s licence shall, subject to any condition imposed by the Authority under regulation 8(3), be entitled to —
(a)install, repair, maintain, operate, inspect and test an electrical installation where the operating voltage of such installation does not exceed 1,000 volts and the approved load of such installation does not exceed 500 kVA;
(b)design and submit plans and drawings of an electrical installation where the operating voltage of such installation does not exceed 1,000 volts and the approved load of such installation does not exceed 150 kVA, except that the limitation of 1,000 volts shall not apply in the case of an Electric Discharge Lighting Circuit; and
(c)carry out any work or switching operation as instructed by or under the supervision of an authorised high voltage switching engineer.
(3)  The holder of an electrical engineer’s licence shall, subject to any condition imposed by the Authority under regulation 8(3), be entitled to design, install, repair, maintain, operate, inspect, test and take full charge and responsibility for any electrical installation.
Application for licence or renewal of licence
6.—(1)  An application for an electrical worker licence or renewal of such licence shall be made to the Authority in such form as may be provided by the Authority and shall be accompanied by the appropriate fee specified in the Schedule.
(2)  An application for an electrical worker licence or renewal of such licence shall be accompanied by such testimonials or other evidence of experience, character and competence as the Authority may, either generally or in any particular case, require.
(3)  Every fact and document stated or submitted in, or in support of, an application for an electrical worker licence or renewal of such licence, and every expression of opinion so stated shall, if required by the Authority, be verified by a statutory declaration made by the applicant.
(4)  An application for the renewal of an electrical worker licence shall be submitted to the Authority not later than one month prior to the date of expiry of the licence.
(5)  The Authority may, in its discretion, reject an application for an electrical worker licence from any person whose licence was previously cancelled or suspended.
Fee not refundable
7.  No fee paid shall be refunded to an applicant in the event that his application for an electrical worker licence or such renewal of a licence is rejected by the Authority.
Licence to subject to conditions, etc.
8.—(1)  Where the Authority approves an application for an electrical worker licence or renewal of a licence, the Authority shall issue the licence to the applicant upon payment by him of the appropriate fee specified in the Schedule.
(2)  An electrical worker licence issued by the Authority shall be valid for such period as may be specified therein unless it is earlier cancelled or suspended in accordance with these Regulations.
(3)  The Authority may issue an electrical worker licence subject to such conditions as it thinks fit.
(4)  The Authority may at any time by notice in writing —
(a)extend or alter in any manner the kind or description of electrical work which the holder of an electrical worker licence may carry out or engage in;
(b)vary all or any of the conditions upon which the licence is issued; or
(c)impose additional conditions.
(5)  Every holder of an electrical worker licence shall at all times comply with the conditions of the licence issued to him.
(6)  Every holder of an electrical worker licence who changes his address shall immediately notify the Authority in writing of his new address.
(7)  The Authority may at any time by notice in writing require the holder of an electrical worker licence to attend at a time and place specified in the notice to be tested on his competence to continue to hold the licence and the holder shall attend and submit himself at that time and place to such examination or other test as the Authority thinks fit in order to satisfy the Authority as to his competence.
Responsibility of holder of licence for notices, etc., to be given
9.—(1)  The holder of an electrical worker licence by whom or under whose supervision any electrical work is being carried out or in which he is engaged shall duly give or cause to be duly given all notices, and obtain or cause to be obtained every consent, that may be required by any written law to be given to or obtained from the Authority or any other authority in respect of any such electrical work carried out by him or under his supervision or in which he is engaged.
(2)  The holder of an electrical worker licence shall carry out such electrical work as he is permitted to carry out under his licence in accordance with any guidelines issued from time to time by —
(a)the Authority;
(b)any other public or statutory authority;
(c)any public electricity licensee authorised by a public licence to transmit electricity issued under the Public Utilities Act (Cap. 261, 1996 Ed.); and
(d)any transmission licensee.
Responsibility of holder of licence in supervisory capacity
10.  The holder of an electrical worker licence shall —
(a)be entitled to supervise any person carrying out any work which the electrical worker is himself authorised to carry out under his licence; and
(b)ensure that any person carrying out work under his supervision does not do or omit to do any thing which is in contravention of these Regulations.
Surrender of licence to Authority
11.  The holder of an electrical worker licence of any class shall surrender that licence to the Authority before he is issued a licence of another class.
Cancellation, suspension, etc., of licence
12.—(1)  In addition to any penalty which may be imposed under these Regulations, or otherwise, if the holder of an electrical worker licence —
(a)has obtained the electrical worker licence by making or causing to be made or produced any false or fraudulent declaration, certificate or representation, either in writing or otherwise;
(b)has, in the opinion of the Authority, contravened any provision of these Regulations or any condition of the electrical worker licence issued to him;
(c)has committed an offence under the Act or of any other offence which offence is of such nature as to render it, in the opinion of the Authority, undesirable that he should continue to hold the electrical worker licence;
(d)has obtained an electrical worker licence of a higher class than that in respect of which he is qualified to hold;
(e)has, having been given notice under regulation 8(7) to attend at a specified time and place to be tested for competence, failed to attend to be tested or to pass such test as may be required by the Authority to prove his competence to hold an electrical worker licence of the class in which he is licensed;
(f)is, in the opinion of the Authority, incapable of carrying out electrical work of the class in respect of which the electrical worker licence was issued;
(g)has applied for the cancellation of his electrical worker licence; or
(h)is for some other reason unfit to be licensed or to continue to be licensed as an electrical worker,
the Authority may, notwithstanding that the electrical worker licence has been issued or renewed since the occurrence of the relevant event —
(i)cancel, refuse to renew or suspend the licence for such period as it thinks fit; or
(ii)in its discretion, issue in place of the electrical worker licence, an electrical worker licence of another class.
(2)  Upon such cancellation or during such suspension, that person shall for the purpose of the Act and these Regulations be deemed not to be a licensed electrical worker.
(3)  A person whose electrical worker licence is cancelled or suspended shall surrender the licence to the Authority within such time as the Authority may specify.
(4)  No compensation shall be paid by the Authority to any person whose electrical worker licence is cancelled or suspended and no fee or part of the fee shall be refunded by the Authority to that person in respect of the unexpired period of such licence.
Reduction of period of suspension
13.  The Authority may at any time, and for such reason as it thinks sufficient, reduce the period for which the licence of an electrical worker has been suspended under regulation 12.
Replacement licence
14.  If the Authority is satisfied that any electrical worker licence issued by it under these Regulations has been lost, destroyed or defaced, the Authority may, upon payment of the appropriate fee specified in the Schedule, issue a replacement licence.
Production of licence and giving of information to authorised officer
15.  An authorised officer may require any person who is carrying out, or who reasonably appears to the authorised officer to be engaged in or to have been engaged in carrying out, any electrical work to do all or any of the following acts and things within such time and at such place as the authorised officer may require:
(a)produce for the inspection of the authorised officer any electrical worker licence held by him under these Regulations;
(b)inform the authorised officer whether or not he holds an electrical worker licence under these Regulations and if so the class of the licence which he holds;
(c)inform the authorised officer whether or not he has carried out or engaged in, or is carrying out or engaging in, any electrical work; or
(d)attend at such office of the Authority as the authorised officer may specify and, on so attending —
(i)give any information or evidence which the Authority may require of him for any purpose of these Regulations; or
(ii)produce to the Authority for inspection and verification any electrical worker licence which he has informed the authorised officer that he holds but which he did not produce to the authorised officer on a demand being made therefor.
Electrical Workers’ Register
16.  The Authority shall maintain a register of licensed electrical workers to be called the Electrical Workers’ Register which shall contain the following particulars:
(a)the full name and address of every holder of an electrical worker licence as set out in his application form for the licence;
(b)the date of issue and expiry, and the number of the licence issued to him;
(c)the date of any conviction of any offence under the Act;
(d)any cancellation or suspension of, or refusal to renew, any licence issued to him; and
(e)such other particulars as the Authority thinks fit.
Information from Electrical Workers’ Register
17.  The Authority shall, upon the request of any person and accompanied by payment to the Authority of the appropriate fee specified in the Schedule, furnish information to that person in writing as to whether or not any person is a licensed electrical worker.
Penalties
18.  Any person who contravenes regulation 9(1), 10, 12(3) or 15 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.