20 Aug 2026
Representatives from across industry bodies, including Engineering New Zealand Te Ao Rangahau, are urgently calling on the Government to reverse changes it made to the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010 and the NZ Wiring Rules, before somebody is injured or killed.
Last year, in an effort to reduce barriers to the installation of renewable energy technologies including solar panels and EV chargers, the Government made a number of regulatory modifications, including removal of clauses from the standard which prohibited the switching of protective earth and neutral (PEN) conductors.
Dr Richard Templer, Chief Executive of Engineering New Zealand, says this puts New Zealand in stark contrast to international standards and minimum practice, with PEN conductor switching banned in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“Our Electrical Engineering Group, together with electrical experts across wider industry, considers it to be both unnecessary and inherently unsafe because of the risk of serious injury or death,” he said.
“We are calling for the urgent reinstatement of the prohibitions in the standard before somebody suffers significant harm.”
PEN conductors keep an installation's earthing system at roughly the same voltage as the ground around it, and the rest of New Zealand, making it safe. If the PEN conductor is interrupted that same earthing system can become energised and cause serious injury or death.
WorkSafe's own independent review, commissioned in response to industry concerns, concluded that "PEN conductors should not be switched under any circumstances".
“Despite these clear concerns, WorkSafe has advised the Government to retain the revised standard and believes developing a non-binding and non-regulatory fact sheet is sufficient mitigation. We consider this response to be wholly inadequate,” said Dr Templer.
Engineering New Zealand has engaged extensively with WorkSafe and MBIE regarding this issue and are yet to be provided a single scenario in which PEN conductor switching is necessary to support EV charging, home solar generation systems, or other modern inverter-based technologies.
Glenn Harvey, Chairman of the Solar Association also opposes last year’s changes.
“I think it’s a failure to proceed with PEN switching, based on the fact it creates serious safety hazards and does not in fact speed up the installation of solar,” said Mr Harvey. “Having a dedicated earth conductor is safe and best practice.”
Engineering New Zealand wrote to the Minister for Energy, Hon Simeon Brown, in July this year and are awaiting a response. The amendments are due to become mandatory across the sector in November 2026.
“It feels like we’re sleepwalking towards the edge of a cliff, and I really hope the Government wakes up to the risk in time,” said Dr Templer.
“We are fully supportive of the Government’s intent and efforts to streamline regulations to boost our productivity, efficiency and effectiveness, but that should never come at a serious risk to life. We continue to remind electrical workers that it is never safe to install a switch, circuit breaker or fuse in a PEN conductor.”
A factual one-pager on the issue, risks, our response and planned actions can be found here.
