A licensed electrician should be consulted if you are considering building a new home, which will necessitate the installation of a new electrical system. This includes all wiring, circuit boards, switch boards, power points and lighting. Selection of cable lengths, sizes and current loads will be calculated to ensure they adhere to wiring regulations and meet the appropriate health and safety standards.

Electricity is typically provided by a utility, with mains cables running along most suburban streets. Each home accesses this via a cable which is routed to a central switch board. Here circuit breakers and safety switches provide some protection against faulty wiring, power surges and defective appliances, and will typically shutdown or ‘trip’ the system.

It pays to know a little about electricity so you can protect your family against the dangers of electrocution; this includes:

• only using licensed electricians for any work no matter how menial it seems
• ensuring all your electrical items are serviced and maintained regularly
• repairing any defective electrical item, wiring or power point promptly
• keeping electrical items away from any sources of moisture or water

Find an electrician on this site to install a new wiring system in your home or premises.