Compliance Insights December 2024

Regulatory changes

Electrical safety — New Zealand

Reminder (was also included in previous update)

WorkSafe NZ have announced that they will delay revoking legacy notices until March 2025 (originally planned for January 2025) to allow additional time for the implementation of the new Electrical Equipment Safety System (EESS) platform and New Zealand suppliers to complete product registrations.  They are also reviewing the NZ directorship requirements in the notices and will provide further updates on this early next year.

https://www.worksafe.govt.nz/about-us/news-and-media/energy-safety-business-update-december-2024/

Electrical safety — Australia

Reminder: EESS database updates — new requirements for certification

EESS database updates

The final phase of transitioning to the new EESS IT platform has been completed. 

Note: Supplementary fields (including rating plate and product images) will not become mandatory until later next year (March 3, 2025).

More information can be found at the EESS platform project website: https://www.eess.gov.au/about/about-the-new-eess-platform/.

General comments and observations:

The new EESS platform involves far more data validations than the previous one, including:

• Standards validity check vs. date for certification and product registration processes.
• Date checks on issue and expiry dates of certificates (including a six-month limit on early renewals).
• Email addresses must be unique and cannot be reused, i.e., the same email address cannot be used for the Australian importer and the overseas certificate holder.

The standards validity check on EESS product registration is new and may require the standards on the certificate to be updated more frequently than before, especially if the Australian importer chooses to do annual product registrations (noting that one-, two- and five-year durations are still options during EESS product registration).

New standards/amendments published

AS/NZS 3120:2021 Amendment 1:2024

Approval and Test Specification – Cord Extension Sockets
Amendment 1 published Dec. 20, 2024

• Updated plug clamping test requirement (maximum 60 N for each pin replacing maximum 120 N for a two-pin plug).
• Added clamping test to Table 2.2 (table of tests to be applied and order of application).

Application date: Upon publication (Dec. 20, 2024)

AS/NZS 60335.2.31:2024

Household and Similar Electrical Appliances – Safety – Part 2.31: Particular Requirements for Range Hoods and Other Cooking Fume Extractors
New edition published Dec. 13, 2024
Superseding AS/NZS 60335.2.31:2020

Modified adoption of IEC 60335-2-31:2024, Ed. 6.0

• Editorial and technical alignment with AS/NZS 60335.1:2022.
• Test Probe 18 (child’s finger greater than 36 months) not applicable to appliances mounted higher than 1.8 m (Clause 8.1.1, 20.2).
• Additional requirement to limit temperature rise of external accessible surfaces (Clause 11).
• Added reference to sharp edges tests in IEC TR 62854 to be used in case of doubt (Clause 22.14).
• Range Hoods and Other Cooking Fume Extractors appliances are not considered to be appliances that could give rise to a hazard when operated continuously, automatically or remotely; switch for remote operation is not required  (Clause 22.40, 22.49, 22.51).

Application date: Dec. 13, 2027

Draft standard/amendment published

DR AS/NZS 62368.1:202x

Audio/Video, Information and Communication Technology Equipment – Part 1: Safety Requirements
Modified adoption of IEC 62368-1:2023, Ed. 4.0
To supersede AS/NZS 62368.1:2022 (three-year transition is proposed)
Information on changes in the IEC text can be found at https://www.ul.com/services/iec-62368-1-testing-certification.

Notable new requirements in AU/NZ national differences:

• Button battery requirements – Replacement of exemptions in IEC standard (professional equipment, equipment used in locations where children are unlikely to be present, equipment containing batteries or cells that are soldered in place), with notes referencing Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) mandatory standards (Clause 4.8.1).
• “Venting of battery” added as a compliance condition during abnormal tests (Clause M.3.3).

Other existing national differences have been carried over into the new edition.

Closing date for comments: Feb. 21, 2025