This was probably bound to happen, but the new Wiring Standards over here in NZ are so ambiguous, because of the mixing of our Regs and Codes of Practice with the Australian Regs and Standards.
(Dapo, if you are reading this, it is not aimed at the sparkies of Oz, mate).
What has happened, is the fact that even though Dapo and I may work loosely under the same Standard, our clause numbers are all different and also some of the wording is different.
You would think that they would be the same, with it being a Harmonised Standard.
What are your thoughts on this?, are your Regs as dis-organised as this?.

G'day Trumpy, That seems to be a common criticism over here as well, A lot of electricians say that the new wiring rules as3000, are to wishy washy! The standards committee went down that track to make the standard less prescriptive, and to allow contractors/electricians to use new materials and methods which are not outlined in the standards. The second theory I have heard and it may just be a conspiracy theory, is that being less prescriptive they have distanced themselves from being sued if something goes wrong for someone following the standard to the letter of the law. I assumed that the AS/NZS 3000:2000 was Identical in the two countries other than a few places where the rule specifically says that it applies to either Aus or NZ, I will try and email a page or two, so you can check, I would be interested to know.
Regards Gray

[This message has been edited by Dapo (edited 05-12-2003).]

Dapo,
I agree with you there.
I am not a lawyer(nor do I want to be), but the new standards have been written, not for the everyday sparkie, but more for the legal community to easier understand.
Even the numbering system causes confusion.
And as for all the cross-references, it's just one big shambles!.
Thanks for your input, mate.