Home " Time Bombs " !

Forty thousand Australian home owners have good reason to be having sleepless nights with the news that seriously sub standard electrical wiring was imported from China and sold through two major hardware chains.   Anyone living in a home built since 2010 or who has had renovations or additions done in that time may have "Infinity " brand wiring carrying the electricity capable of causing a fire or electrocution if it's insulation fails.

The importing firm has since gone into liquidation, and the product was sold in every Australian state and Territory, except the Northern Territory.  It is expected that homeowners will be desperate to contact the electrician that carried out the wiring work on their homes - to ascertain exactly what brand and grade of electrical cable was used on their job.

This wiring does not meet the appropriate Australian standard and may seriously deteriorate in as little as five years, specially if it is disturbed in any way.   The insulation could then break down, leading to house fires or the safety of residents exposed to electric shock.   The cost of stripping it out and replacing the entire house wiring opens a Pandoras box of litigation - and a very unpleasant rectification bill for homeowners.

It also turns the spotlight on the standards required of electrical cable in this country - and what safeguards are in place to see that they are maintained.   It seems that the insulation standard  requires it  to have a life expectancy of forty years - and that should be a wake up call to owners of older housing.   Do the authorities seriously expect that all homes will be demolished and rebuilt after a forty year life cycle ?

A drive through a typical Australian suburb will reveal a mix of housing ranging from nearly two centuries old to representation of every decade in between.   It would not be a pleasing thought that the wiring in every home more than forty years old has passed it's use by date.    No wonder we have a steady spate of house fires which the fire brigades sheet home as caused by " electrical faults ".

Forty years is not an adequate standard in this day and age.   The ability exists to achieve a better standard and that extra cost is sustainable considering that many of the homes we are building today will be still standing a  century from now.     That same risk factor applies to the high rise towers dotting the CBD's of our major cities.   There are hundreds - perhaps thousands - of miles of electrical cable throughout these office blocks and it would be a tragedy if a wiring fault led to a " Towering Inferno " incident.   We can - and we should - do better !