Importing recreational vehicles with electrical installations
It is an offence under the Electricity Regulations to sell an installation for use in New Zealand that does not comply with the Regulations. Therefore it is an offence to sell an installation that is not electrically safe. If you import recreational vehicles with electrical installations installed, you must ensure they are electrically safe.
Recreational vehicles imported from foreign countries must comply with the New Zealand electricity legislation and applicable Standards. Importers should be aware that imports from countries with different power systems such as those from Japan, Canada and the USA that have 110/220Vac 60 Hz electricity systems are very unlikely to comply with New Zealand or Australian electrical safety legislation.
Electrical regimes that supply at 110 Vac, (like the United States), have particular safety features associated with them that are reflected down into the appliances, such as earthing. Such arrangements cannot be duplicated in a connectable installation by simply using a transformer as the installation has no reliable earthing arrangement. Therefore the safety of the US appliances and their use will not achieve the level of safety expected in the US system for which the appliances are designed. In addition, the transformer will change the system enough to make the operation of some safety components ineffective. These factors will render the RV in contravention of regulation 69 and 97.
It is also important to note that the importer of these installations is also an importer of appliances. An importer of appliances is subject to the obligations placed on appliance suppliers, in particular appliances of a type subject to the supplier declaration or approval requirements.
Appliances made for 110 Vac supply are unlikely to meet the NZ appliance requirements. US equipment is also not likely to be suited or certified and evaluated for safety when operated at 50Hz.
Importers of second-hand installations will also need to comply with the obligations placed on other suppliers of second-hand appliances. In order to meet these requirements all second-hand appliances should be tested to AS/NZS 3760.
Please see the Electricity Regulations overview section for more detail.
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