This edition of this Standard was prepared by the Standards Australia Committee on Wiring Rules and supersedes AS 3000—1986.

This edition is based on the following considerations:

(a) Experience gained in the application of the ninth (1986) edition as expressed to Standards Australia in terms of miscellaneous enquiries and comment on that edition.
(b) The five amendments and numerous Rulings to the ninth edition.
(c) New materials and installation techniques developed since the publication of the ninth edition.

In addition, during the preparation of this edition consideration was given to the published sections of IEC 364 containing internationally agreed requirements for the electrical installations of buildings.

Work on the preparation of this edition commenced in June 1989 with a call for comment on the ninth edition by means of appropriate announcements in the technical press. The comment received was considered in detail by a number of State and specialist subcommittees after which preliminary drafts were prepared.

A draft for comment was prepared which was not only circulated to Committee EL/1, its subcommittees and other interests, but was also made available to the general public to encourage comment from individuals who made use of AS 3000. The large number of comments received were then considered by the subcommittees, after which a postal ballot was prepared by and circulated to Committee EL/1 in February 1991 for ratification. At a meeting of Committee EL/1 held in May 1991 the postal ballot draft was formally ratified and all matters arising from the ballot were resolved.

The presentation of this edition has not changed from the ninth edition after Committee EL/1 decided to retain the format which involved an arrangement of text into different typefaces to indicate the nature of different material. This format was adopted in order to render the Standard more readable and understandable. The order of sections, and in most cases clauses, is unchanged. This concept received wide support at the draft for comment stage and thus was adopted for the published Standard. An explanation of this presentation is contained in the Foreword.

Even though AS 3008.1 gives detailed information on cable selection, Appendix B has been retained for conductor sizes and installation methods which would generally be applicable to domestic and small commercial/industrial installations.

An electric shock survival chart has been included, however it must be emphasized that the information is provided only for guidance. It is recommended that persons associated with the installation or repair of electrical installations obtain training in resuscitation methods.

The SAA Wiring Rules are applied throughout Australia by means of State and Territory Acts and Regulations. In general these Acts and Regulations specify compliance with the Rules; however, because of local requirements, some variation to specific clauses may be called for by means of these Acts and Regulations.

As Clause 1.3.1.1 requires all material and equipment used in an installation to comply with Approval and Test Specifications or the safety requirements of other Standards, cross-references to these Standards have generally not been included.

This Standard requires reference to a number of Australian Standards and other publications as listed in Appendix A.

Where ratings for cables with imperial dimensions are required, reference should be made to Supplement No 1 (1991) which is available as a separate booklet.

The attention of users of this volume is drawn to the separate booklet Doc. 3000 N, Notes on Changes in the SAA Wiring Rules - Tenth Edition (AS 3000—1991) as compared with the ninth edition (AS 3000—1986) which may be obtained from the various offices of Standards Australia.

Attention is also drawn to the issue of Doc. 3000 R, Rulings to the SAA Wiring Rules. Where a Ruling has been issued on a particular clause, a special symbol has been placed in the margin adjacent to the clause. The Rulings are available from Standards Australia through a subscription service or by individual purchase; the subscription service is a single charge for the issue of Rulings for the life of this edition of AS 3000. Enquiries should be directed to Standards Australia.

First published as part of AS CC1-1931. Revised 1934. Revised and redesignated in part as AS CC1.1-1940. Revised 1950. Revised 1961. Revised 1969. Revised and redesignated in part as AS 3000.1-1976. Revised and redesignated AS 3000-1981. Revised 1986. Revised 1991.