No legal action has been taken against the director of Lyon Electrical Ltd by the electrical regulator as a result of the company’s installation of non-compliant cable in Auckland buildings. Nor is there likely to be any prosecution, if the steps taken by the company to establish the cable’s lawfulness for sale are the primary consideration.
This contrasts with the action taken in New South Wales against Infinity Cable director, Lu Luo, who was fined $18,000.00 plus $15,000.00 costs for supplying 4,314 kilometres of non-compliant TPS.
While legitimate suppliers of cable in Australia were appalled at the comparative lightness of the punishment, the case could have gone the other way had the Infinity director not pleaded guilty. What the trial revealed was that more than reasonable steps had been taken to ensure the cables (designated low risk in Australia) were compliant, and the steps taken included testing – a requirement for only high risk products in Australia.
Similarly, in New Zealand, Lyon Electrical installed cable that had been certified as suitable for use by an Australian accredited certification body and was listed on the EESS website as lawful for supply. Products duly listed on this site are deemed to be lawful for sale in New Zealand. It also appears that Lyon Electrical (now in receivership) had received confirmation from a New Zealand test lab that the cable listing assured compliance.