Man prosecuted for electrical work

Peter Calnan is an auto electrician but he's not a qualified electrician so when he carried out electrical work at a Riri St property leaving live cables hanging from the ceiling he broke the law.

As a result he's been prosecuted by the Electrical Workers' Registration Board and fined more than $2000 in the Rotorua District Court.

Calnan, of Rotorua, initially appeared before Judge Maree MacKenzie on a charge of failing to minimise the risk of injury to persons or damage to property.

He's subsequently pleaded guilty and been convicted and fined $2100 by Judge Louis Bidois who also ordered him to pay court costs of $130 and solicitor's fees of $226.

According to a Summary of Facts released by the court Calnan carried out electrical work at commercial premises he owns and leases in Riri St between June 1 and July 9 last year.

That was after the property had been reinstated following a fire which gutted it in 2013.

After builders and electricians finished repairing the property Calnan had "livened" it himself, although he was not a registered electrician or authorised to carry out the work, the summary stated.

"Both the electrical company employed to carry out the reinstatement at the property and an electrician Mr Calnan engaged have confirmed they did not liven the property," the summary said.

After doing the work Calnan contacted an electrician and asked him to issue a certificate of compliance for an office recently built and wired.

A registered electrician who went to the building found cables hanging from the ceiling with their copper wiring exposed.

"These were tested by a registered electrician and found to be live . . . as a result he had to tack them to ceiling to make them safe," the summary said.

It added than when an investigator spoke to Calnan he said he'd contracted another company to carry out the "livening" work, however spoken to a second time he claimed to have no idea who'd livened the property.

"He said that all he'd done was turn a switch on and run cables for his office, he denied livening the property and stated he didn't know when the property was livened," the summary concluded.