Electrician

Registration overseas-trained pathway

Registration requirements

Registration class

Electrician

Required work experience

To become an Electrician you must have:

• Completed 4 years (8000 hours) practical training and experience as an Electrician overseas, including:
  • At least 1 year (2000 hours) of experience of wiring installation within buildings
  • Installing and connecting high- and/or low-voltage single phase and multiphase cables and associated fittings
  • Installing overhead and underground high- and/or low-voltage cabling
  • Installing switchboards and protective devices, including residual current devices and circuit breakers
  • Installing lighting, power outlets and fixed-wired appliances
  • Earthing
  • Fault-finding
  • Testing and Certification.

Required documents

You must provide the following documents in your application.

Certified proof of identity

• A certified copy of the front and back of your current New Zealand Driver Licence; or
• A certified copy of your current Passport biographic page.

Certified documents

*Certified: Certification of your copied documents must be done by either a Justice of the Peace, a Public Notary, a Solicitor or NZ Court Registrar. The official confirmation that the copies of your documents are identical to the original documents. The confirmation is issued by an authorised public authority or a Notary.

Work history references from employer or supervisor

You must provide detailed references of your work experience.

If the information in your documents is not in English, you must include a certified English translation.

Your references must:

• Be certified
• Detail the prescribed electrical work experience that you have completed covering 4 years (8000 hours)
• Include the start and end dates of employment for each company
• Include the number of hours, days, weeks, or months of work experience you have completed
• Contain sufficient experience in the area you seek registration
• Be on company letterhead
• Be signed and dated by your employer or supervisor
• Contain email contact details for your employer or supervisor.

Prescribed electrical work(external link) – New Zealand Legislation

If you can only provide certified Certificates of Employment, you will also need to complete a Statutory Declaration:

Statutory Declaration(external link) – New Zealand Government 

The Statutory Declaration must:

• Be certified
• Detail the prescribed electrical work experience that you have completed covering 4 years (8000 hours) of work experience
• Include the start and end dates of employment for each company
• Include the number of hours, days, weeks, or months of work experience you have completed
• Contain sufficient experience in the area you seek registration
• Contain email contact details for your employer or supervisor.

Prescribed electrical work(external link) – New Zealand Legislation

Do not apply if you have not completed the required hours or cannot provide evidence of employment, as your application will be declined and the application fee will not be refunded.

Your overseas references must contain details of your work experience so we can determine if your experience is suitable for EWRB registration. You can attach a position description in support of your references.

Please note that falsifying work references is fraud if you are applying for registration based on those references.

Qualifications

If you are providing qualifications as part of your application, they must be certified colour copies (don’t submit original documents).

If the information in your documents is not in English, you must include a certified English translation.

Passport quality photo

ID photo requirements

Check that your photo meets the requirements:

Online photo checker(external link) – New Zealand passports

Payment details

You can pay for your application by credit or debit card. All payments made outside the New Zealand banking system must be made by credit card.