New South Wales Consolidated Acts

ELECTRICITY (CONSUMER SAFETY) ACT 2004 - SECT 26

26 Powers of authorised officers

(cf 1946 No 13, s 21F (2); 1987 No 68, s 19 (4))

(1) An authorised officer may, at any reasonable time, enter any place that the officer suspects on reasonable grounds to be a place in which the manufacture or sale of electrical articles is being, or may be, carried on and may:

(a) inspect and test any electrical article or prototype of an electrical article, and

(b) inspect any manufacturing assembly or testing plant or equipment used in respect of any electrical article, and

(c) open any container or package which the authorised officer has reasonable grounds to believe contains any electrical article or require the person having the custody, control or possession of the container or package to open it, and

(d) seize, detain or remove, for the purpose of examination or testing, any electrical article or any container or package in which an electrical article is contained or has been contained, if the authorised officer has reasonable cause to believe that:

(i) an offence has been committed against this Act or the regulations in respect of the electrical article, or

(ii) the electrical article is or is likely to become unsafe, and

(e) require any person in the place to produce any accounts, records, books or other documents in the possession or under the control of that person relating to the manufacture or sale of any electrical article in the place, and

(f) take copies of, or extracts or notes from, any such accounts, records, books or other documents, and

(g) require any person in the place to answer questions or otherwise furnish information relating to the manufacture or sale of electrical articles in the place where the articles are in the possession or under the control of that person, and

(h) require the owner or occupier of the place to provide the authorised officer with such assistance and facilities as are reasonably necessary to enable the authorised officer to exercise the functions of the authorised officer.

(2) If the Director-General believes on reasonable grounds that there are in any place documents evidencing conduct in connection with an electrical article in contravention of this Act or the regulations, an authorised officer may, with the written authority of the Director-General, enter the place, inspect any documents and make copies of them or take extracts from them.

(3) An authorised officer may not exercise the authorised officer’s functions under this section in relation to a part of any premises being used for residential purposes except:

(a) with the permission of the occupier of that part of the premises, or

(b) under the authority conferred by a search warrant issued under this Act.

Note: Section 42 enables authorised officers to obtain search warrants to search residential premises in certain circumstances.