Temporary Site Power: What the Rules Require

A temporary builders supply is a real electrical installation. It has its own standard, its own inspection and testing regime, and its own paperwork, and the reason it is treated more strictly than a house is that a construction site is wet, mobile, full of metal and full of people using leads in ways nobody designed for.

This is what applies, who is responsible for what, and the parts that most often go wrong.

The standard that governs it

AS/NZS 3012 is the standard for electrical installations at construction and demolition sites. It sits alongside AS/NZS 3000:2018, not instead of it, and it exists because temporary installations are exposed to conditions a permanent one is not.

The connection itself is governed by the NSW Service and Installation Rules and by your distributor's own requirements, the same as any other connection.

Who can install it

Connecting a temporary supply to the distribution network is Level 2 work. It requires an accredited Level 2 ASP, and it involves an application to Ausgrid or Endeavour Energy depending on the address.

So the sequence is an application, then an installation, then an energisation, then certification. It is not a matter of turning up with a board and hooking it on, and the lead time on the application is the thing that most often catches out an owner-builder working to a start date.

What the supply arrangement looks like

The usual arrangement is a temporary pole or a stand carrying a lockable enclosure, with metering, a main switch, RCD protection and outlets, fed from the network.

Sizing is driven by what the site actually runs. A domestic build commonly sits around 32 amp single phase, and that covers saws, compressors, a mixer and lighting. Three phase comes in where there is plant that needs it: a tower crane, larger pumps, some concrete plant, or a commercial fit-out. As with any connection, it is a maximum demand question rather than a guess, and undersizing it produces a site where the main switch trips every time two trades run something at once.

What the board itself has to have

The details are in AS/NZS 3012 and in the distributor's requirements, but in general terms:

RCD protection on the outlets. This is the core of the standard. Portable equipment on a construction site is the highest-risk use of electricity there is, and the RCD is what protects the person using it.

A lockable enclosure, rated for outdoor exposure, that can be secured when the site is unattended.

Outlets appropriate to the site, typically a mix of 10 amp, 15 amp and 32 amp, with the higher-rated ones for plant.

Mechanical protection and positioning. The supply has to survive a site: vehicle movements, scaffolding, materials being swung around. Position is part of the design, not an afterthought, and it needs to stay accessible as the build progresses.

Clearances from the work. Including from where a crane or excavator will operate, and from any overhead network in the street.

The testing regime is the part people miss

This is the single most commonly neglected requirement, and it is the one that matters most.

Temporary installations require regular inspection and testing at intervals set by the standard, not a one-off test at installation. RCDs in particular require periodic testing, both the push-button test and a timed operation test, and records have to be kept.

The reason is straightforward: an RCD is a mechanical device in a dusty, damp, vibrating environment, and it can fail to trip without any outward sign. An untested RCD on a site board is protection that may or may not exist.

On a managed commercial site this is normally part of the site's electrical safety regime. On an owner-builder site there is nobody else to do it, and that responsibility does not disappear because nobody mentioned it.

Who is responsible for what

This is worth being clear about because it is where disputes happen.

The ASP is responsible for the connection, the installation of the supply to the applicable rules, the testing at installation, and the certification.

The person conducting the business or undertaking on site is responsible for the installation's ongoing safety while it is in service: the periodic testing, the records, the condition of leads and portable equipment, and keeping the supply accessible and undamaged. On an owner-builder job that is the owner.

The distributor is responsible for the network up to the point of supply, and it approves and energises the connection.

The common failure is an owner-builder assuming the ASP who installed it is also looking after it for the next eight months. Nobody is coming back unless somebody asks them to.

Leads and portable equipment

Not the supply itself, but where most site incidents actually originate:

• Leads get run over, crushed under materials, and pulled through doorways
• Damaged leads get taped rather than replaced
• Leads sit in water
• Multiple leads get daisy-chained, which drops the voltage at the tool and makes the cable work harder than it was rated for
• Portable equipment and leads on site require their own testing and tagging regime

A site board with perfect RCDs feeding a shredded lead lying in a puddle is still a serious problem.

What happens at the end

When the permanent connection goes live, the temporary supply is disconnected and removed, and that is Level 2 work as well. Plan for it, because it is a second visit and a second application step rather than something that happens on its own.

There is a decision worth making early on: on many domestic builds the permanent supply can be installed and energised earlier than people assume, which shortens or removes the temporary period. It is worth asking about at the connection application stage rather than at the end.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just run a lead from the house next door? No. Beyond being unsafe and non-compliant, there is no protection arrangement, no metering, no RCD regime and no certification, and the lead is doing a job no lead is rated for. It is also the arrangement most likely to be behind a serious site incident.

Can I use a generator instead? On some sites, yes, and it avoids the connection application. It brings its own requirements: generators have their own earthing and RCD considerations under AS/NZS 3012, and a generator's earthing arrangement is not the same as a network-supplied installation's. It needs setting up properly rather than plugging into.

How long does it take to get a temporary supply connected? The installation is normally a day. The application to the distributor has its own lead time, and that is what sets the date. Talk to someone at the point where you have a site, not at the point where the trades are booked.

Do I need a temporary supply for a knockdown rebuild? Usually yes, and there is a disconnection to arrange first. Demolition requires the existing supply to be disconnected at the network side, which is also Level 2 work, and that is a separate job from the temporary connection.

Does the temporary supply get a compliance certificate? Yes. A CCEW is issued by the licensed person who did the work and lodged within 7 days of the compliance test, online only through the Building Commission NSW eCert portal from 1 July 2026. A NOSW also goes from the ASP to the distributor for the service work.

What if the board stops working mid-build? Common causes and what to check are here, and most of them are diagnosable from the ground before anyone is called out.

Getting a site supply organised

If you have a site and a start date, the application lead time is the thing to get moving on first.

Call 0485 824 714. We are accredited Level 2 ASPs under the NSW Government's ASP Scheme, authorised to work on the distribution network, with 15 years on connection-side work and a Lifetime Labour Warranty on what we do. Free quotes, across Sydney and the Blue Mountains on both the Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy networks.