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Corporate responsibility

The new Electrical Safety Act introduces a completely new system of requirements that must be met by all electrical installation companies operating in Sweden.

From 1 July 2017, companies carrying out electrical installation work in Sweden are covered by the following rules:

The Electrical Safety Act, ESA (in Swedish)

The Electrical Safety Ordinance (in Swedish)

ELSÄK-FS 2017:2 (The National Electrical Safety Board’s regulations and general advice on electrical installation work)

ELSÄK-FS 2017:3 (The National Electrical Safety Board’s regulations on electrical installation companies and on the execution of electrical installation work

All companies working with electricity (electrical installation work) are affected by the rules. They must be familiar with the rules applicable to them and must ensure that they are followed.

From personal to corporate responsibility

Under the new system, the companies carrying out electrical installation

  • are responsible for execution.
  • must monitor their electrical installation activity in a self-audit scheme.

The old system, in which authorised electricians supervised electricians and thereby ensured that the electrical installation was executed correctly, has come to an end.

Corporate responsibility

Requirements of electrical installation companies

Electrical installation companies are subject to the following requirements:

  • The company is responsible for ensuring that its electrical installation work is carried out in accordance with the requirements.
  • The company must operate a self-audit scheme. 
  • The company must ensure that the electrical installation work is only carried out by authorised electricians or others covered by the self-audit scheme.
  • The company must have at least one compliance officer with an authorisation type which covers the work done by the company.
  • Companies carrying out electrical installation work on equipment which is not their own must register with the National Electrical Safety Board.
  • Companies working on equipment which is not their own must appoint an individual who the National Electrical Safety Board can contact regarding supervision, etc. This person may be the compliance officer but it could also be someone else.
  • Companies carrying out electrical installation work on their own equipment do not need to register, but they must have at least one compliance officer and a self-audit scheme.

It is the responsibility of the electrical installation company to ensure that these requirements are met.

Exemptions

There are a small number of exemptions from the requirements governing self-audit schemes and authorised electricians. They are described in more detail in:

Execution requirements

Electrical installation work must be executed in a way which provides adequate safety from injury or damage. The new Electrical Safety Act imposes a general duty of care on anyone carrying out electrical installation work. The general duty of care means no one should ever carry out electrical installation work unless they know what they are doing!

Supervision

The National Electrical Safety Board has the duty to supervise electrical installation companies. If a company conducts itself in an unacceptable way or if there is reason to believe that it does not meet the requirements of the Electrical Safety Act or adhere to the rules applicable to electrical installation companies, it should be reported to the National Electrical Safety Board.

The National Electrical Safety Board instructs companies to take action. If they fail to do so, we have the power to stop them operating.

More information

For more information about corporate responsibility, see our manual "Electrical installations under the Electrical Saftey Act", section 3 (link below).

Last reviewed: 2020-12-12