New checks on insulation in Qld

Third-year apprentice electrician Maks Chylewski tests ceiling insulation.

THE Queensland government will move to shore up rules surrounding foil insulation to ensure residents are not put in danger from an influx of cheap products onto the market.

A federal government insulation scheme was canned after it was linked to the deaths of installers, at least 93 house fires, and safety and quality problems potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of homes.

Industrial Relations Minister Cameron Dick said the Queensland government was concerned a stockpile meant products could be rushed into the marketplace, exacerbating safety risks.

"Electrical safety officers (are) aware that there is currently a large stockpile of insulation products in Queensland and this surplus stock may be sold and installed at discounted prices outside any new federal scheme," he told state parliament on Tuesday.

Mr Dick said he would issue a ministerial notice under the Electrical Safety Act on Tuesday afternoon regarding electrically conductive foil ceiling insulation.

The new rules will require installers to arrange a pre-insulation electrical inspection by a licensed electrical contractor and to install safety switches on all circuits in the ceiling space.

They will also require installers to mark and separate foil insulation from any wiring that cannot be protected by a safety switch.

Mr Dick said the rules would apply in Queensland irrespective of any requirements under the federal government's yet-to-commence household renewable energy bonus scheme.

He said the Electrical Safety Office would be advertising the new rules to electrical contractors.