Temporary Electrical Services Decommission SWMS
Removal and decommissioning of temporary builders supply, distribution boards, festoon lighting and tradesman outlets at project completion. Includes isolation, tagging, dismantling, and reinstatement of permanent supply.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Decommissioning temporary electrical services at construction project completion involves the systematic removal of builders supply mains, temporary distribution boards (TDBs), festoon lighting circuits, tradesman power outlets and associated submains, followed by changeover to the permanent installation. The work routinely exposes licensed electrical workers to live conductors, stored capacitive energy, working-at-height risks during overhead festoon removal, and the hazards of dismantling weathered or damaged temporary infrastructure. Under WHS Regulation 2025 Part 4.4, this scope is classified as High Risk Construction Work because it involves work on or near energised electrical installations and frequently occurs adjacent to operating switchboards still energised from the network. A documented Safe Work Method Statement is mandatory before work commences, must be prepared in consultation with the workers performing the task, and must remain accessible on site for the duration of the activity. This SWMS addresses isolation verification, lock-out/tag-out (LOTO), conductor discharge, structural dismantling and reinstatement sequencing in compliance with AS/NZS 3012 and AS/NZS 4836.
Hazards identified
7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Electric shock, cardiac arrest, severe arc burns, fatality, and Category 1 prosecution of the PCBU and electrical worker
Third-degree burns to face and hands, blast lung injury, hearing loss, permanent disability and lost-time injury claim
Fractures, spinal injury, traumatic brain injury or fatality from falls exceeding two metres onto hard surfaces
Delayed electric shock causing ventricular fibrillation up to several minutes after apparent isolation of the circuit
Shock through tool contact, RCD trip cascades de-energising critical permanent loads, and downstream equipment damage
Lumbar disc injury, crush injuries to hands and feet, and chronic musculoskeletal disorder workers compensation claims
Parallel feed back-energisation, asset damage, regulatory breach of network service rules and possible prosecution
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Elimination — Where practicable, schedule complete network disconnection at the point of supply by the distribution network service provider before any onsite dismantling commences, removing all live work exposure.
- 2Elimination — Remove festoon lighting catenaries by lowering the entire run to ground level using rigging before disconnection, eliminating any working-at-height electrical task.
- 3Substitution — Replace direct hand disconnection of TDB tails with remote racking or hot-stick operated isolation devices rated to AS/NZS 4836 for the prevailing fault level.
- 4Engineering — Install a dedicated isolation point upstream of the temporary main switch with visible break, padlock provision and integrated voltage indicator compliant with AS/NZS 3012 Clause 2.
- 5Engineering — Use insulated mats, barriers and arc-rated screens around adjacent live permanent switchboards to prevent inadvertent encroachment into exclusion zones defined in AS/NZS 4836 Table 4.1.
- 6Administrative — Implement a formal LOTO permit with multi-lock hasps, personal danger tags, and a documented isolation register signed by the licensed electrical worker and site supervisor.
- 7Administrative — Conduct daily pre-start briefing using this SWMS, confirm DNSP coordination, verify capacitor discharge times, and rehearse emergency rescue and CPR response procedures.
- 8Administrative — Restrict the work to licensed electrical workers holding current refresher training in low-voltage rescue and CPR within the previous twelve months per AS/NZS 4836.
- 9PPE — Mandate Category 2 arc-rated coveralls (minimum 8 cal/cm²), Class 0 insulated gloves with leather over-gloves, AS/NZS 1337 arc-rated face shield and AS/NZS 2210 safety footwear.
- 10PPE — Provide insulated hand tools rated 1000V AC to IEC 60900, voltage detector tested before and after use, and AS/NZS 1801 hard hat with chinstrap for all elevated work.
Applicable Codes of Practice
Mandates isolation procedures, RCD protection, inspection regimes and signage for temporary supplies — directly governs the decommissioning sequence and verification testing.
Prescribes exclusion zones, test-before-touch protocol, LOTO requirements and competency for the licensed worker performing isolation and disconnection.
Triggers the SWMS preparation, consultation and review duties for High Risk Construction Work under WHS Regulation 2025 Part 4.4 Division 2.
Provides the risk management framework for unsafe electrical equipment, energised work justification and the duty to de-energise where reasonably practicable.
High-Risk Construction Work triggered
Decommissioning requires disconnection at the supply side of temporary mains while adjacent permanent switchboards, network pillars and submains remain energised throughout the changeover sequence.
PCBU must prepare, consult workers on, and retain this SWMS for the project duration plus any incident period; penalties for non-compliance are substantial and indexed, with the current maximum following the prevailing WHS schedule.
Who this is for
- →Licensed electrical contractors decommissioning construction temporary supplies
- →Principal contractors on commercial and high-rise project closeout
- →Electrical supervisors coordinating DNSP changeover and permanent energisation
- →Site managers running multi-trade demobilisation on civil infrastructure projects
What you receive
- ✓Editable DOCX template — Microsoft Word compatible
- ✓State-specific WHS legislation schedule (NSW/VIC/QLD/SA/WA/TAS/NT/ACT)
- ✓Hazard register with risk ratings + hierarchy-of-control mapping
- ✓Worker sign-on register, pre-start checklist, and incident escalation flow
Worked example
On a mid-rise apartment project nearing practical completion, the electrical leading hand pulls this SWMS at the 6:30am pre-start brief in the site shed. The crew of three licensed electrical workers walks through the hazard register on page two, with the leading hand specifically calling out the arc flash risk on the basement TDB feeding the tower crane subcircuit, which still carries residual capacitive energy from the variable speed drive starter. Workers sign on, acknowledging the LOTO sequence and the requirement for Category 2 arc-rated PPE. The supervisor confirms the network operator has issued the access permit and that the permanent main switchboard changeover is scheduled for 10:00am with the commissioning electrician on standby. Mid-task, an unexpected issue arises: the festoon lighting on level 3 is still drawing load because a tradesman left a temporary heater connected. The leading hand stops work, returns to the SWMS, and applies the administrative control requiring a full walk-down before isolation. The heater is unplugged, the circuit is retested with the voltage indicator, and a tag is added to the isolation register. The SWMS is annotated with the deviation, re-signed by the crew, and work resumes safely. The completed document is filed with the project safety records on completion.
Related legislation
- WHS Act 2011 (model)
- WHS Regulation 2025
- AS/NZS 3000 — Electrical installations
Frequently asked questions
Is decommissioning temporary site services high risk construction work?
Yes. Disconnection happens on the supply side of the temporary mains while adjacent permanent switchboards, network pillars and submains stay energised right through the changeover — work on or near energised electrical installations or services under section 291(k) of the WHS Regulation 2025. Removing festoon catenaries from ladders or EWPs adds section 291(a) where the fall exceeds two metres. Section 299 requires the SWMS before work commences, prepared with the workers doing it and kept accessible on site. The work itself is restricted to licensed electrical workers holding low-voltage rescue and CPR refresher training completed within the previous twelve months.
Is taking temporary power out safer than putting it in?
Often the opposite. By project close the temporary installation has spent a year or more in the weather, so degraded insulation causing earth leakage is a live hazard rather than a theoretical one, and RCD trip cascades can knock out permanent loads already in service. Nobody has a reliable picture of what is still connected downstream. Stored energy is the other trap: power factor correction capacitors and variable speed drive bus capacitors — a tower crane starter, for instance — can hold a lethal charge for minutes after the circuit looks isolated, so discharge times are confirmed at the pre-start rather than assumed.
How does the SWMS handle festoon lighting removal at height?
By removing the height task rather than protecting it. The elimination control has the whole catenary run rigged and lowered to ground level before any conductor is disconnected, so the electrical work is done standing on the slab instead of stretching off a ladder with a live circuit in one hand. Where elevated work does remain, the fall controls apply along with a hard hat and chinstrap, and dropped-object risk to the crew below is managed through the exclusion zone. It is the single change that takes the most severity out of the job.
Does it cover the changeover to the permanent supply?
Yes, and uncontrolled energisation during changeover is one of the high-priority hazards. Energising the permanent supply without coordinated network operator authority can create a parallel feed and back-energise conductors the crew believes are dead, on top of asset damage and a breach of network service rules. The controls require the distributor's access permit confirmed before the sequence starts, a formal lockout-tagout permit with multi-lock hasps, personal danger tags and a documented isolation register signed by the licensed electrical worker and the site supervisor, and the prove-dead sequence completed before any conductor is touched.
Why is a full walk-down required before isolation?
Because a temporary system rarely matches its own schedule by the end of a job. In the worked example a level 3 festoon circuit is still drawing load after everyone has agreed it is dead — a tradesman has left a heater plugged in. The administrative control is a full walk-down before isolation, and when the discrepancy turns up the sequence is to stop, unplug, retest with the voltage indicator, add a tag to the isolation register, annotate the document and have the crew re-sign. You buy an editable Word file once, which is what makes those annotations part of the record.
Document details
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