Further Serene Bathroom Heater Update

Dear Members,

We would like to update you on the action Master Electricians is taking on behalf of our members, the industry, and the general public following the voluntary recall of Serene S2068, S2069, and S207T bathroom heaters issued by MBIE based on investigation by Worksafe’s Energy Safety team.

We want to assure you we have been investigating what this means for members and the industry. To date we have:

• Communicated with relevant Ministers regarding the issue, the ramifications for the electrical industry and the problems with existing legislation that have contributed to this unique issue.
• Scheduled and fast-tracked an urgent meeting with David Seymour a Minister of Regulation and Chris Penk as Minister for Building and Construction to discuss the matter at hand.
• Communicated with Worksafe towards clarifying the issue.
• Actively engaged with the main electrical wholesalers in New Zealand.

Our media engagement was undertaken in the interests of consumer safety, as we identified the need to alert a wider audience to the issue while we worked through this. Notices from MBIE do not easily reach all consumers so we did this additional work to help eliminate the hazard from New Zealand homes promptly.

Our initial research around the responsibility for costs of replacement and/or reinstallation costs has opened up the need for further investigation into the matter, as there is a multitude of scenarios which need to be looked into. We appreciate your patience while we ensure we get you the right information.

In the urgent meetings we have arranged with the Ministers mentioned above, we will be highlighting as top priority the regulatory shortcomings that have allowed this issue to arise, and providing our recommendations as to how these shortcomings might be corrected for the benefit of the electrical sector and consumers.

We thank you for your attention. For further information and regular updates visit www.masterelectricians.org.nz/serene.

Yours sincerely,

Alexandra Vranyac-Wheeler
Chief Executive
Master Electricians