The 1 July 2026 NSW eCert mandate, in plain English

The carbon book is finished. From 1 July 2026, the only way to issue a Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work in NSW is digitally, through the Building Commission NSW eCert system. Here's the plain read.

What actually changes

BCNSW eCert is the online system for lodging CCEWs in NSW. It went live for voluntary use in December 2025. From 1 July 2026 it stops being optional: every CCEW must go through it.

What stops being accepted on that date:

• The handwritten NECA carbon book.
• The fillable CCEW PDF form.
• Lodging through the Essential Energy portal.

If a job needs a CCEW after 1 July 2026, it goes through eCert — full stop. A copy is sent automatically to the people who need it, including the customer and (where relevant) the network provider.

Why the regulator is doing this

Paper certificates are slow to lodge, easy to lose, and almost impossible to audit at scale. A digital record ties each certificate to a current licence, a timestamp, and a verifiable trail — so the customer has proof, and the regulator can actually check the work was certified.

The bit that bites: penalties

This isn't a soft deadline. Under the legislation, on-the-spot fines of up to $1,000 apply for each occasion a certificate of compliance isn't supplied to the consumer (or the network provider where relevant). Per occasion — they add up fast.

What you need to be ready

• A current NSW electrical licence — eCert checks it on every lodgement.
• A way to lodge digitally: Kando, or another BCNSW-connected app.
• Your declaration on every CCEW, attached to the submission.

That's it. No new qualifications, no paperwork to file in advance — just a current licence and a digital path to BCNSW. Kando is that path: it lodges straight to the eCert API in about 90 seconds, from the back of your ute.