Bushfire Season and Your Overhead Service Line: Ausgrid's Vegetation and Clearance Rules

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How does Ausgrid handle vegetation and clearances before bushfire season? Ausgrid's Electrical Safety Rules allow exactly four ways to manage vegetation near its live wires: standard vegetation control by authorised workers down to set clearances, close approach vegetation control by specially authorised crews with insulated tools, high voltage live work, or a full network outage where none of those can be done safely. There is no fifth option for a homeowner with a pole saw, and during fire season the same rules run on a tighter clock because a branch on a wire is a genuine ignition risk.

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1. Why fire season raises the stakes

Vegetation contact with live conductors is one of the classic ways electrical fires start, which is why the Electricity Supply (Safety and Network Management) Regulation 2014 requires networks to manage vegetation around their assets. In the leadup to summer, Ausgrid's programs concentrate on getting trees back to safe clearances before hot, dry and windy weather arrives. What you see on the ground is contractors working street by street, and what sits behind it is Section 10.5 of Ausgrid's Electrical Safety Rules, the one part of the rulebook devoted entirely to vegetation.

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2. The four permitted trimming methods

Standard vegetation control lets authorised workers trim down to set minimum clearances from the wires, but no closer. Close approach vegetation control covers anything inside those clearances and demands extra authorisation, insulated elevated work platforms and tested insulated tools. Beyond that, only crews authorised for high voltage live work can go closer still, and if none of that can be done safely, Ausgrid takes a planned network outage and trims with the wires dead. Every method exists to keep people alive around conductors that cannot be seen to be live.

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3. What close approach work involves

Before a close approach crew starts, a network access request goes to Ausgrid, a safety observer is nominated, and the crew confirms contact with the control room so protection settings can be adjusted on the circuit. When the work finishes, the crew formally advises the control room that everyone is clear of the mains. If that sounds like a lot of process for pruning a tree, it is, and it is the reason nobody without authorisation should ever be inside those clearances. Our post on safe approach distances near Ausgrid powerlines explains the distances that apply to everyone else.

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4. A branch on a wire means the whole tree is suspect

Green timber conducts, and wet timber conducts better. If any part of a tree is touching live exposed mains, Ausgrid's rules treat the entire tree and the ground around its base as potentially energised, with intermittent hazards in strong wind. Keep people and pets away, and report it to Ausgrid on 13 13 88, or 000 if there is immediate danger. For what happens after a line comes down, see who you are actually allowed to call.

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5. Your side of the connection point before summer

Ausgrid's programs stop at the network. The service line to your house, any aerial consumer mains and any private power pole are yours, and on bushfire prone land the Service and Installation Rules of NSW let the distributor order rectification, do the work at your cost, or disconnect an unsafe installation. Before each fire season, look up at the span for sag, fraying and encroaching branches, and book an electrical safety inspection if anything looks doubtful. Our guides to who trims what in Ausgrid areas and the responsibility split across both Sydney networks cover the boundaries in detail.

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6. If your service line needs work

Tired overhead spans in fire prone streets are worth dealing with before summer, not during it. Options range from restringing with modern insulated cable through an overhead service upgrade, to removing the aerial risk entirely with underground service mains. Arborist work close to the span is safest with a planned disconnect and reconnect so nobody cuts timber around a live cable. First, check your network area in seconds with our postcode checker to confirm Ausgrid covers your street.

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Why it's Level 2 ASP work

Any repair, upgrade or temporary disconnection of your service line involves the live connection to Ausgrid's network, and only an accredited Level 2 ASP is authorised to touch it. Tree loppers and general electricians are not, no matter how experienced.

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How High Demand Electrical helps

We get Sydney homes fire season ready on the electrical side: inspections of service lines and private poles, overhead service replacements, undergrounding quotes, planned disconnections for tree crews, emergency make safe when a branch brings a line down, and storm damage repairs through the summer months. One call and the power side of your preparation is handled.

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Ausgrid Bushfire Vegetation FAQs (Sydney)

Will Ausgrid trim the tree over my driveway?

Only if it threatens the shared network mains. If it only threatens your own service line, the trimming is your responsibility, using people qualified to work near it.

How do I report a tree growing into powerlines?

Call Ausgrid on 13 13 88 or report it through their website. If a branch is already in contact and arcing or burning, treat it as an emergency and call 000.

Can my arborist trim right up to the service line?

Not while it is live. The safe approach is a planned temporary disconnection by a Level 2 ASP, then the arborist works freely, then power is reconnected the same day. See our disconnect and reconnect service.

Is undergrounding worth it in a bushfire area?

Often yes. It removes vegetation clearances, aerial fire risk and most storm exposure in one job, and we quote it alongside overhead options so you can compare.

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Want your overhead line sorted before fire season? Book an electrical safety inspection or call 0402 559 777. Every job starts with a site assessment so scope and pricing are confirmed before any work begins.