What Are the Electrical Rules for Caravans, Tiny Homes and Motorhomes in Sydney?

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What are the electrical rules for caravans, tiny homes and motorhomes in Sydney? Any caravan, motorhome, tiny home or other transportable structure, along with the site supply that feeds it, is governed by AS/NZS 3001, a dedicated wiring standard that sits alongside the general AS/NZS 3000 wiring rules most Sydney homes are built to. That means the circuit feeding a caravan pad, the plug and socket it connects through, and the wiring inside a tiny home or converted van all carry their own specific safety requirements, separate from a standard power circuit in the house. Getting this wrong is one of the more common compliance gaps we find when we inspect Sydney properties that have added a caravan bay, a tiny home or a converted shed as extra living space.

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1. Why caravans and tiny homes get their own wiring standard

AS/NZS 3000 sets the general wiring rules for a typical Sydney home, but Clause 7.8.2.3 specifically carves out caravans, motorhomes, food vans and caravan park supply pillars, directing that work to AS/NZS 3001 instead. The reasoning is straightforward. A structure that can be towed, driven away or relocated does not sit still the way a house does, its wiring is exposed to vibration and movement that fixed house wiring never sees, and the socket connecting it to a site supply has to handle being plugged and unplugged repeatedly without degrading. A standard domestic power point was never designed for that kind of use.

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2. The outdoor caravan socket and circuit requirements

A compliant caravan or motorhome site supply runs its own dedicated circuit from the main switchboard to a weatherproof outdoor socket, sized to the amperage the van or home actually needs, commonly 15 amp for a typical caravan or up to 32 amp where air conditioning, induction cooking or multiple appliances are on board. That circuit needs its own safety switch protection, correctly rated cabling for the run length involved, and a socket mounted at a sensible height with proper weatherproofing, not a standard indoor style outlet bolted to an external wall. See our switchboard upgrades service →

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3. Tiny homes, converted sheds and shipping container dwellings

Sydney's housing squeeze has pushed plenty of homeowners toward tiny homes, converted sheds and shipping container conversions as extra living space, whether for a family member, a home office or short term accommodation. The electrical work inside these structures still has to meet the wiring rules, but because the structure itself can often be relocated or is not a permanent part of the building, the supply feeding it is treated more like the caravan and motorhome provisions than a standard house extension. That is a genuinely different starting point to a normal granny flat build, and it is worth raising with your electrician early rather than assuming the same rules apply as for a fixed addition. Our guide to electrical connections for duplexes and granny flats covers the fixed structure side of this comparison in more detail.

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4. RCD protection is not optional

Every circuit feeding a caravan, tiny home or transportable structure needs residual current device, or safety switch, protection, the same way any other power circuit in a modern Sydney home does. Because these circuits are outdoors, exposed to weather and handle appliances being plugged and unplugged regularly, the consequences of a fault going undetected are genuinely higher than for an indoor circuit in a dry, stable environment. If your property's existing switchboard does not already have safety switches covering every circuit, this is the point to fix that gap, not after a caravan or tiny home is already connected and in use. See our guide to RCD requirements in NSW for the full picture on where safety switches are mandatory.

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5. Permanent setups and when this becomes Level 2 ASP work

A caravan parked occasionally for weekend trips and plugged in for a battery top up is a very different job to a tiny home set up as a genuine secondary dwelling with its own point of supply. Once a structure needs its own dedicated connection back to the network, rather than simply drawing power from the house's existing switchboard, that work moves into Level 2 accredited service provider territory, because it touches the network connection itself rather than just the wiring downstream of the meter. A standard electrician can wire the inside of a tiny home, but connecting, disconnecting or altering the actual supply from the street needs an accredited Level 2 electrician. See our Level 2 electrician services →

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6. Council approval and getting the paperwork right

Most councils across Sydney treat a tiny home, converted shed or shipping container dwelling used as habitable space as development requiring some form of approval, separate again from the electrical compliance side of the job. It is worth confirming with your local council what approval your specific setup needs before the electrical work goes ahead, since a compliant electrical installation inside a structure that itself lacks approval does not solve the underlying problem. Our new build electrical checklist is a useful starting point for sequencing approvals and electrical work together, and our guide to moving from temporary builders supply to a permanent connection covers the equivalent process for a construction site supply, which follows a similar logic of temporary power first, permanent connection once everything is approved.

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Owners planning a caravan bay, tiny home or converted shed on a Sydney property with harbourside or riverfront access sometimes ask whether a boat or jetty on the same property changes anything electrically. It does, and it is covered by a different standard again, which our HD Power Pole guide to private power poles for Sydney homeowners touches on where a pole or additional point of supply is involved.

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How High Demand Electrical helps

We are one of Sydney's most trusted Level 2 ASPs for exactly this kind of nonstandard connection work, whether that is wiring a dedicated caravan circuit, scoping a tiny home's supply requirements, or connecting a genuinely independent secondary dwelling to the network. As a licensed local team, not a call centre, we service homes across Sydney's West, South West, Inner West and Sutherland Shire, and we will tell you plainly whether your setup needs a standard electrician, a Level 2 ASP, or both working together, rather than quoting a job that is not actually within scope. Book an electrical safety inspection if you already have a caravan, tiny home or converted structure connected and are not sure it meets current standards.

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