Who Can Do Electrical Work? The Authorised Person

Who is the authorised person for electrical work?

When a fuse blows in the factory, a motor overheats or a cable needs to be run to a new machine, the question "who's going to do this?" often lands on the nearest handy employee. The authorised person for electrical work, however, is not the person who "knows how", but the person with a certificate, training and a written appointment from the employer. If any of these three conditions is missing, the person is not considered authorised, however experienced they are.

In the legislation, the "authorised person" is not defined by a single certificate; different rules come into play depending on the type of work. In this article we explain the certificates required for maintenance and installation work, how to carry out written authorisation in the workplace and how to prevent unauthorised intervention.

Vocational training certificate for maintenance electricians

Under Art. 17/3 of Law No. 6331 on Occupational Health and Safety, in hazardous and very hazardous work where vocational training is mandatory, a person who cannot document that they have received vocational training relevant to their work cannot be employed. The list of this work is in Annex 1 of the Regulation on the Vocational Training of Persons Employed in Work in the Hazardous and Very Hazardous Classes. Row 75 reads: "Electricity generation, transmission and distribution work, electrical maintenance and repair work."

Art. 6 of the regulation requires those actually employed in this work to hold one of the certificates appropriate to the job. Accepted certificates include:

• Diplomas, journeyman and master craftsman certificates issued under Vocational Education Law No. 3308,
• Vocational training course certificates from the Turkish Employment Agency (ISKUR),
• Certificates issued at the end of training by competent public bodies,
• Certificates for training organised with the approval of MEB (Ministry of National Education),
• MYK (Vocational Qualifications Authority) vocational qualification certificates.

Even if the workplace is in the hazardous class, no certificate is required under this regulation if the employee's work is not in Annex 1 (Art. 5/2). However, a maintenance electrician's work falls directly under row 75. For certificate types and transition rules, see our article on the vocational training certificate requirement.

Electrical installer MYK and industrial maintenance electrician

In some occupations a vocational training certificate is not enough; an MYK vocational qualification certificate is required. There are two important rules relating to electricity:

• Electrical Installer: With Communiqué No. 2021/1 (Official Gazette of 9 April 2021), the Electrical Installer Level 3, 4 and 5 qualifications were brought within the certificate requirement. The Communiqué provides that those without a certificate cannot be employed twelve months after publication; according to the Ministry's announcement, this date is 10 April 2022.
• Industrial Maintenance Electrician and Electro-Mechanical Assembly Worker: The list annexed to Communiqué No. 2026/1 (Official Gazette of 23 March 2026) includes Industrial Maintenance Electrician (Level 4) and Electro-Mechanical Assembly Worker (Levels 3 and 4). In these occupations, those without a certificate cannot be employed twelve months after the Communiqué's publication, i.e. from 23 March 2027.

In both Communiqués, the MYK certificate requirement does not apply to holders of a master craftsman certificate or to graduates of vocational and technical schools or university programmes working in the field stated on their diploma or certificate. Review the certificates of the maintenance electricians in your factory against this date now. For the full list of mandatory occupations and the exam process, see our article on occupations requiring an MYK certificate.

Installation design, high voltage and periodic inspection

Some parts of electrical work require authority that even a certified electrician cannot take on alone:

For the indoor electrical installations of buildings, the Regulation on the Authority, Duties and Responsibilities of Electrical Technical Staff of 20 January 2026 came into force on 1 March 2026. Under this regulation, for installation work technicians are authorised up to 1,000 kW, technicians and senior technicians with associate degrees up to 2,000 kW and technical teachers up to 2,500 kW; for preparing designs, the limits are 30, 50 and 80 kW respectively. Master craftsman certificate holders are treated in the same group as technicians; technical staff must be registered with the relevant professional chamber.

Art. 60 of the Regulation on Electrical Heavy Current Installations, meanwhile, requires an electrical engineer responsible for technical matters at all high voltage heavy current installations. In a factory with its own transformer, switching in the MV switchgear is not the maintenance electrician's everyday job.

Maintenance electrician authority: written authorisation at work

A certificate shows that the person knows the trade; it does not show what they can do at the workplace. Under Art. 8 of the Regulation on Health and Safety Requirements for the Use of Work Equipment, the repair, modification, inspection, maintenance and commissioning of work equipment involving specific risks are carried out by persons specifically assigned to do this work; Art. 11 requires these persons to be given adequate specific training. Electrical panels and installations are a typical example of this definition.

The method that works in practice is a tiered authorisation list for electrical work. The arrangement we recommend is:

1. All employees: Do not open panel doors or reset fuses; report faults. Know where the main switch supplying their department and the emergency stop are.
2. Operators and shift supervisors: May switch breakers designated in writing on and off; do not intervene inside panels.
3. Maintenance electrician (low voltage): Carries out maintenance, fault-finding and measurements according to the rules for working dead; applies lockout and tagout.
4. High voltage switching: Done only by persons appointed in writing for this work and working to the rules set by the responsible electrical engineer.

The appointment letter should include the person's name, certificate, authority level, areas covered and validity date. The list is updated in line with certificate validity periods and staff changes; you can enter review dates and the 23 March 2027 MYK threshold into the OHS calendar tool. For the steps of working dead, see our article on the five safety rules in electrical work.

Preventing unauthorised intervention

Authorisation must not stay on paper. Measures that actually prevent unauthorised people from interfering with the electrical installation:

• Panels locked: Panel doors are locked; keys are issued to the people on the authorisation list. Nothing is stacked in front of them.
• Marking: Panels and dangerous areas are marked with signs showing the electrical hazard; which panel supplies which department is written on the panel door.
• Lockout and tagout: During maintenance, energy is locked with the personal lock of the person doing the work; only the owner removes the lock. For details of the practice, see our article on lockout and tagout.
• Ban on bridging: Disabling a residual current device or a door switch, or replacing a fuse with one of a higher rating, is prohibited in writing and checked on site rounds.
• Fault reporting route: If there is no fast way for employees to report a fault, they try to fix it themselves. The reporting channel and the electrician to contact on the night shift must be clear.

For panel arrangements, see our article on electrical panel safety, and for first steps in the event of an accident, first response to electric shock.

We plan MEB-approved 40-hour vocational training modules through our solution partners, who work under protocols with Public Education Centres; the modules are chosen together with the business according to its line of production. Details are on our vocational training page. Preparing the authorisation list and instructions for electrical work, meanwhile, is part of the OHS specialist service we provide to businesses in Bursa and the surrounding provinces. For other risks at sites where maintenance electricians work intensively, see our metal and machinery page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a certificate needed to change a fuse in a factory?

Changing a fuse is electrical maintenance work done inside a panel; in a hazardous or very hazardous workplace it falls under "electrical maintenance and repair work" in the Annex 1 list of the vocational training regulation. This work is done by a person who holds a certificate and has been appointed in writing by the employer.

Is an MYK certificate mandatory for electrical installers?

Yes. With Communiqué No. 2021/1, Electrical Installer Levels 3, 4 and 5 were brought within the certificate requirement. Holders of a master craftsman certificate and graduates who received vocational and technical education in the relevant field are exempt from this requirement as long as they work in the field on their diploma.

When does an MYK certificate become mandatory for industrial maintenance electricians?

Communiqué No. 2026/1 introduced a certificate requirement for Industrial Maintenance Electrician (Level 4). From 23 March 2027, those without a certificate who do not fall within the exemptions cannot be employed in this work.

Can someone who is not an electrical engineer work in a transformer substation?

Art. 60 of the Regulation on Electrical Heavy Current Installations requires an electrical engineer responsible for technical matters at high voltage installations. Other employees may work according to the rules set by this engineer and with a written appointment; unauthorised persons are not allowed into the installation.