Warning that hundreds of Canberra homes at risk of fire from faulty Infinity wiring

Barry Skinner, the ACT head of the National Electrical and Communications Association, is disappointed at the slow rate of progress on the cable recall in the ACT.

The ACT government said while at least 162 kilometres of the cable, which has been linked to fires in other states, had been sold in the ACT, only six kilometres had been "remediated" from 203 homes by the end of January.

Mr Skinner said while the problem could affect significantly more properties than the 1040 Mr Fluffy homes, the risk was not as high as long as the wiring was not disturbed.

"If it is disturbed it can cause fires and death," he said.

Mr Skinner, who wants affected electrical contractors to get on with the job of contacting clients and fixing the problem, warned those dragging the chain they could be liable in the event of a blaze.

"It's a head-in-the-sand approach," he said. "They know it is going to cost them money. [But] they should be thinking this is an opportunity to make sure they are doing the right thing and also see it as an opportunity to do more work in the clients' houses.

"They can get reimbursement back off the suppliers and it is a way of keeping the community safe.

"If a fire starts and you've installed it and you've done nothing [to fix the problem] you could be prosecuted yourself; that's what the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is saying."

While the ACCC said only cable "installed in accessible areas or near heat sources must be removed", homes where some has been left in situ need a sticker in the meter box to alert future tradespeople to its presence.

Media reports indicate some homeowners, concerned about the effect on the future value of the property, have invoked the Australian Consumer Law's "fit for purpose" provisions to have all the product removed.

The faulty cable, which was made in China and wrongly certified as Australian compliant, was sold in Canberra at Masters Home Improvement, Project Lighting and Pope's Electrical and Data Supplies.

It was sold in NSW, where almost 2000 kilometres was installed, as early as 2010 and may have been used in Canberra homes from that time. The product was also marketed as "Olsent".

Barry Jackson, from NECA's national office, said one Canberra airconditioning contractor replaced the wiring he had used on almost 300 homes across the region.

"He bought the cable [direct from Infinity] and had to replace the cabling for almost every job he'd done in three years," Mr Jackson said.

Mr Skinner said two issues had to be addressed. The first was the identification and removal of the Infinity cable which is now old enough to start becoming brittle. The second was to ensure faulty electrical and other building products did not enter the market in future.

NECA, which launched a "Does It Comply?" campaign in 2013, lodged a comprehensive submission with the Senate Inquiry into Non-conforming Building Products last August.

The submission cited the death of a woman in NSW while using a non-compliant phone charger in 2014, the Rudd-era pink batts program, Mr Fluffy and the recalls of Avanco CD Isolators and the Infinity cable range as examples of the dangers.

NECA's key recommendations included restricting sales of products that can only be installed by a licensed electrician, such as cable, through a "trade's desk" at retail outlets, and Commonwealth support for the Electrical Equipment Safety System.

The EESS is a national registration database for electrical equipment suppliers and individual products.