In NSW there is no single legal interval for every workplace. Test and tag intervals come from AS/NZS 3760 and depend on the environment: three months on construction sites, six to twelve months in workshops and other hostile areas, and up to five years for office equipment that is never moved or damaged.
NSW law sets the duty to keep equipment safe. AS/NZS 3760 is what turns that duty into an interval you can put in a calendar.
Is test and tag a legal requirement in NSW?
Not as a blanket rule. NSW law does not order every business to test and tag every appliance on a fixed cycle. What it requires is that electrical equipment is safe to use, and that you can show it.
The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 (NSW) makes testing mandatory where equipment is used in an environment that exposes it to conditions likely to damage it or shorten its life: moisture, heat, vibration, corrosive chemicals or dust. That is the hostile operating environment test.
- A workshop, kitchen, plant room or wash bay is caught. The equipment lives in conditions that damage it, so testing by a competent person is required.
- A dry office generally is not. Nothing in the room is damaging the monitor, though the general duty to supply safe equipment still applies, which is why most offices test anyway on a long cycle.
- Construction and demolition sites have their own standard. AS/NZS 3012 sets a three month cycle, enforced at site induction long before SafeWork NSW gets involved.
Insurers, head contractors and landlords add requirements on top, and a shorter interval written into a site induction is the one you work to.
How often does test and tag need to be done?
The interval comes from the environment the equipment lives in, not from the type of business on the door. The same laptop sits on a five year cycle in an office and a twelve month cycle once it starts travelling in a ute.
| Environment | Typical interval | Typical equipment |
|---|---|---|
| Construction and demolition sites | 3 months | Power tools, leads and portable RCDs, under AS/NZS 3012 |
| Factories, workshops and repair shops | 6 months | Anything exposed to dust, heat, vibration or knocks |
| Commercial kitchens and hospitality | 6 to 12 months | Leads and appliances around moisture, heat and handling |
| Equipment carried between sites | 12 months | Cleaning gear and tools that live in a vehicle |
| Offices, retail and reception areas | Up to 5 years | Computers, monitors and desk equipment that stay put |
| Hire equipment | Inspect before every hire, test every 3 months | Anything hired out to a third party |
Treat those as a guide rather than legal maximums. The current edition of AS/NZS 3760 and your own risk assessment are the authority, and where an insurer asks for something shorter, the shorter interval wins.
What actually has to be tested and tagged?
Anything that connects to a socket outlet by a flexible cord, plus the leads, boards and adaptors that feed it. If you can unplug it, it is in scope.
- Earthed equipment. Kettles, urns and power tools with a metal body, which get an earth continuity test as well as an insulation test.
- Double insulated equipment. Chargers and drills carrying the double square symbol, where the insulation test and the visual inspection do the work.
- Extension leads and power boards. These fail more often than the appliances plugged into them, because they get walked on and pulled out by the cord.
Fixed wiring is not in scope: circuits, the switchboard and hard-wired appliances are checked by periodic verification, which is a licensed electrician's job. New equipment can go into service on a visual check, tagged with the date it entered service.
Not sure what your site is required to do?
DM Electrical works commercial sites across Sydney, from switchboards and RCD protection to exit and emergency lighting certification. If you are not sure which of your equipment falls under the testing duty, or an inspection has turned up gear that failed, call and we will tell you where you stand.
Who is allowed to test and tag?
A competent person, which in NSW does not have to be a licensed electrician. Competent means someone with the knowledge and skills for the task through training, qualification or experience, who has a suitable appliance tester and can read what it tells them. Most businesses either train a staff member or bring in a contractor.
Repairs are the exception. Opening an appliance, replacing a plug top or repairing a lead is licensed electrical work. A competent person can condemn a failed item and tag it out of service, but the fix belongs to an electrician, as does anything behind the board such as a switchboard upgrade.
How often do RCDs and safety switches need testing?
RCDs need two different tests, and the push button on the front only covers one of them. Both usually sit in the same schedule as the appliance testing, because they get done in the same visit.
- The push button test. Proves the mechanism releases. Portable RCDs get it before use on a construction site and every three months elsewhere. Fixed RCDs in a switchboard are commonly done six monthly in a hostile environment and twelve monthly otherwise.
- The operating time test. An instrument measures how many milliseconds the device takes to open, which is the part a button cannot tell you. Portable RCDs are usually done annually and fixed ones on a longer cycle.
Push button testing drops whatever sits downstream, so schedule it around tills, fridges and comms racks. An RCD that trips repeatedly is a different problem, and our guide on finding what is tripping an RCD covers how the fault is isolated.
What has to be on the tag?
A tag has to say who tested the item, when they tested it, and when it is due again. Anything less and the record is unusable at the next inspection. It should be durable and non-reusable, so it cannot fall off or be moved onto another item.
Colour coding by quarter is a construction site convention rather than a general requirement. Failed items get a danger tag and come out of service on the spot. Behind the tags there should be a register of what was tested, the results and the due dates, because that is what gets asked for after an incident.
Most sites fall behind because nobody owns the schedule. Our guide on what a commercial electrician does covers the obligations sitting alongside it.
Frequently asked questions
Is test and tag a legal requirement in NSW?
Not for every workplace on a fixed cycle. The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 (NSW) makes inspection and testing by a competent person mandatory where equipment is used in an environment that exposes it to conditions likely to damage it, such as moisture, heat, vibration, corrosive chemicals or dust. Construction and demolition sites are covered separately under AS/NZS 3012, on a three month cycle.
How often does office equipment need to be tested and tagged?
Office equipment that stays in place and is not exposed to damage sits on the longest interval in AS/NZS 3760, up to five years. Once it starts travelling between sites, or lives in a workshop, kitchen or wash bay, the interval drops to twelve months or shorter.
Do I need to be an electrician to test and tag?
No. NSW requires a competent person, meaning someone with the knowledge and skills for the task through training, qualification or experience, plus a suitable appliance tester. Repairs are different: opening an appliance or repairing a lead is licensed electrical work.
Does new equipment need to be tested before it is used?
No. New equipment can go straight into service on the strength of a visual check. It should still carry a tag showing the date it entered service, so the next test is calculated from a known starting point.
The bottom line
Work out which of your equipment sits in a damaging environment and which does not, because that split sets your intervals. Write the due dates into a register and keep failed items out of service. DM Electrical works commercial sites across Sydney as a commercial electrician. Get in touch if you want a look at where your site stands.