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AS/NZS 3760:2022 Compliance

Test and tag requirements in Australia

Test and tag comes up in almost every conversation about workplace electrical safety, and it’s one of the more misunderstood parts of it. If you run a site, manage a portfolio or sit in procurement, you’ve probably been told at some point that testing is compulsory — and told the opposite, just as confidently, by someone else. What follows is how the requirements actually work in Australia: where they come from, and what they mean for the equipment in your workplace.

Ruchira Samaraweera Director, Operations 26 August 2026 9 min read

Is test and tag mandatory in Australia?

Short answer

Not as a single rule covering every workplace and every electrical item.

Whether testing is required, and how often, depends on the equipment, how and where it’s used, the risk of damage or wear, and the workplace-safety or electrical-safety framework that applies in your state or territory. Construction, client, site and contractual requirements can add further controls on top of that.

On this page 14 sections

Is test and tag mandatory in Australia?
How workplace safety law and AS/NZS 3760:2022 fit together
When does workplace electrical equipment need inspection and testing?
Who is responsible for workplace electrical equipment safety?
Who can perform test and tag in Australia?
Do test and tag requirements differ by state or territory?
What about offices and other lower-risk workplaces?
What about construction and demolition sites?
What should happen to damaged or unsafe electrical equipment?
What test and tag records should a workplace keep?
What does this mean when you are organising test and tag?
What should a workplace or facilities manager do next?
Frequently asked questions
Sources and further reading

Under the model WHS framework, businesses have to manage electrical risks and make sure electrical equipment is safe to use. Regular inspection, testing and tagging is specifically required for certain socket-outlet-powered equipment used in higher-risk workplaces — the kind of conditions likely to damage equipment or shorten its working life. Safe Work Australia is also clear that lower-risk workplaces aren’t held to that same regular-testing requirement, though inspection or less-frequent testing may still be sensible to keep equipment safe.

Source: Safe Work Australia — Electrical safety / WHS duties

So the useful question isn’t “does every appliance need a tag?” It’s closer to: what electrical-safety controls suit this equipment, in this environment, under the rules that apply to this workplace?

How workplace safety law and AS/NZS 3760:2022 fit together

WHS legislation and AS/NZS 3760:2022 often get talked about as though they’re the same thing. They aren’t, and the difference is worth getting straight.

Workplace-safety and electrical-safety laws create the duty to manage electrical risk. Regulators explain how that duty operates in their jurisdiction. AS/NZS 3760:2022 provides the technical inspection and testing procedures used within that framework. SafeWork NSW, for instance, describes AS/NZS 3760 as outlining the inspection, testing and tagging methods, while its own workplace rules determine when inspection and testing is actually required.

Source: SafeWork NSW — Electrical inspection and testing

How the pieces fit together

Layer	What it does
WHS/OHS and electrical-safety law	Creates workplace duties and, in some situations, specific requirements
Regulator guidance	Explains how those duties apply in a jurisdiction
AS/NZS 3760:2022	Sets out procedures for in-service inspection and testing of electrical equipment and RCDs
Workplace risk assessment	Considers how the equipment is actually used and the conditions it’s exposed to
Site, client and contract requirements	May impose additional testing, evidence, access or contractor requirements

Put simply, AS/NZS 3760 supports the inspection and testing framework — it isn’t “the law” in its own right. Whether and when testing is legally required comes back to the applicable framework, the equipment and its operating environment, and any construction, electrical-safety, site or contractual requirements that apply.

When does workplace electrical equipment need inspection and testing?

Most of it comes down to risk. Safe Work Australia describes higher-risk workplaces as those where conditions are likely to damage electrical equipment or shorten its life — wet or dusty areas, outdoor work, places using corrosive substances, commercial kitchens, manufacturing settings. The lower-risk end is the dry, clean, well-organised environments: offices, retail shops, classrooms.

Source: Safe Work Australia — Electrical safety overview

For equipment that plugs into a socket outlet and is normally used in a higher-risk workplace, the model WHS framework calls for regular inspection and testing by a competent person. How often, in Safe Work Australia’s terms, depends on the type of equipment and how and where it’s used.

What pushes the risk up

Frequent movement of equipment or flexible cords
Moisture, dust or corrosive substances
Heat, vibration or outdoor exposure
A greater likelihood of mechanical damage
The type and condition of the equipment
How frequently the equipment is used
Manufacturer instructions
Site-specific or contractual requirements

WorkSafe Victoria makes the same point: the nature and frequency of inspection and testing depends on the equipment, its operating environment and how it’s used.

Source: WorkSafe Victoria — Electrical safety

This guide deliberately stops short of interval tables. For testing frequency by workplace and operating environment, the test and tag frequency by industry guide is the place to look.

Who is responsible for workplace electrical equipment safety?

Responsibility runs wider than whoever physically does the testing.

Definition · PCBU

Under the model WHS framework, a person conducting a business or undertaking — a PCBU — has to eliminate electrical risks so far as is reasonably practicable and, where that isn’t possible, minimise them so far as is reasonably practicable. That duty can apply even when the business doesn’t own or supply the electrical equipment being used.

Source: Safe Work Australia — Electrical safety / WHS duties

Victoria works under its own OHS framework rather than the harmonised model WHS laws, but the practical focus is the same: providing and maintaining safe systems of work and managing electrical risk. WorkSafe Victoria says employers need to consider electrical equipment, its use and its environment, and maintain appropriate electrical-safety controls.

Source: WorkSafe Victoria — Electrical safety

For facilities managers and anyone running multiple sites, the practical question reaches well past whether one appliance has a tag. You may also need a clear view of:

which equipment is in scope;
the environments in which it’s used;
who controls each site;
what client or landlord requirements apply;
how testing evidence is retained;
how requirements are kept consistent across the portfolio.

That portfolio-level view is a large part of what makes managing compliance across a facility management contract different from managing a single building.

Who can perform test and tag in Australia?

Where the framework requires testing, it has to be carried out by a competent person — but there’s no single national qualification statement that applies cleanly to every jurisdiction and every electrical task.

Definition · Competent person

SafeWork NSW describes a competent person as someone who has acquired the knowledge and skills for the task through training, qualification or experience, and who has appropriate testing equipment. Safe Work Australia says a competent person must perform the electrical inspection and testing under the model WHS framework, while the model laws stop short of prescribing one particular training qualification — they point businesses to their state or territory WHS or electrical regulator for the detail.

Sources: SafeWork NSW — Electrical inspection and testing · Safe Work Australia — WHS duties

There’s also a line worth drawing between testing equipment and repairing it.

Testing

A person can be competent to carry out pass/fail testing of electrical equipment.

Licensed repair

It takes a licensed electrician to repair the electrical defects that inspection and testing turns up.

Source: WorkSafe Victoria — Electrical safety

For a business operating across the country, the safer approach is to check the regulator requirements for the jurisdiction and the specific work involved, rather than relying on a single national rule about who’s qualified.

Do test and tag requirements differ by state or territory?

They can, and it helps to know where. Australia doesn’t run one identical workplace-safety framework in every jurisdiction. Most states and territories operate under WHS laws based on the national model, while Victoria keeps its own OHS system. Queensland has dedicated electrical-safety legislation and regulator guidance on top of that, and individual jurisdictions can carry their own construction, competency or electrical-safety requirements.

None of that means a national business needs eight separate test and tag programs. It does mean a national program should be able to account for jurisdiction, workplace environment, equipment type and site requirements, rather than assuming one rule holds everywhere. Where an obligation is unclear — particularly for higher-risk workplaces, construction projects or specialised electrical work — the relevant state or territory regulator is the authoritative source.

Source: SafeWork NSW — Electrical work

Seven states and territories run work-health-and-safety laws based on the national model. Victoria keeps its own occupational health and safety scheme instead. Queensland sits on the model laws and adds dedicated electrical safety legislation, which sets maximum testing intervals for specified electrical equipment. In the Northern Territory, the testing and tagging provisions moved out of the WHS regulations into electrical safety regulations on 1 July 2024.

Source: Safe Work Australia — Model WHS laws

Victoria runs its own scheme, Queensland sets maximum intervals in regulation, and the Northern Territory has moved testing and tagging into electrical safety law. The table below is a planning starting point, not a substitute for the regulator. Where an obligation matters, follow the source in the row it sits in.

Workplace electrical testing by jurisdiction

Jurisdiction	Workplace-safety framework	What triggers inspection and testing	Worth knowing locally
New South Wales SafeWork NSW	WHS laws based on the national model	Risk-based. Regular inspection and testing by a competent person where socket-outlet equipment is used in conditions likely to damage it or shorten its life.	On construction and demolition sites, AS/NZS 3012:2019 is called up as a mandatory standard by section 163 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025. That provision is specific to NSW. SafeWork NSW also sets out what a testing record has to contain.
Victoria WorkSafe Victoria	Its own OHS scheme, outside the model WHS system	Duty-based. Employers must maintain safe systems of work covering the provision, use, inspection, testing and maintenance of electrical equipment.	WorkSafe describes a hostile environment as one with heat, UV, moisture, vibration, sharp objects, corrosive chemicals or dust. Its general electrical-safety guidance excludes construction, which has a separate industry standard.
Queensland Workplace Health and Safety Queensland	Model WHS laws, plus dedicated electrical safety legislation	Prescribed. Queensland sets maximum testing intervals for specified electrical equipment in the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026, with the applicable interval depending on the type of work and equipment.	Published maximum intervals include construction work (other equipment) three months, manufacturing six or twelve months depending on insulation, service work twelve months, and office work five years where there is no safety switch. Repairing equipment without the appropriate electrical work licence is an offence under the Electrical Safety Act 2002.
South Australia SafeWork SA	WHS laws based on the national model	Risk-based. Regular inspection and testing by a competent person where equipment is supplied through a socket outlet and used in conditions likely to damage it or reduce its expected life span.	SafeWork SA publishes the trigger in the regulator's own words and attaches an expiation fee: $432 for an individual, $2,160 for a body corporate.
Western Australia WorkSafe WA	Work Health and Safety Act 2020 and Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022, in force since 31 March 2022	Risk-based. Under regulation 150, socket-outlet electrical equipment must be regularly inspected and tested by a competent person where its normal use exposes it to operating conditions likely to damage the equipment or reduce its expected life. The regulation gives moisture, heat, vibration, mechanical damage, corrosive chemicals and dust as examples.	The record has to identify the tester, the test date, the outcome and the next test date, and may be kept as a tag on the equipment. For construction work, regulation 163 requires compliance with AS/NZS 3012:2010 — an earlier edition than the one NSW calls up. Some older WorkSafe WA guidance still refers to the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 1996, which were repealed when the current laws commenced.
Tasmania WorkSafe Tasmania	WHS laws based on the national model	Risk-based. Regular inspection and testing by a competent person where socket-outlet equipment is used in conditions likely to damage it or reduce its expected life span.	The duty itself sits in the WHS Act and Regulations. Managing electrical risks in the workplace is an approved code of practice, effective in Tasmania from 5 December 2018. It gives practical guidance on meeting that duty; the obligation comes from the Act.
Australian Capital Territory WorkSafe ACT	WHS laws based on the national model	Prescribed by the WHS Regulation 2011 for equipment used where normal use exposes it to conditions likely to cause damage or reduce its expected life span, including moisture, heat, vibration, mechanical damage, corrosive chemicals or dust.	WorkSafe ACT frames this around high-risk environments. Equipment identified as being in a high-risk environment needs regular inspection and tagging by a licensed electrician or a person certified as competent, and the guidance references AS/NZS 3760:2022, AS/NZS 3012 and AS/NZS 3002.
Northern Territory NT WorkSafe	Model WHS laws, but testing and tagging now sits in electrical safety law	Risk-based, under the Electrical Safety Regulations rather than the WHS Regulations.	On 1 July 2024 the testing and tagging provisions moved out of the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Regulations 2011 into regulations 67 to 71 of the Electrical Safety Regulations 2024, under the Electrical Safety Act 2022. A national program built only around WHS regulations will miss this.

Compiled from each regulator’s own published guidance, September 2026. Requirements change. Confirm the current position with the regulator before relying on this for a specific site.

What about offices and other lower-risk workplaces?

Lower-risk workplaces

The office is a good illustration of why “test and tag is mandatory everywhere” doesn’t hold up. Safe Work Australia lists offices, retail shops and classrooms as lower-risk workplaces, where conditions are less likely to damage electrical equipment, and says regular inspection and testing isn’t required there in the same way as in higher-risk environments — though less-frequent inspection or testing may still be needed to keep equipment safe.

That isn’t a reason to treat electrical safety as a non-issue in an office. Leads fray, plugs break, power boards wear out, and equipment gets moved into conditions that change its risk profile. Site policies, client requirements, leases or an organisation’s own safety system can add controls beyond the regulatory baseline. The right program reflects the actual workplace, rather than assuming every office runs to the same testing schedule.

Source: Safe Work Australia — Electrical safety overview

What about construction and demolition sites?

Additional requirements

Construction and demolition environments can carry additional electrical inspection, testing and record-keeping requirements, and the specifics are worth checking rather than assuming.

SafeWork NSW points to AS/NZS 3012 for electrical installations on construction and demolition sites and notes that inspection and testing frequencies vary with the equipment and the circumstances. Its guidance identifies three-month inspection and testing for certain plug-and-socket-connected equipment used on those sites, with more frequent testing where a site-specific risk assessment calls for it.

Source: SafeWork NSW — Construction and demolition electrical practices

That’s why “all construction equipment in Australia must be tested every three months” is the wrong way to put it — the requirement sits with the relevant construction rules and the jurisdiction. For environment and frequency detail, use PlanetSafe’s testing-frequency resource alongside the regulator for the project, and the construction industry page covers how this tends to play out on site.

What should happen to damaged or unsafe electrical equipment?

Important

A current tag doesn’t guarantee an item stays safe until its next scheduled test — equipment can be damaged after it’s been tested.

Safe Work Australia says unsafe electrical equipment must not be used and should stay disconnected until a competent person either repairs it, or tests it and finds it safe. WorkSafe Victoria makes a similar point: a test tag doesn’t necessarily mean an item is still in good condition, and damaged equipment shouldn’t keep being used.

Sources: Safe Work Australia — WHS duties · WorkSafe Victoria — Electrical safety

That’s why visual inspection and reporting between scheduled tests remain a genuine part of managing electrical risk.

What test and tag records should a workplace keep?

When inspection and testing requirements apply, records are what show what was tested and when. SafeWork NSW says a testing record should include:

Tester

The name of the person who carried out the testing

Test date

The date of the test

Outcome

The outcome

Next test due

The date the next test is due

Source: SafeWork NSW — Electrical inspection and testing

For the requirements its guidance covers, that record has to be kept until the equipment is next tested, permanently removed from the workplace, or disposed of — and a tag attached to the equipment can stand as the record.

Once you’re managing a lot of assets, or several locations, a tag on its own becomes an awkward way to hold the information. A structured equipment register and reporting process makes it easier to track results, failed items, locations and what’s coming due. PlanetSafe’s audit-ready test and tag reporting resource goes into the records and evidence question in more detail, and the reporting page covers how PlanetSafe handles it.

What does this mean when you are organising test and tag?

Knowing which framework applies tells you what the obligation is. Turning that into a scope of work is a different exercise, and it runs on a fairly short list of inputs. A provider needs most of the same list before it can quote properly:

What shapes the scope

The workplace type, and what the operating environment does to equipment
The equipment in use, and whether it gets moved around
How many sites, and where they are
Site, client or contract requirements sitting on top of the regulatory position
Whether construction or demolition conditions apply
Whether an asset register or previous test records already exist
What the reporting has to show, and who reads it
Known damaged or failed equipment
Access constraints, inductions, and when work can be done

Those inputs shape scope, testing approach, scheduling, how records come back, and what a quote should cover. None of them fixes a testing interval on its own. Interval comes from the equipment and the environment it works in, and the test and tag frequency by industry guide sets that out.

Verifying a provider is a separate question again — competency evidence, coverage, reporting and how failed items are handled. The guide to choosing a test and tag provider covers that side commercially.

How PlanetSafe scopes workplace requirements

PlanetSafe is not a legal adviser, and this guide is not legal advice. What we do is scope testing work from the inputs above: the workplace environment, the equipment in use, the site requirements that apply, the number of locations, and what the records have to cover. Where the right control or interval is genuinely unclear, that is a question for the regulator or a competent adviser rather than something a quote should settle.

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What should a workplace or facilities manager do next?

If you’re unsure what inspection and testing program is appropriate, start with the workplace rather than a fixed interval.

Identify the equipment. Work out what electrical equipment is in use, and whether it’s portable, frequently moved or exposed to deterioration.
Look at how and where it’s used. Moisture, dust, heat, vibration, outdoor use, commercial kitchens, workshops and construction environments all change the risk.
Confirm the jurisdiction. Check the workplace-safety and electrical-safety framework that applies in the relevant state or territory.
Check site and client requirements. A contract, principal contractor, landlord or client may impose requirements beyond the base regulatory position.
Set the appropriate inspection and testing controls. Get competent advice where the right control or testing frequency isn’t clear.
Keep records you can rely on. Make sure inspection and testing evidence can be traced back to the equipment, its location and the test date.
Review the program when conditions change. New equipment, a different operating environment, damage or a change in how a site is used can all shift the risk.

Before you book

Before requesting a quote, it helps to have:

An approximate number of electrical items
How many sites, and where they are
The workplace type and operating environment
Any site inductions or access requirements
Whether previous test records or an asset register exist
What your records need to show, and who reads them
Preferred timing

An estimate is enough for most of these. Nobody expects a counted inventory before a first conversation.

For interval detail, the test and tag frequency by industry guide has it. If your workplace needs an inspection and testing program set up, the test and tag services page explains what PlanetSafe’s commercial service covers.

Frequently asked questions

Not as one blanket rule for every workplace. Australian WHS and electrical-safety laws require businesses and other duty holders to manage electrical risks. Where electrical equipment is exposed to conditions likely to cause damage or shorten its life, regular inspection and testing by a competent person may be required. Construction and demolition sites can carry additional jurisdiction-specific requirements: in NSW, for example, current requirements call up AS/NZS 3012:2019, and many portable items must be inspected and tested at intervals not exceeding three months. What applies to you depends on the state or territory, the workplace and the equipment.

AS/NZS 3760:2022 sets out the procedures for in-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment and RCDs. Whether and when testing is legally required depends on the applicable workplace-safety or electrical-safety framework and the circumstances in which the equipment is used.

Not necessarily under the same regime as a higher-risk workplace. Safe Work Australia treats offices as generally lower-risk and says regular testing isn’t required in lower-risk workplaces in the same way, though inspection or less-frequent testing may still be needed to keep equipment safe.

Where inspection and testing is required, a competent person has to do it. The knowledge, skills, training or licensing involved can vary with the jurisdiction and the type of work, so check the relevant regulator where the competency requirements aren’t clear.

There’s no single interval that fits everything. Testing frequency turns on the equipment, its operating environment and how it’s used. The test and tag frequency by industry guide sets out the interval detail.

Test and tag frequency by industry →

No. Electrical equipment can be damaged after it’s tested. WorkSafe Victoria specifically notes that a test tag doesn’t necessarily mean equipment is still in good condition, and damaged equipment shouldn’t keep being used.

Sources and further reading

The legal and regulatory information in this guide is anchored to primary sources including:

Regulator sources used in the jurisdiction table:

This information is general in nature and is not legal advice. Requirements can vary according to jurisdiction, workplace, equipment, operating environment and site or contractual requirements. For your specific obligations, consult the regulator that applies to your workplace.

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