How often do you need to test and tag?

Last reviewed 29 October 2026.

For most of Australia there is no single legal number. The WHS Regulations say plug-in equipment used in a hostile operating environment must be tested "regularly" and leave the interval to guidance. That guidance, from Safe Work Australia and WorkSafe WA, is: at least every 12 months in a hostile environment such as a kitchen, outdoors or a wet area; at least every 6 months for manufacturing, workshop and commercial cleaning equipment; every 3 months and an inspection at the start of each hire for hire equipment; and the AS/NZS 3012 schedule on construction sites. Low-risk offices can test less often. Queensland is the exception: its regulation fixes the interval by the type of work, from 6 months to 5 years. Whatever the interval, a repair, a second-hand purchase or a missing record restarts the clock.

Pick your interval in four questions

1. Are you in Queensland? Use the table below. The intervals are in the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026, Part 6: they are law, not guidance. Elsewhere, go to question 2.
2. Is the equipment plugged in and used where moisture, heat, vibration, mechanical damage, corrosive chemicals or dust are normal? That is a hostile operating environment under regulation 150 of the model WHS Regulations, and testing by a competent person is mandatory. Safe Work Australia's examples: "wet or dusty areas, outdoors, workplaces that use corrosive substances, commercial kitchens, and manufacturing environments" (Electrical risks at the workplace). If no, go to question 4.
3. Which kind of hostile? The same fact sheet gives the general rule, "at least once every 12 months", then shortens it: manufacturing and workshop equipment "at least once every 6 months", commercial cleaning equipment "at least once every 6 months", hire equipment "at the commencement of each hire and tested every three months". WorkSafe WA's 2025 code of practice repeats all three. Construction and demolition sites are not on this list: AS/NZS 3012 sets their schedule.
4. Not hostile? An office, shop, classroom or telecommunications room. WorkSafe WA's code says equipment there "may still need inspection and testing, on a less frequent basis" and points to AS/NZS 3760 for the intervals. The standard is not free to read; the regulator figures drawn from it, up to 5 years for equipment that is not flexed, not open to abuse and not in a hostile environment, are on the retest intervals page. Decide by risk assessment and write the decision down.

One more input beats all four: a client, site or insurer can require a shorter interval than the regulator minimum, and a contract usually does.

Queensland: the intervals the law sets

From 1 September 2026 the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 replaced the 2013 regulation. "Specified electrical equipment" means cord extension sets, portable outlet devices and plug-in equipment rated at not more than 20 A; for office and service work it is limited to equipment "moved during its normal use" (section 123). Service work covers "cleaning a motel", "cooking in a restaurant", "selling goods from a shop", "teaching at an education facility" and "caring for children at a child care centre".

In every case the tag goes on only if the item is new or a competent person tested it, and the tag must carry the test date or the retest-by date plus the tester's or company's name or licence number (section 123, "prescribed details").

What restarts the clock, whatever the interval

• A repair or service "that could affect the electrical safety of the equipment": test before it returns to use (Safe Work Australia fact sheet; WA code).
• Bought second-hand: test "before first use" (same sources).
• No record of a previous test: test now; the interval runs from today.
• New equipment: no test needed before first use, but inspect it for transport damage, record the date it went into service and book the first test at the environment's interval. The WA code suggests a "new to service" tag.
• An extended hire: the business using the equipment tests it "at the intervals applicable to the type of workplace where the equipment is being used" (fact sheet).
• A change of environment: the interval follows the operating environment, so a vacuum that moves from the office to the workshop moves to the workshop schedule.

RCDs run on their own schedule, with daily or monthly push-button tests by the user and a measured trip-time test by a competent person; see RCD test records. WorkSafe Victoria's RCD table (reviewed 13 October 2023) ranges from a daily push-button test for portable RCDs in high-risk areas to a 2-year trip-time test in low-risk ones (WorkSafe Victoria).

Working out the next due date

Add the interval to the test date. The regulation wording is "at least once every 6 months", so an item tested on 3 November 2026 on a 6-month interval is due on or before 3 May 2027, not at the end of May. The record must show that date: regulation 150(4) requires "the date on which the next testing must be carried out", and the WA code and SafeWork NSW say the tag may be the record. Put the due date on the tag and in the register, and book the round for the week before it, so a missed visit does not become an overdue item.

Overdue has one meaning. Regulation 151 says equipment that must be tested and has not been "is not used", so far as is reasonably practicable; the WA code suggests "storing the equipment in locked areas to prevent use, or placing isolation locks, 'Danger' or 'Out of Service' tags". There is no grace period. Test it, tag it, and the next interval runs from the new test date.

A worked schedule: a cafe with 22 plug-in items

A cafe kitchen is a hostile environment (Safe Work Australia names commercial kitchens), so the general rule is 12 months. In Queensland it is service work: 12 months, or a safety switch. The floor cleaner is commercial cleaning equipment: 6 months. The owner's laptop in the back office is low risk. Sorting the 22 items gives three groups:

Two visits a year cover every item: one in May for the cleaning group, one in November for everything. A contractor pricing the job quotes 22 tests in November and 3 in May. If the fridge is hard-wired, it leaves the list: it is not plug-in equipment.

Yearly planner

Print this and fill one row per group of equipment that shares an interval. The "test by" date is the earliest due date in the group.

Keep the "interval and source" column honest: "6 months, ES Reg 2026 s 133" or "12 months, SWA fact sheet, kitchen". When an inspector or a client asks why an item is on a 12-month cycle, that column is the answer.

When this page does not apply

• Construction and demolition sites: AS/NZS 3012, with its own intervals and records. SafeWork NSW's inspection and testing page points there.
• Fixed and hard-wired equipment: outside regulation 150; electrical work for a licensed electrical worker.
• Medical equipment in patient areas: AS/NZS 3551, not AS/NZS 3760 (WA code).
• Emergency lighting and exit signs: a different standard and logbook; see emergency lighting test log.
• New Zealand: WorkSafe NZ says testing and tagging is not mandatory there (read 26 October 2026 for our requirements page).

If you cannot tell whether your workplace counts as hostile, ask your state regulator; a written risk assessment is what they expect to see.

Keeping the dates

The hard part is not the interval, it is remembering 22 due dates across three groups. TagVault sets the next due date from the item's environment when a pass is recorded (3, 6 or 12 months, using the shorter figure where sources disagree) and reminds the client before it falls due. It does not yet model the 5-year office interval or separate RCD push-button schedules, and it does not decide whether your environment is hostile. A spreadsheet with a sorted "test by" column does the same job for a small site.

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Questions

Is test and tag every 12 months a legal requirement?

Not as a fixed number, except in Queensland. The regulations require "regular" testing in hostile environments; 12 months is the regulators' general rule, shortened to 6 months for workshops and cleaning equipment and 3 months for hire. Queensland fixes 6 months, 12 months or 5 years by type of work.

Does new equipment need to be tested before first use?

No. Inspect it, record the in-service date, book the first test. Second-hand equipment is tested before first use.

What happens if a test is overdue?

The item is not to be used until it is tested. There is no grace period. The next interval runs from the new test date.

How is the next due date worked out?

Test date plus interval, on or before. Tested 3 November 2026 on 6 months means due by 3 May 2027, and that date goes on the tag.