Test and tag register template

Last reviewed 7 November 2026.

A test and tag register must hold four things for every test: who tested the item, the date, the result, and the date the next test is due. That is the whole legal content, set by regulation 150 of the model WHS Regulations for equipment in a hostile operating environment, and the record is kept until the item is next tested, removed from the workplace or disposed of. Everything else in a register (tag number, location, class, what happened after a fail) is there so you can find the item and prove the history. Below is a template in two parts, an equipment list and a test log, to print or download as CSV, with a filled-in example and a five-minute check.

What the law requires the register to show

Safe Work Australia's fact sheet Electrical risks at the workplace gives the rule: a record of testing must specify "the name of the person who carried out the testing", "the date of the testing", "the outcome of the testing" and "the date on which the next testing must be carried out". It "may be in the form of a tag attached to the tested electrical equipment".

WorkSafe WA's 2025 code of practice, Managing electrical risks in the workplace, says the record "may take the form of a logbook, database, register or a similar kind of record, or a tag". It adds two rules a register exists to satisfy. If a tag does not hold all four items, "the rest of the required information must be recorded elsewhere". If no tag is used, the equipment must be marked "so that records of testing can clearly identify the relevant equipment". That is why the tag number column matters.

Three variations:

• Queensland. Under Part 6 of the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026, the competent person attaches a durable tag stating the "prescribed details" (section 123): the test date or the retest-by date, and the tester's name or licence number, or the company's name or electrical contractor licence number. The template has a column for the licence number for that reason.
• RCDs (safety switches). The Safe Work Australia fact sheet says a record of testing, "other than daily push button tests", is kept until the RCD is next tested or disposed of. Log RCDs in the same register; the fields are on our RCD test records page.
• Construction and demolition sites. AS/NZS 3012 sets the testing and the record keeping there (Safe Work Australia fact sheet).

Why the template has two parts

The regulation only asks you to keep the latest record. A single sheet with one row per item, overwritten at each visit, meets that. It also deletes the history: the extension lead that failed in May and was repaired is indistinguishable from one that never failed. The WA code lists what a logbook adds over tags alone: a permanent record "as a backup if tags are damaged or removed", "facilitating internal audits", and "allowing more detailed information to be recorded".

So the template splits the job. The equipment list has one row per item and answers "what do we have, where is it, and when is it due?". The test log has one row per test and never has rows deleted; it answers "who tested this, when, and what happened?".

The columns, and which ones the law requires

A filled-in example: a hair salon with six items

An illustrative salon, tested on 9 November 2026. The basins make the styling floor a wet area, which Safe Work Australia lists as a hostile operating environment, so the general rule of at least every 12 months applies. In Queensland this is service work: the regulation's own example is "a hand held blow dryer used in a hairdressing salon", tested at least once every year, or connected to a safety switch.

Equipment list

Test log (the visit's rows)

What the example shows. The failed lead has no next due date, because the next date belongs to a pass. The new hood dryer has no test row: the WA code says brand-new equipment "does not have to be tested before first use", so the register records its in-service date and its first due date, or puts it in the next round. The reception powerboard sits outside regulation 150 if the area is not hostile, so its interval is a written risk-assessment decision; in Queensland, equipment used only for office work is tested at least once every 5 years. The four required fields are present on every test row.

Blank register to print

Business and site: ______________________   Sheet ___ of ___

Equipment list

Test log

In a spreadsheet, enter dates as dd/mm/yyyy so Australian Excel reads them as dates, and sort the equipment list by "Next due" before each month starts.

A five-minute check of your register

• Every plug-in item in a hostile area has a row in the equipment list.
• Every test row has a tester, a date, a result and, for a pass, a next due date.
• Nothing marked "in service" has a next due date in the past. Equipment that is due and not tested must not be used, so far as is reasonably practicable; the WA code suggests "storing the equipment in locked areas to prevent use" or "'Out of Service' tags".
• Every fail has an action written next to it.
• Where tags carry only a date, the tester's name is in the log.
• Disposed items keep their rows until disposal is recorded; that is when the duty to keep the record ends.

When this template does not apply

• Construction and demolition sites: follow AS/NZS 3012 and your principal contractor's register. SafeWork NSW's Template 8 in the Housing industry site safety pack is written for house construction.
• Emergency lighting and exit signs: a different standard and logbook; see the emergency lighting test log.
• Fixed or hard-wired equipment and medical equipment in patient areas: outside this kind of register; the requirements are on test and tag requirements in Australia.
• Choosing the interval: the regulator figures by environment are on AS/NZS 3760 retest intervals.

A register records testing; it does not make anyone competent to test. If you are not sure who may test, or whether an area is hostile, ask your state regulator.

Keeping the register on a phone

A spreadsheet works well for one site. If you test for several clients, TagVault keeps each client's register and test history, sets the next due date from the item's environment when a pass is saved, and exports both files as CSV at any time, including after a subscription lapses. It runs on Android only, it does not read your tester, and it does not decide intervals or competency for you.

Get TagVault on Google Play

Questions

What must a test and tag register record?

The tester's name, the test date, the outcome and the next test date, kept until the item is next tested, removed or disposed of (model WHS regulation 150, as summarised by Safe Work Australia). The other columns are practical, not legal.

Does the tag count as the record, or do I need a register as well?

The tag can be the record. If it lacks any of the four items, the WA code says the rest "must be recorded elsewhere". A register is also the backup when a tag is torn off.

Is there an official government template?

SafeWork NSW publishes Template 8, an electrical test and tag register, as PDF and Word, for house construction sites. No regulator requires a particular form.

What goes in the register when an item fails?

The fail, the reason and the action. Leave the next due date empty until it passes. The WA code says an out-of-service tag should "clearly state the nature of the defect" and be removed only by a competent person after the defect is fixed.