It depends on where the equipment is used. Plug-in equipment in a higher-risk environment, meaning wet or dusty areas, outdoors, commercial kitchens, workshops and manufacturing, is tested at least every twelve months, and six-monthly is the norm for workshop and manufacturing tools. Construction and demolition sites are three-monthly for portable equipment and six-monthly for fixed and transportable equipment. In a lower-risk office, shop or classroom, equipment that is not moved and not exposed to a hostile environment can go up to five years between tests. Before every use, the user looks at the lead, plug and body and does not use damaged equipment.
The intervals
| Interval | What happens | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Before each use | The user checks the lead, plug and body for damage; damaged equipment is withdrawn. | Every user |
| Three-monthly | Portable equipment on construction and demolition sites (AS/NZS 3012); hire equipment under the NSW code of practice. | Competent person with a tester |
| Six-monthly | Fixed and transportable equipment on construction sites; the norm for workshop and manufacturing tools; hire equipment under the Queensland regulation. | Competent person with a tester |
| Twelve-monthly | Higher-risk environments: wet or dusty areas, outdoors, commercial kitchens, workshops and manufacturing areas. | Competent person with a tester |
| Up to five years | Lower-risk environments (offices, retail, classrooms) where the equipment is not moved in normal use and not exposed to a hostile environment; AS/NZS 3760 sets indicative intervals for the class of equipment. | Competent person with a tester |
| New, repaired or second-hand | New equipment is not tested before first use but is inspected and tagged new to service with the date of the first test due. Repaired or second-hand equipment is tested before it goes into service. | Competent person with a tester |
Who does it and what to keep
A competent person with a portable appliance tester: an electrician, or a staff member trained for the task, which the standard allows. The record is the tag on the lead (test date, retest date, tester) and a register listing each item, its location, its environment class, the test dates and results. Failed items are tagged out and removed until repaired or replaced.
The rule behind the interval
The model Work Health and Safety Regulations require electrical equipment at a workplace in a hostile operating environment to be inspected and tested by a competent person, with records kept until the next test. AS/NZS 3760 sets the test method and the indicative intervals by environment; AS/NZS 3012 covers construction and demolition sites. Queensland's Electrical Safety Regulation and the NSW code of practice on managing electrical risks add their own intervals for hire equipment.
Common questions
Does new equipment have to be tested before it is used?
No. It is inspected for transport damage and tagged new to service with the date the first test is due. Second-hand or repaired equipment is tested before first use.
Does an office have to test and tag at all?
Equipment in an office that is moved around or plugged and unplugged routinely, such as laptops and chargers, still falls under the standard's indicative intervals. Equipment that sits still in a benign environment can be inspected rather than tested, at up to five-year intervals, and Queensland exempts it from testing outright.
Put it in the register
An interval only holds when the asset is listed with its tasks, its contractor and where the record lives. Standara's library carries this asset with the tasks above attached, so adding it to a site's register produces the year's schedule, the monthly to-do list and the completion record the auditor or insurer asks for. The fuller picture, with the neighbouring assets and the rule behind each interval, is in the Electrical testing schedule.
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- A worked example: one club's register, planner and records for a year
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