FFP Guides

Compliance by state

Certificate of Electrical Safety in Victoria: prescribed work rules

In Victoria every job needs a Certificate of Electrical Safety (COES) from Energy Safe Victoria. Prescribed work (consumer mains, switchboards, hazardous areas and more) must be inspected by a licensed electrical inspector before connection, and its COES goes to the customer, the distributor and ESV within 16 days. Non prescribed work has no inspection step and a one month window.

Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.

Official name
Certificate of Electrical Safety (COES)
Regulator
Energy Safe Victoria (ESV)
Who issues it
The electrician who performed the electrical installation work
When
Any electrical installation work. Prescribed work (consumer mains, switchboards, hazardous areas, high voltage, embedded generation and more) also needs inspection by a licensed electrical inspector before connection
Deadline
Prescribed COES: within 16 calendar days of completing the work. Non prescribed COES: within one month of completing the work
Lodgement
Electronic COES are purchased and lodged in ESVConnect. Paper COES are bought through electrical wholesalers and lodged by phone through ESV's Interactive Voice Response line on 1300 360 366
Keep records for
The responsible person keeps their copy for 3 years
Penalty
Energy Safe Victoria describes failing to meet the COES provision or retention requirements in the Electricity Safety (General) Regulations 2019 as an offence. ESV's public guidance on the obligations page does not state a specific penalty unit figure, so check the current Electricity Safety Act 1998 penalty schedule with ESV before relying on a number.

Homeowner? If you had electrical work done in Victoria, ask for the COES: it should show whether your job was prescribed or non prescribed, and prescribed work should have been inspected before your power was reconnected.

What the certificate must show

Produce it from a ServiceM8 job

  1. In Settings > Forms > Add Form, create a form called COES check, with a Choice question Prescribed or non prescribed work, listing ESV's prescribed categories as examples in the note.
  2. Add a Date question Work completed and, for prescribed work, a Choice question Inspected and passed by licensed electrical inspector, Yes or No, marked mandatory.
  3. Attach the form to every electrical job badge and set it to complete before the job can be marked finished, so the prescribed or non prescribed decision is made and recorded on site.
  4. Add a job diary note field or Text question for the COES certificate number once it is purchased and lodged in ESVConnect.
  5. Create two badge-based reminders, one for the 16 day prescribed deadline and one for the one month non prescribed deadline, calculated from the Work completed date.
  6. Store the ESVConnect login as a shared company credential so any electrician can lodge from the van rather than waiting until they are back at the office.
  7. Run a test job for each work type and confirm the certificate number and lodgement date both land in the job diary before your electricians rely on it.

Every job gets a COES, but two different processes

Energy Safe Victoria (ESV) defines a COES as the legal document an electrician issues to record the electrical installation work they performed, under the Electricity Safety Act 1998 and the Electricity Safety (General) Regulations 2019. There is no job small enough to skip it: the question is which of the two COES types applies.

Non prescribed work covers the routine end of the trade: general wiring, repairs, fitting replacements and most domestic and light commercial jobs. Prescribed work is the higher risk list ESV sets out, including consumer mains, switchboards, work in hazardous areas, high voltage installations, embedded generation and connections to security fences or medical patient areas.

The inspection step that only Victoria has

Prescribed work must be inspected by a licensed electrical inspector before the installation is connected to supply, under regulation 45 of the Electricity Safety (General) Regulations 2019. No other state in this cluster puts a government-recognised inspector between the electrician finishing the job and the customer getting power. Budget for the inspection call out and the wait in your quote and your scheduling, not just the test time.

A narrow exception exists in regulation 249(4): repairing or replacing a single component of a prescribed installation with an equivalent part at the same location can be certified as non prescribed work without a fresh inspection, rather than triggering the full prescribed process.

Different copies, different deadlines

A prescribed COES has to reach the customer, the relevant electricity distribution business and ESV itself within 16 calendar days of finishing the work. A non prescribed COES goes to the customer and ESV, with a full month to do it. Miss either window and you are outside the Electricity Safety (General) Regulations 2019, which ESV describes as an offence. Both COES types must be kept by the responsible person for 3 years.

Buying and lodging a COES

ESV sells COES two ways. Electronic COES are purchased and lodged entirely inside ESVConnect, which is the setup most ServiceM8 users will want since it can sit next to your invoicing workflow. Paper COES are bought through electrical wholesalers and lodged by phone through ESV's Interactive Voice Response line. Either way the certificate number needs to end up recorded against the job before you can call the job complete.

Sources

  1. A COES is a legal document issued by an electrician to record the details of the electrical work they performed, under the Electricity Safety Act 1998 and the Electricity Safety (General) Regulations 2019. Energy Safe Victoria, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  2. Electronic COES purchase and lodgement is completed entirely in ESVConnect. Paper COES, available through electrical wholesalers, can only be lodged through the Interactive Voice Response system on 1300 360 366. Energy Safe Victoria, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  3. Prescribed electrical installation work must be inspected by a licensed electrical inspector before connection to electricity supply, under regulation 45 of the Electricity Safety (General) Regulations 2019. Energy Safe Victoria, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  4. Copies of a prescribed COES must be provided to the customer, the relevant distribution business and Energy Safe Victoria within 16 calendar days of completing the work. Copies of a non prescribed COES must be provided to the customer and Energy Safe Victoria within one month of completing the work. Failure to comply is an offence. Energy Safe Victoria, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  5. The responsible person must retain their copy of a COES for 3 years. Energy Safe Victoria, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  6. Under regulation 249(4), repair or maintenance of a single component part of a prescribed installation, or replacement of a single component part with an equivalent part at the same location, can be treated as non prescribed work rather than requiring a fresh prescribed inspection. Energy Safe Victoria, checked 25 Sep 2026.