FFP Guides

Compliance by state

What Queensland's Electrical Safety Regulation actually requires for test and tag

Queensland is the one state that writes test and tag intervals into law. The Electrical Safety Regulation 2013 sets fixed intervals by work type, yearly for service work, up to 5 yearly for office work, and a safety switch as a lawful alternative. Failing to comply is a category 3 offence, up to $172,700 for a business owner or $863,500 for a company.

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

Official name
No single certificate. A set of prescribed inspection and testing intervals for specified electrical equipment under the Electrical Safety Regulation 2013
Regulator
Electrical Safety Office, WorkSafe Queensland
Who issues it
The person conducting the business or undertaking (PCBU) arranges the testing. A competent person carries it out and tags the equipment
When
Specified electrical equipment used for construction, manufacturing, service, office or amusement work, or rural industry work with a stated electrical risk factor
Deadline
Set by the regulation itself: yearly for double insulated manufacturing equipment (6 monthly if not), yearly for service work (5 yearly for office work only), 6 monthly for amusement equipment, 12 monthly for rural industry work with a risk factor, construction work follows AS/NZS 3012 instead. A compliant safety switch is a lawful alternative to testing in most of these
Lodgement
Nothing is lodged with WorkSafe Queensland. The tag or written record stays with the equipment or the business
Keep records for
The regulation does not set a fixed retention period for the tag once superseded by the next test, keep the current tag or record on the equipment
Penalty
Failing to comply with a testing duty is a category 3 offence under the Electrical Safety Act 2002: up to 1,000 penalty units ($172,700) for an individual acting as the business or an officer, or 5,000 penalty units ($863,500) for a body corporate, at the $172.70 penalty unit value from 1 July 2026. Where the failure exposes someone to a risk of death or serious injury it becomes a category 2 offence, up to 3,000 or 15,000 penalty units.

Homeowner? If you're a Queensland business, check which work type each piece of equipment falls under, service work and office work carry different intervals, and a safety switch can substitute for testing on either.

What the certificate must show

Recent change

The Queensland penalty unit rose to $172.70 from 1 July 2026 under the Penalties and Sentences (Penalty Unit Value) Amendment Regulation 2026.

Produce it from a ServiceM8 job

  1. In Settings > Forms > Add Form, create a form called Test and tag QLD, with a Multiple Choice question, Work type, options Construction / Manufacturing / Service / Office / Amusement / Rural industry.
  2. Add per item questions: Item description, Double insulated (Y/N), Connected to a type 1 or 2 safety switch (Y/N), Test result, and a Photo of the tag.
  3. Set the form logic so items on a compliant safety switch skip the retest date, since sections 107 and 112 treat the switch as an alternative, not an addition.
  4. Add a Date field, Next test due, and have the office calculate it from the work type answer (12 months for service and manufacturing not double insulated, 6 months for double insulated manufacturing and amusement, 5 years for office, matching s 107 and s 112).
  5. Create a Reminder at the shortest interval on each site so retest jobs land in the Inbox automatically.
  6. Attach the form to a job badge and require it before checkout, and email the completed record to the client from the job diary.

Queensland writes the interval into the regulation

Every other state on this list either has no fixed test and tag interval at all, or borrows AS/NZS 3760's recommended figures. Queensland is different. The Electrical Safety Regulation 2013 sets its own testing intervals by the type of work being performed at the workplace, construction, manufacturing, service, office and amusement work each get their own subdivision, and those figures sit on top of, and can be shorter than, anything AS/NZS 3760 recommends.

The result is that a Queensland business cannot rely on the standard alone. Section 112 of the regulation, for example, requires specified electrical equipment used for service work, the examples given are a portable vacuum cleaner in a hotel or a blow dryer in a salon, to be inspected and tested by a competent person at least once a year, unless it is connected to a type 1 or type 2 safety switch. Equipment used only for office work gets up to 5 years, the same safety switch alternative applies. Section 107 sets manufacturing work at once every 6 months for equipment that is not double insulated, and once a year if it is, again with a safety switch as an alternative for the shorter interval.

The safety switch is a genuine alternative, not just a backup

A detail that catches out businesses moving between states: in Queensland, connecting specified electrical equipment to a compliant safety switch is not extra protection alongside testing, it is a lawful substitute for it under sections 107 and 112. If every socket outlet on the shop floor already runs through a type 1 or type 2 safety switch, the equipment plugged into it does not need to sit on the testing schedule at all. Businesses that skip this option end up testing equipment they didn't need to.

What has to go on the tag

When a competent person tests equipment and finds it safe, the regulation requires a durable tag attached immediately showing the prescribed details, at least one of the test date or the date the equipment must next be retested, plus either the tester's name, their electrical contractor licence number, their employer's licence number, or (for someone not employed by a corporation) their electrical worker licence number. If the equipment fails, the tag has to warn people not to use it and the item has to be withdrawn from use immediately, not at the next convenient moment.

Construction, amusement and rural work each get their own rule

Construction sites run on AS/NZS 3012 rather than the service or manufacturing intervals, section 104 requires all electrical equipment for construction work to meet that standard, though Queensland drops the requirement to put the tester's name or company on the tag that AS/NZS 3012 itself asks for. Amusement devices and rides are tested every time they're assembled on site and at least every 6 months regardless. Rural industry work with a stated electrical risk factor gets a 12 month cycle. The full interval table, including RCD push button and trip time testing, is in our test and tag due date calculator, this page covers the law behind it.

The penalty is a real number, not a formality

Breaching any of these testing duties is enforced through the Electrical Safety Act 2002. Failing to comply, without needing to show it put anyone at risk, is a category 3 offence: up to 1,000 penalty units for a business owner acting as the PCBU or an officer, or 5,000 penalty units for a body corporate. At the $172.70 penalty unit value from 1 July 2026, that is up to $172,700 for an individual and $863,500 for a company. If the failure actually exposes someone to a risk of death or serious injury, it steps up to a category 2 offence, up to 3,000 or 15,000 penalty units.

Sources

  1. A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure specified electrical equipment used for manufacturing work is inspected and tested by a competent person at least once every year if double insulated, or at least once every 6 months if not, unless connected to a type 1 or type 2 safety switch. Electrical Safety Regulation 2013 (Qld), s 107 (current as at 27 March 2026), checked 25 Sep 2026.
  2. A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure specified electrical equipment used for service work is inspected and tested by a competent person at least once a year, or, if used only for office work, at least once every 5 years, unless connected to a type 1 or type 2 safety switch. Electrical Safety Regulation 2013 (Qld), s 112 (current as at 27 March 2026), checked 25 Sep 2026.
  3. A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure all electrical equipment used for construction work complies with AS/NZS 3012 (Electrical installations, Construction and demolition sites), except that the AS/NZS 3012 requirement to include the tester's name or company on the tag does not apply. Electrical Safety Regulation 2013 (Qld), s 104 (current as at 27 March 2026), checked 25 Sep 2026.
  4. The prescribed details for a tag or written record after equipment is tested or retested are, for all equipment, the test or retest date or the day the equipment must next be retested, plus the tester's name or electrical contractor or worker licence number (or their employer's or engaging corporation's licence number). Electrical Safety Regulation 2013 (Qld), s 97 definitions (current as at 27 March 2026), checked 25 Sep 2026.
  5. A failure to comply with an electrical safety duty (which includes the primary duty of care to ensure a business or undertaking is conducted in a way that is electrically safe) without needing to show it exposed anyone to risk is a category 3 offence, with a maximum penalty of 500 penalty units for an individual, 1,000 penalty units for an individual as a PCBU or officer, or 5,000 penalty units for a body corporate. A category 2 offence, where the failure exposes an individual to a risk of death or serious injury or illness, carries up to 3,000 or 15,000 penalty units. Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld), ss 30 and 40C to 40D (current as at 27 March 2026), checked 25 Sep 2026.
  6. The Queensland penalty unit is $172.70 from 1 July 2026 under the Penalties and Sentences (Penalty Unit Value) Amendment Regulation 2026. Queensland Law Society Proctor, checked 25 Sep 2026.