Test and Tag: Who Can Actually Do It
You don't have to be an electrician to test and tag in most of Australia — you have to be a competent person. Here's what that means, where the rules are tighter, and how to run it as a service line instead of a favour.
Test and tag sits in an odd spot. It's electrical work in the everyday sense, but in most of the country it isn't restricted to licensed electricians — the standard asks for a competent person, which is a training question rather than a licensing one. That confuses tradies in both directions: some assume anyone with a tester can do it, and some assume they need a sparky for a box of extension leads. This guide sorts out who can do it, what the job involves, how often it has to happen, and how to price it as recurring work rather than something you throw in.
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Who's allowed to do it
In most Australian jurisdictions, in-service inspection and testing of electrical equipment has to be done by a competent person — someone with the knowledge and skill to do it properly, usually demonstrated through a recognised test-and-tag course. An electrical licence isn't the trigger; competence is.
That's the general position, and there are exceptions. Queensland is the one most often raised, where the requirement is tighter than a short course. Before you set someone up to do this — in your own business or as a service to clients — confirm the current position with your state's electrical regulator, because this is exactly the kind of rule that differs at a border and gets revised.
A competent person should be able to do all of the following, and a course that doesn't cover them isn't enough:
- Carry out a proper visual inspection — flex, plug, socket, casing, guards and covers — and know when to stop before testing.
- Tell the difference between earthed and double-insulated equipment and test each correctly.
- Run earth continuity and insulation resistance tests to the standard.
- Test RCDs, including the trip-time checks, where that's in scope.
- Use the tester properly and interpret the results, rather than reading a pass light.
- Know the legislation and the standard that apply where the work is being done.
Repairs are a different question. A competent person can find the fault and take the item out of service; putting it back into service after an electrical repair is licensed electrical work. Tag it out and hand it to a sparky.
The standard, and what it covers
The Australian and New Zealand standard for in-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment — AS/NZS 3760 — is what test and tag is actually run against. It sets out the inspection, the tests, the tagging and the record keeping, and it's revised periodically, so work from a current copy rather than a photocopy in a folder.
Broadly, equipment in scope is anything with a flexible cord and a removable plug that isn't extra-low voltage. In practice, on a trade site that means:
- Power tools and battery charger units.
- Extension leads and cord sets — the most commonly damaged items and the ones most often skipped.
- Portable RCDs.
- Site amenities — kettles, microwaves, fridges, heaters, fans.
- Portable lighting and generators feeding portable equipment.
New equipment generally doesn't need testing before first use, but it does need to be visually inspected and tagged so it enters the register with a date on it. Skipping that is how a two-year-old drill ends up with no traceable history.
How often it has to happen
Intervals are driven by environment, not by equipment type. The rougher the conditions and the more the item gets handled, the shorter the interval. Construction, demolition and mining sit at the short end — a few months — while equipment in a clean, dry office that never moves sits at the long end, measured in years.
The current interval table is in the standard, and your state regulator may impose its own requirements on top for particular industries. Don't set your schedule from a number someone quoted you on site; set it from the table, then write it down.
The colour-coded tags used on construction sites exist to make the interval visible from across a room. If the colour on the tag isn't this quarter's, the item shouldn't be in use. That's a system worth adopting even where it isn't mandated, because it turns compliance into something a supervisor can check at a glance.
The tag is not the record
A tag on a lead tells you the item passed. It doesn't prove you have a system, and a system is what you'll be asked to demonstrate after an incident. Keep a register, and make sure it carries:
- What the item is and something that identifies it uniquely — an asset number beats "yellow lead".
- Who tested it, by name.
- The test date and the next due date.
- The result, and what happened to anything that failed.
- Where it lives — which vehicle, which site, which crew.
Failed items have to come out of service, be tagged so nobody plugs them back in, and be repaired by someone licensed to do it or disposed of. A failed item left in the back of a ute is the one that gets grabbed on a busy morning.
ServiceYak keeps recurring work and its paperwork attached to the customer and the job, so a quarterly test-and-tag round comes back around on the schedule with last visit's notes and photos already on the record.
Running it as a service line
For an electrical business, test and tag is some of the best recurring work available: it's scheduled, it's repeatable, it's low-variance, and the customer needs it again in three months. It's also frequently under-priced, because it gets thrown in with a maintenance visit and never gets a line of its own.
- Price per item with a minimum call-out, so a small site is still worth attending.
- Quote the round, not the visit. An annual agreement with quarterly attendances is easier to sell and far easier to schedule than four separate jobs.
- Charge for the report. The register you hand the client is the thing they actually need for their own compliance, and producing it takes time.
- Separate the repairs. Faults found become quoted work, not free fixes absorbed into the tagging price.
- Book the next round before you leave site. The interval is known, so there's no reason for the follow-up to depend on the client remembering.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need an electrical licence to test and tag?
In most of Australia, no — the requirement is that the work is done by a competent person, which normally means completing a recognised test-and-tag course. Some jurisdictions are tighter, Queensland in particular, so confirm the current requirement with your state's electrical regulator before you rely on the general position.
How often does equipment need testing?
It depends on the environment the gear works in. Construction, demolition and mining sites are at the short end at a few months; equipment in a clean, low-risk environment that doesn't move can run for years. The current intervals are set out in AS/NZS 3760, and your regulator may add requirements for particular industries.
Does new equipment need to be tested before use?
New equipment generally doesn't need electrical testing before first use, but it should be visually inspected and tagged with a date so it enters your register and its next interval can be calculated. Don't let new gear go on site untagged just because it's new.
What should I charge for test and tag?
Build it up from your own numbers rather than matching a per-item price you heard. Work out how many items an hour your process genuinely handles including travel, setup and producing the register, apply your charge-out rate to that, and set a minimum attendance fee so small sites still cover the trip. Then treat any faults found as separately quoted repair work.