Test and Tag Colour and Frequencies

Construction industry test and tag colours are as follows:

December
January
February

Current tag colour. What colour should your test tags be?

• Red Tag - December, January and February

• Green Tag - March, April and May

• Blue Tag - June, July and August

• Yellow Tag - September, October and November

For the construction, demolition and mining industry the colour of the tags does matter. For all other industries the colour of the tags are not regulated. However, it's always a good idea to colour coordinate, particularly if you have a range of different tags that require testing and tagging at different frequencies in one work place. For example if a site has a workshop that has 6 month tags it should have different coloured tags from the 12 month tags used for equipment in the office at the same site.

For construction sites the colour of the tag should identify the period in which the test was conducted. For example items tested in the September - November quarter should have yellow tags applied. The test is valid for 3 months, irrespective of whether it goes into the next period (which will generally be the case). In the following period you will often see the previous colour tags, but as long as they are still within 3 months they are valid, and meet the requirements of AS/NZS 3760:2022.

How often should electrical equipment be tested and tagged?

Inspection and testing should be conducted at three month, six month, one year or five year intervals depending on the environment in which the electrical equipment is in.

In most circumstances, the flowing frequencies would be advised, as per Australian Standard AS/NZS 3760:2022:

• 3 months - Appliances and portable RCDs used on construction, mining and demolition sites.

• 6 months - Appliances used in factories, warehouses, commercial kitchens, production and commercial cleaning.

  Fixed RCDs (push button test)

• 12 months - Appliances used in an environment where the equipment/supply cord is flexed in us or open to abuse. e.g. Kitchens (non commercial), bathrooms, meeting rooms, offices, common spaces.

  Fixed RCDs (operating time test)

• 24 months - Appliances and RCDs (operating time test used in residential type areas. e.g. hotels, boarding houses, halls, accommodation houses and the like.

• 60 months - Appliances used in an environment where the equipment/supply cord is not flexed in use or open to abuse. e.g. communication racks, servers and security systems.

Other than construction and demolition industries all other workplaces require a risk management approach to determine the type of inspection and testing required. If you're unsure of what test intervals are applicable for your workplace, please don’t hesitate to contact us or call (08) 6118 7418