Hire of electrical equipment
Regulations and requirements
Equipment requirements when purchased for use as hire equipment
Ongoing requirements
Regulations and requirements
The hire of electrical equipment is regulated by the Electrical Safety Act 2002 (PDF, 788 KB) and the Electrical Safety Regulation 2002 (PDF, 1 MB) through:
- the electrical safety obligations on the hire company; and
- by having requirements the equipment must be shown to meet before it can be sold to the hire company or used as hire equipment.
Equipment requirements when purchased for use as hire equipment
The requirements for electrical safety on electrical equipment purchased for use as hire equipment are the same as for equipment being offered for sale.
If the equipment is prescribed electrical equipment then it should have a current certificate of approval when being purchased for use as hire equipment.
However, for hire equipment, the expiry of the certificate of approval does not prevent the equipment from being continued to be hired.
If the equipment is non-prescribed electrical equipment, then it must meet the requirements for non-prescribed electrical equipment in force at the time the equipment was sold for use as hire equipment. The purchaser should confirm the equipment meets the requirements for non-prescribed electrical equipment before purchasing.
Unsafe electrical equipment can be prohibited for use as hire equipment by notices issued by the Electrical Safety Office.
Ongoing requirements
Electrical equipment offered for hire must be both inspected and tested by a competent person before each hiring unless a safety switch that cannot be disconnected, deactivated or removed is fitted to the equipment. This inspection and testing does not require disassembly of the article.
All electrical equipment for hire must be further inspected, tested and tagged every six months by a competent person.
Hire equipment passing inspection and testing must be identified with a durable tag that also shows the next scheduled test date.
Any hire equipment failing inspection and testing must be immediately withdrawn from hire and labelled as unsafe to use with a durable tag.
Find out more about required tests for electrical equipment.
Penalties are set down in the Electrical Safety Regulation 2002 for non-compliance to the regulatory requirements for the hire of electrical equipment and the testing and inspection of electrical equipment for hire.
Last updated October 5, 2005
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