Non-prescribed electrical equipment
What is non-prescribed electrical equipment?
Marking non-prescribed electrical equipment
Interstate recognition
What is non-prescribed electrical equipment?
Non-prescribed equipment is all electrical equipment not included in schedule 3 of the Electrical Safety Regulation 2002 (PDF, 1 MB) .
Non-prescribed equipment does not have to have electrical safety approval from a government regulator prior to sale.
However it is an offence for a person to sell non-prescribed electrical equipment unless the electrical equipment complies with the safety criteria of AS/NZS 3820 Essential safety requirements for low voltage electrical equipment (non-Queensland Government link).
The seller has an obligation to ensure the electrical safety of any electrical equipment sold.
Manufacturers and importers are encouraged to voluntarily submit any non-prescribed electrical equipment or appliance that they wish to sell, to the Electrical Safety Office using the same application forms and requirements for prescribed electrical equipment. The ESO will issue a certificate of approval (formerly a certificate of suitability) that can be used to show compliance to the requirements and AS/NZS 3820. This certificate will be valid for up to five years.
The seller also needs to ensure the electrical item meets criteria set out in AS/NZS 3820 Essential safety requirements for low voltage electrical equipment.
Marking non-prescribed electrical equipment
Equipment receiving a certificate of approval in Queensland will be marked in the form of the letter Q followed by a series of numbers eg. Q050123.
This is instead of the former certificate of suitability marking: CS/123/Q.
Equipment registered before the change in 2001 will still carry a ‘CS’ number.
Electrical equipment, covered by a certificate of suitability in other states, is identified with marking in the general form:
- CS/971111/ V - Victoria
- CS/108/N - New South Wales
Interstate recognition
Equipment issued with a Certificate of Suitability (CS) in other Australian states, and properly marked, is recognised nationally.
The Queensland approval is recognised in all states of Australia and New Zealand as meeting the requirements for sale that each state and New Zealand have in place.
Queensland recognises the approval granted by other states of Australia as meeting the requirements for sale in Queensland.
Last updated July 18, 2005
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