Electrical Test Equipment Testing and Tagging Guideline

The University of Western Australia's Electrical Equipment Safety Policy states that Testing and Tagging at UWA, has to be done in accordance with AS/NZS 3760:2003, if done using a Portable Appliance Tester (PAT) it can be carried out by a competent person and the person carrying out the PAT testing has to have a copy of AS/NZS 3760:2003 which is available from the Libraries on line resources.

West Australian electrical licensing require an electrical license if you want to test and tag with electrical test equipment such as meggers and multimeters due to the risks associated with exposed probes and wiring.

The requirement of having a copy of AS/NZS 3760:2003 In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment is because the standard contains all of the information, tables and methods required to do a test and tag, so there is no need to reproduce the same information here, apart from the definition of:

2.3 Inspection and Testing

2.3.1 General

Where applicable, in-service inspection and testing shall include;
(a) An external inspection of the equipment and the connecting facilities (e.g. supply flexible cord);
(b) Protective earth continuity tests for Class 1 equipment, power boards and cord sets;
(c) Insulation testing, which may be achieved by measuring insulation resistance, or leakage current;
(d) Confirmation of the correct polarity of live conductors in cord sets with re-wireable plugs and cord extension sockets.

When using separate test equipment such as multimeters or meggers to test electrical equipment, there is a risk of electric shock due to the use of test leads.

Test adaptor leads will have to be made to allow for some tests to be carried out easily and efficiently.

2.4.1 Non-compliant equipment

where in-service inspection or testing identifies equipment which fails to comply with the criteria given in this Standard, the equipment shall be appropriately labelled to indicate that the quipment requires remedial action and warn against further use, and with drawn from service. The choice of remedial action, disposal or other corrective action shall be determined by the owner or the person responsible for the safety of the site.

Any repairs to faulty electrical equipment has to be done by a person with an appropriate electrical license.