You should receive a certificate of testing and compliance from your licensed electrical contractor once they’ve worked on your electrical installation and connected it back to the supply. Queensland law requires it. The contractor is putting in writing that the work passed testing and meets the wiring rules. Job size makes no difference.
You may also see it called an electrical certificate of compliance, an electrical compliance certificate or a CoTC. Plenty of them are printed at the bottom of an invoice, so you may already have yours. Nobody without an electrical contractor licence can issue one, which is one more reason to hire a licensed electrician.
Which law covers the certificate of compliance in QLD now?
The certificate of testing and compliance now sits under section 229 of the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026, in force from 1 September 2026. Before that, it was section 227 of the Electrical Safety Regulation 2013, which expired on 31 August, and a lot of guides, forms and software templates still quote that number. WorkSafe Queensland says the new regulation adds no new obligations.
Older electrical compliance certificates citing s227 remain valid for work done before the change. A newer one still quoting s227 probably came off an old template. Untidy, but the testing may be fine, because a section number isn’t one of the things the regulation requires the certificate to state.
When is an electrical compliance certificate required?
The duty applies whenever a licensed contractor connects an electrical installation to supply after electrical work has been performed on it. There’s no minimum job size.
A single new power point counts, and so does a switchboard upgrade or a full commercial fit-out. Plumbing paperwork has a job-value threshold, which is probably why people assume the same applies here. It doesn’t. You’ll still hear that one downlight isn’t worth the paperwork. We disagree, and the regulation makes no allowance for it.
Does a like-for-like swap need a certificate?
Sometimes not, but the exception is narrower than forum advice suggests. Queensland law doesn’t treat replacing an appliance with a similar one as electrical installation work when the new appliance meets the conditions in section 209 of the regulation: same voltage rating, no higher current or power rating, the same way of operating and electrical characteristics at least as good. A hazardous location rules it out. That swap is still work on electrical equipment, so expect a certificate of testing and safety instead.
A power point or switchboard isn’t an appliance. Replacing one is installation work and calls for a certificate of testing and compliance, even when the new socket outlet is identical to the old one.
What must be on a certificate of testing and compliance?
The regulation requires four details and one certification statement:
- The name and address of the person for whom the work was performed
- The electrical installation tested
- The test date, meaning the day of testing (not the booking or invoice date)
- The electrical contractor licence number
- A certification statement confirming the installation, to the extent affected by the work, was tested and is electrically safe and complies with the wiring rules (AS/NZS 3000)
Look closely at the description. “Electrical work completed” tells a future buyer or insurer nothing. “New circuit and safety switch added to main switchboard for bedroom air conditioner” still makes sense 10 years later.
WorkSafe publishes a free certificate of testing and compliance template as a PDF form, with a Word version also available. Its fields include the site address and the date notice given. Contractors can use their own form or invoice wording, provided the required details are there.
How is it different from a certificate of testing and safety?
A certificate of testing and compliance covers electrical installation work, while a certificate of testing and safety covers work on electrical equipment.
Certificate of testing and compliance | Certificate of testing and safety | |
Covers | Electrical installation work | Work on electrical equipment |
Example | Replacing a switchboard | Repairing a commercial oven |
Current section | s229 | s208 |
Confirms | Electrically safe and compliant with the wiring rules | Electrically safe |
Routine compliance testing sits outside both. RCD reports and test and tag records have their own documentation, so one of those won’t stand in for a certificate after installation work.
Where do I find my electrical certificate of compliance?
Check the bottom of your invoice before you chase anyone.
WorkSafe accepts an invoice as a certificate of compliance in QLD when it includes the required information. That often takes the form of a short statement at the foot of the page, easy to miss if you were only checking the total. Search your email for the contractor’s name, then look for a licence number near the word “tested”.
A copy left in the meter box is another matter. Paper fades, and tenants change, so ask for it by email as well.
Who receives the electrical certificate of compliance?
The certificate goes to the person for whom the work was performed, which means whoever engaged the electrician. WorkSafe’s example is the builder: unless the owner engaged the contractor directly, the builder receives it.
This catches out plenty of homeowners after kitchen and bathroom renovations. You’ve paid the cabinet maker or builder, and the electrician’s paperwork has stopped with them. Ask that company first.
The licensed electrical contractor must keep a copy for at least five years after giving it to you. Nothing is lodged with WorkSafe or the Electrical Safety Office (ESO). Advice from other states muddies this, because the NSW Certificate of Compliance Electrical Work (CCEW) and Victoria’s Certificate of Electrical Safety (COES) run under different rules. A seven-year figure quoted online doesn’t come from the Queensland regulation.
What if I never received/lost an electrical certificate of compliance?
Ask the contractor for it. The obligation doesn’t lapse because you didn’t request it at the time, and the contractor’s copy should be available for five years.
- Search your invoices and email first.
- Write to the contractor with the address and job date, and ask for a copy of the certificate.
- Check their licence number through the ESO’s electrical licence search.
- If they refuse or the document doesn’t look right, contact the ESO on 1300 362 128.
“It’s not a requirement” isn’t a valid answer. Failing to provide the certificate carries a maximum penalty of 40 penalty units.
Work with no paperwork at all is harder. Nobody can certify work they didn’t do, whether it came from a previous owner or a DIY weekend. An electrician can inspect and test what’s there, then write a condition report showing what they found. For a buyer, that’s often the more useful document anyway.
Do you need an electrical compliance certificate when selling a house in QLD?
The regulation doesn’t make this certificate a general condition of sale. Keep it anyway, since it shows who did the work.
Selling brings its own separate declarations. The seller must give the buyer written notice about the safety switch, and smoke alarm compliance is declared on the Form 24 property transfer form. An electrical compliance certificate can back up those declarations but doesn’t replace them. Be wary of any improvised “fluff certificate” produced for the sale. Without the required details, it isn’t one.
Landlords are in a similar position with a rental property. File every electrical certificate of compliance with the property records, because an insurer may ask who carried out the electrical work and whether it was certified.
Does an electrical certificate of compliance prove the work was done well?
No. It proves who is accountable.
The document records that the installation was tested on a particular day under a particular licence. It won’t tell you whether the workmanship was tidy or the outlets ended up where you wanted them. A certificate is only as good as the licence number on it, and that number is what you’d rely on if a fault turned up later.
Need electrical work certified properly?
Dylan and Kristine Dawson have run Dawson Electric in Brisbane since 2007, and every electrician on our team is fully licensed. If you’re planning work or need an inspection of work with no paperwork behind it, call 07 3324 1447 or contact our team to arrange a time.
FAQs
Usually. “Electrical safety certificate QLD” is a common search term, not the document’s legal name. After installation work, the document you’re after is the certificate of testing and compliance. Work on electrical equipment, such as an appliance, gets a certificate of testing and safety.
No. A signature isn’t on the regulation’s list, and WorkSafe dropped it from its template in 2023. A signature or rubber stamp on an older certificate is normal.
No. It has to carry the licence number the installation was tested under, so that the contractor issues it.
The regulation gives it no expiry date. The test date marks a single day, so later alterations to the installation need their own certificate. Hold on to the old one regardless, since it still shows what was done and when.
As soon as practicable after the installation is connected. There’s no set number of days, and we’d expect it with the invoice at the latest.
