Test and Tag Colours: What Each One Means

Test and tag tag colours are a quick visual way to see when an item was last tested and which testing period it belongs to. On construction, mining and demolition sites a fixed quarterly colour code is used — red, green, blue and yellow, each covering three months of the year — alongside the 3-monthly testing in AS/NZS 3012. In ordinary workplaces, under AS/NZS 3760:2022, there is no legislated tag colour at all: a provider can use any colour, because it's the information printed on the tag — not its colour — that proves an item is compliant.

Here's exactly what the colours mean, where the code is used, and what actually matters on the tag.

The construction quarterly colour code

On construction and demolition sites, equipment is tested every 3 months (AS/NZS 3012), and the tag colour changes each quarter so a site supervisor can tell at a glance whether an item is current for the period:

Each colour is used once a year, and the colour is applied according to the date the item was tested. If it's October and a lead is wearing a yellow tag, it was tested this quarter and is current; if it's still wearing a blue tag from winter, it's overdue and shouldn't be on the tools. Your principal contractor's site rules may add to this, so check them at induction.

Why construction sites use colours

Construction is a harsh, high-risk environment — leads get dragged, crushed and exposed to weather — which is why AS/NZS 3012 requires testing every three months rather than the longer intervals used elsewhere. With equipment coming and going and dozens of items on site, a colour lets a supervisor or principal contractor run a visual sweep in seconds: anything not showing the current quarter's colour is pulled. It's a safety-and-audit shortcut, not a decoration. If you need a site kept current, see our test and tag service for Sydney construction sites.

Do tag colours mean anything in a regular workplace?

This is the part that's widely misunderstood. Outside construction, mining and demolition, tag colour is not set by any law or standard. AS/NZS 3760:2022 — the standard that covers offices, workshops, kitchens, retail and most other workplaces — does not prescribe a colour. A test-and-tag provider might use a single colour for everything, or their own colour system, and still be fully compliant.

So in a general workplace, don't read meaning into the colour. What proves compliance is the content of the tag: the test date, the next-test-due date, the tester's name or ID, and the result. (Our guide to what test and tag is explains what a compliant tag must show.)

What actually matters on the tag

Whatever the colour, a compliant tag shows four things:

• ✓the test date,
• ✓the next test due date,
• ✓the tester's name or ID, and
• ✓the result (pass).

If you can read the next-due date at a glance, you know whether the item is current — which is exactly what an auditor, principal contractor or insurer checks for. The colour helps on a construction site; the dates are what count everywhere.

My item has an old-quarter colour — is it still OK?

On a construction site, no — if the colour doesn't match the current quarter, the item is overdue and should be taken out of service until it's retested. In a general workplace, the colour tells you nothing on its own; check the next-test-due date printed on the tag instead. Either way, if an item is out of date, it should be retested before it's used again. Our complete NSW test and tag guide covers the retest intervals for every environment, and test and tag vs RCD testing explains how safety-switch testing fits in.

Need test and tag for a Sydney construction site or workplace? See our electrical test and tag service or all of our services, or call 0422 742 447 for a fast quote — testing to AS/NZS 3760:2022 and AS/NZS 3012, with clear, correctly dated tags and same-day digital records. Our minimum is $120 + GST, which covers your first 30 items, with no call-out fee — see pricing.

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