Test and Tag for Strata: Who's Actually Responsible?

In a strata or body corporate building, the body corporate is responsible for the electrical gear serving common property, and the lot owner is responsible for what’s inside their own unit. So shared switchboards, common-area lighting and the gym equipment sit with the body corporate — the fridge in someone’s kitchen is their own business. Where exactly the line falls comes down to the registered plan.

This one causes a lot of confusion (and the odd committee argument), so let’s make it clear.

What the body corporate looks after

The shared stuff, including:

• Common-area and car-park lighting
• Emergency and exit lighting
• Shared switchboards
• The safety switches protecting common circuits
• Fire detection in common areas
• Portable gear in common areas — gym equipment, pool-room appliances, foyer lamps, club-room fridges

Higher-use, movable items like gym machines need testing more often than fixed, low-risk gear.

How often, in Queensland

For common-property safety switches in a QLD body corporate, the accepted approach is a trip-time test by a qualified electrician every 2 years, with a simpler push-button check by a responsible person — a building manager or committee member — every 12 months in between. Portable equipment follows the normal AS/NZS 3760 intervals for its environment.

“Are we even legally required to do this?”

It’s a bit nuanced. A residential body corporate generally isn’t treated as a “PCBU” (the workplace-safety term for a business), so it may not be strictly required to test and tag or keep records. But a body corporate responsible for commercial common areas usually is. Either way, keeping records is the smart play — if something goes wrong, it shows the committee did its due diligence and had the work done by a licensed electrician.

What standards apply

All electrical work in Queensland has to comply with the Electrical Safety Regulation 2013 (Qld), plus the relevant Australian Standards — AS/NZS 3000 (the Wiring Rules) and AS/NZS 3760 for testing and tagging. Legislation always wins where it and a standard differ.

Why one regular contractor helps

Committees and strata managers change; the building’s wiring doesn’t. Having one electrician who knows the building keeps the testing consistent, the records in one place, and nothing falling through the cracks between committee handovers — that’s exactly what our strata & body corporate test and tag service is built around. Check your own schedule against the intervals in how often you need to test and tag in QLD.