Marine Test & Tag

Yes. Marine electrical gear lives in a salty, damp, corrosive environment that chews through cords and connections far faster than anything on land, so it's treated as a "hostile environment" under AS/NZS 3760 and needs regular testing. Shore power leads in particular have to be tested and tagged every year.

The marine standard is AS/NZS 3004 — Part 1 covers the marina side (the berths and shore supply) and Part 2 covers the boat's own electrical installation. General testing and tagging of leads and appliances still follows AS/NZS 3760. Marine work has its own rules around things like isolation and corrosion that ordinary domestic wiring doesn't.

Every year. Under AS/NZS 3760 a shore power supply lead must be tested and tagged annually, must not be longer than 25 metres, and must never be run while it's still coiled up (a coiled lead under load can overheat). It's one of the most common things marinas check before they'll connect you.

Salt air and moisture. The marine environment corrodes terminals, perishes insulation and attacks earth connections much faster than a dry indoor site, so faults develop quicker and testing has to be more frequent. There's also the corrosion risk from connecting to shore power, which is why boats use galvanic isolators or isolating transformers.

Yes — and they should if your gear isn't compliant. Marina operators can't safely (or legally) supply shore power to a vessel that doesn't meet the marine electrical standard, and most require a current shore-lead test tag and compliant onboard wiring before they'll switch you on. Getting it sorted keeps you connected and keeps everyone on the pontoon safe.

The RCDs feeding each berth need looking after too: a push-button test every month and a full trip-time test at least once a year to AS/NZS 3760, with the results recorded and kept for audit. Given how much water and salt these live around, that testing isn't a formality — it's what stops a fault becoming a fatality.