If you have ever looked at a power tool, a laptop charger or a kitchen appliance in a New Zealand workplace and wondered what the coloured dot on its test tag means, the short answer is this: the colour tells you when the item was tested and when it is next due. It is a record-keeping convention, not a legal requirement. Test and tag itself is not mandatory in New Zealand — the legal duty is that equipment is electrically safe and maintained in a safe condition. Colour coding simply makes that duty easier to manage and easier to demonstrate: instead of reading the fine print on every tag, a supervisor can scan a rack of gear and spot a colour that is out of step with the current cycle.
What a test tag colour code actually is
A test tag is a durable label fixed to an appliance after it has been inspected and tested. Under an AS/NZS 3760 style in-service testing programme, the tag carries the information that matters: the asset identifier, the date it was tested, when it is next due, who did the work and whether it passed. Colour is the fast visual layer printed on top of that information.
Some workplaces use one tag colour all year and rely on the printed dates. Others change the tag colour every period — monthly, quarterly or annually — so the colour alone tells you where an item sits in the cycle. Both approaches are legitimate. A colour code is a record-keeping convention that a business or its testing provider adopts to make compliance records easy to read and easy to audit.
Why colour rotation makes compliance easier
A rotating colour does three practical jobs:
- Instant visual check. A supervisor can scan a rack of tools or a staff kitchen and see at a glance whether the tags belong to the current period.
- Overdue items stand out. An appliance still wearing an older colour is a visible flag that it has slipped out of the schedule.
- Simple audit story. When an auditor or insurer asks what was checked and when, a colour that maps to a known period makes the answer immediate.
None of this replaces the recorded detail on the tag. It speeds up the everyday human check that makes the recorded detail useful.
How a colour rotation cycle works
Each testing period is assigned a colour, and the sequence repeats on a fixed cycle. A common pattern for equipment on a quarterly schedule uses four colours across the year:
| Period in the cycle | Typical colour | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Period 1 (for example, January to March) | Red | Tested in the first quarter; next due in Period 2 |
| Period 2 (April to June) | Green | Tested in the second quarter; next due in Period 3 |
| Period 3 (July to September) | Blue | Tested in the third quarter; next due in Period 4 |
| Period 4 (October to December) | Yellow | Tested in the fourth quarter; next due in Period 1 |
At the end of the cycle the sequence begins again. Anything still carrying last year's colour at the start of the new cycle is visibly overdue, and it can be pulled aside for retesting before it is used.
Four colours is only one example. Five- and six-colour rotations are also widely used, and single-colour tags with clear printed dates remain common. What matters is consistency: pick a cycle, document it, and make sure everyone on site knows how to read it. The specific palette is not fixed by any national colour chart.
Does AS/NZS 3760 require particular tag colours?
No. AS/NZS 3760 is the in-service inspection and testing Standard that many New Zealand PCBUs choose to follow as one way to show they are managing electrical safety. It is a Standard, not legislation, and it does not set a fixed colour chart that every workplace must adopt. Testing providers have historically used different palettes, and no palette is intrinsically more correct than another.
What a Standards-aligned programme does call for is documentation — a schedule, records of what was inspected and tested, and a way to identify equipment that is overdue. Colour rotation is simply one of the simplest ways to deliver it. You can read more about how AS/NZS 3760 in-service testing works.
What else is on the tag
Colour is a shortcut; the written fields are the evidence. A typical test tag records:
- The asset or equipment identifier
- The date of the test and the next-due date
- The name or identification of the person who did the testing
- The test result (a pass, or a fail that requires action)
- The Standard the testing was carried out against
- Where relevant, the equipment class or the tests performed
When a colour code and these fields work together, a glance gives you the status and a closer look gives you the proof.
Choosing a cycle that fits your risk profile
How often equipment is tested depends on the nature of the equipment and the workplace. Equipment used outdoors or in damp conditions, such as on a construction site, generally needs more frequent attention than a computer sitting in a dry office. That means one site might sensibly run a monthly colour rotation while another uses a longer one.
Frequency is a risk decision for the person conducting the business or undertaking (PCBU) to make, informed by the equipment, the environment and the task. For a closer look at the factors involved, see how often to test electrical equipment.
Whatever cycle you choose, testing is only a snapshot of safety at the moment of testing. Cords, plugs and tools still need regular visual checks, and damaged items should be taken out of use immediately. It is also worth understanding what test and tag involves before you set a schedule.
Common mistakes with test tag colours
- Assuming the colour is law. Colour codes are a convention. Treating a particular colour as a legal requirement causes confusion when a provider uses a different palette.
- Rotating the colour but not the records. A colour with no matching written record tells an auditor very little.
- Letting the colours drift. If the person applying tags forgets to move to the new colour, the visual system quietly stops working.
- Using faded or poor-quality tags. Damaged or illegible tags fail exactly when you need them most.
- Forgetting the odd items. Chargers, extension leads, portable socket-outlet assemblies and shared kitchen appliances are easy to miss.
Keeping colour and records audit-ready
The strongest programmes link the physical tag back to a central record. A QR or barcode tag that scans straight into an asset register lets you confirm the test date, the result and the next-due date in seconds. That makes QR asset tracking for test records a natural pairing with colour rotation: the colour handles the site-floor check, and the digital record handles the paperwork.
A clean record trail also makes reporting straightforward. When the colour cycle, the tag detail and the asset register all agree, you can produce a compliance report without scrambling for missing or mismatched tags.
When to bring in a professional
Anyone who carries out the testing needs the knowledge and skills to do the task correctly and to understand the Standards involved. It does not have to be a registered electrical worker — but only a registered electrical worker can repair any fault the testing reveals.
A PCBU can either buy testing equipment and train a worker, or engage a third party. If running a colour cycle, maintaining the register and keeping every tag legible feels like a lot to manage, a provider can take the whole programme off your hands and leave you with the records. If you are weighing that up, our guide to choosing a test and tag provider sets out the questions worth asking.
Colour codes in short
Test tag colour codes are a simple, practical convention: rotate the colour, and a glance tells you when an item was last tested and when it is next due. They are not law, and no Standard forces a particular palette, but a consistent colour cycle is one of the easiest ways to keep a workplace's electrical safety records readable and defensible. Pick a cycle, document it, train your team to read it, and make sure the written record on every tag matches the colour on it.
Ready to put an audit-ready colour cycle in place? Talk to our team about a testing programme built around your equipment and your risk profile.
