Which certificate goes with which job
WorkSafe Queensland puts it in one sentence: electrical contractors “must provide their customers with either a ‘certificate of testing and safety’ for work on electrical equipment [or a] ‘certificate of testing and compliance’ for electrical installation work.”
| Certificate | Covers | Typical house job |
|---|---|---|
| Testing and Compliance | Electrical installation work | New switchboard, rewire, extra circuits, new power points or lights, solar connection, work in a renovation |
| Testing and Safety | Work on electrical equipment | Repair to an appliance or a piece of equipment rather than to the wiring in the walls |
If a rewire or a switchboard has been done and you are handed a Certificate of Testing and Safety, that is the wrong document for that work. Say so.
Sources: WorkSafe Queensland, Issuing certificates of compliance; Business Queensland, Electrical contractor safety duties. Both read 2 September 2026.
What must be written on it
Four facts and a statement. The Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 s 229 requires a Certificate of Testing and Compliance to state:
- your name and address, as the person the work was done for
- the electrical installation that was tested
- the day it was tested
- the number of the electrical contractor licence it was tested under
Then the statement itself: that the installation, so far as the work affected it, “has been tested to ensure it is electrically safe and complies with the requirements of the wiring rules and any other standard applying under this regulation”. The equipment version, s 208, carries the same four facts and a shorter statement — that the equipment is electrically safe.
Source: Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld), ss 208 and 227, read 2 September 2026.
It can be your invoice
It does not have to be a separate piece of paper. WorkSafe Queensland answers this directly: an invoice works “as long as the invoice (inclusive of the additional information) meets the requirements of the ES Regulation and you hold onto a copy of the invoice for at least five years.”
So check the invoice before you chase a certificate. If the four facts and the statement are on it, you already have one.
When you get it, and who gets it
As soon as practicable after the installation is connected to power. That is the trigger in s 229 — the connection, not the value of the job — and WorkSafe's own wording is “every time an electrical installation (on which electrical work was performed) is connected to a source of electricity.”
It goes to whoever engaged the electrician. This is the part that catches people out on a renovation. WorkSafe: “Unless you were engaged directly by the owner, you would give the certificate of testing and compliance to the builder.” If a builder booked the sparky, ask the builder for it, and ask for it before you make the final payment rather than after.
Lost it? They still have a copy
The contractor must keep one for at least five years after giving it to you — s 229(5) for installations, s 208(5) for equipment. So a certificate from a job three years ago is still on file somewhere, and asking for a copy is a reasonable request rather than a favour.
It is worth keeping your own. A buyer, an insurer or the next electrician all have a use for a dated record of what was done and what was tested.
Only a licensed contractor may do the work
Queensland separates two licences. A person doing the work holds an electrical work licence; the business selling it holds an electrical contractor licence. Business Queensland: “if the licensed electrical work is carried out as part of a business or undertaking, you must hold an electrical contractor licence.” The licence number on your certificate is the contractor's.
Source: Business Queensland, Electrical licences, read 2 September 2026.
The plumbing equivalent: the notifiable work register
Plumbing does not work the same way. Instead of handing you a certificate, your plumber lodges the job with the QBCC — and you can search for it yourself, by address.
Notifiable work is QBCC's term for “a category of plumbing and drainage work that allows a plumber or drainer to perform the work without a local government permit or mandatory inspections.” The everyday examples QBCC gives are the everyday jobs:
- additions, extensions or renovations to kitchens and bathrooms
- installing or replacing water heaters — electric, gas, solar or heat pump
- installing new or relocating fixtures such as toilets, showers, basins and kitchen sinks
| What | The rule |
|---|---|
| Lodging it | Registered with QBCC on a Form 4 within 10 business days of the plumber issuing an invoice for the work |
| Your copy | A copy must be sent to the customer or occupier within 20 business days of registering the work |
| The fee | Paid by the plumber, not by you: $36.88 online, $49.80 by manual form (QBCC, read 2 September 2026) |
| Checking it | QBCC's notifiable work register, searchable by address: “find out if plumbing notifiable work has been registered for your address” |
Two things follow. If no copy arrives, the twenty days give you a date to ask about. And if you are buying a house, the register tells you whether the bathroom that looks new was lodged by a licensed plumber at all.
Sources: QBCC, What is notifiable work, How to register notifiable work and Our lists and registers. All read 2 September 2026.
What to do if you cannot get one
- Check the invoice first. The certificate may already be on it.
- Ask whoever engaged the electrician. On a build or a renovation that is usually the builder, not you.
- Ask for the file copy. They have to hold it for five years.
- Electrical still unresolved? The Electrical Safety Office sits inside WorkSafe Queensland, on 1300 362 128.
- Plumbing still unresolved? Search the notifiable work register, then take it to QBCC, on 139 333.
Where every claim here came from
- The two certificates, what each must state, five-year retention, the invoice answer and the builder answer — WorkSafe Queensland, Issuing certificates of compliance, and Business Queensland, Electrical contractor safety duties.
- The statutory wording — Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld) s 208 (testing and safety) and s 229 (testing and compliance).
- The two electrical licences — Business Queensland, Electrical licences.
- Notifiable work, its timeframes, its fee and its register — QBCC, as linked in that section.
All read on 2 September 2026. These rules are Queensland's; every other state names its certificates differently and sets different timeframes.
General information for Queensland home owners, not legal advice. Yamate is software; it does not issue, assess or endorse any certificate or licence, and no regulator has reviewed this page. The regulator's own page is the current answer — every source above is linked and dated. Yamate sells software to tradespeople and lists Queensland licence holders in its directory.