Test and Tag
Retest intervals and pass limits for portable gear.
Questions
Each answer describes what this tool calculates. The result is a design aid. Verify against the current standard.
What does the test and tag tool do?
The tool reports the retest interval for the environment you choose. It reports the push-button and operating time intervals for a portable or fixed RCD. It gives the pass limit for earth continuity, insulation resistance and leakage current. It then checks the values you measured.
How often must equipment be tested?
AS/NZS 3760:2010 Table 4 sets the interval by environment. It gives 6 months in factories and workshops, and for commercial cleaning. It gives 12 months where the cord flexes, or the place is hostile or open to abuse. It gives 5 years where none of those apply, and 2 years in residential areas of hotels. Hire equipment is 3 months.
What are the pass limits?
The protective earth circuit must not exceed 1 ohm. Insulation resistance is 1 megohm for Class I and Class II. It is 0.05 megohm for a PRCD functional earth and 0.01 megohm for a sheathed heating element. Leakage is 5 mA for Class I and 1 mA for Class II.
Why can a 200 ms RCD result fail?
Two limits apply to a 30 mA device. Table 3 gives 300 ms for the test of Appendix H. Clause 2.3.3.4 gives 150 ms for an RCD permanently wired to terminals in equipment, measured with an external timing circuit. The tool uses the shorter limit for a fixed RCD, and Table 3 for a portable one.
Which edition does the tool use?
AS/NZS 3760:2010 including Amendment 2. AS/NZS 3760:2022 supersedes it and changed the intervals and test methods. Check the current edition before you rely on a result. Clause 2.5.2 recommends 7 years where records are kept, and defers to the regulator.