06 May

Implementation of EESS in Victoria 1 April 2019. We can issue safety certificates under the RECS scheme.

Implementation of EESS in Victoria
The requirements were implemented 1 April 2019.
Introduced to improve consumer safety for household electrical equipment sold in Victoria, the EESS aims to harmonise various state legislation across Australia and provide the public with a national database of responsible suppliers and electrical equipment registrations.

 

Recognition of certification in Victoria
Certificates issued by external certifiers recognised by a declared jurisdiction are recognised in Victoria. Currently this means that certificates issued by certifiers under the Queensland Recognised External Certification Schemes (RECS) are recognised in Victoria.ESV will administratively recognise certificates issued by Australian regulators who have not yet enacted corresponding law provided their certificate data is uploaded to the national certification database.From 1 April 2019 to 1 October 2019 private certifiers can continue to upload REAS certificate data to the national certification database. This is not a recognition of REAS certificates but part of a temporary transitional allowance to assist industry with moving to compliance with Victorian law.ESV will work with private certifiers and the Queensland Electrical Safety Office (QLD) to assist private certifiers who have made an application to become a RECS with QLD, and provided that there is no obvious concern or issue raised by QLD, ESV will not prohibit the certifier from continuing to upload REAS certificates after 1 October 2019. This will only apply if the certifier gives ESV an undertaking to only issue certification in accordance with EESS and RECS requirements, this includes compliance to the Equipment Safety Rules. This is not a recognition of the certifier but a temporary transitional allowance to assist the external certifier and industry. This temporary transition allowance will cease on 1 April 2020.

  • After 1 October 2019, QLD RECS external certifiers shall only upload QLD RECS certificates to the national database.
  • After 1 October 2019 and up to 1 April 2020 NSW REAS private certifiers who have made an application to become QLD RECS, but have not yet finalised the process, may have additional temporary transitional arrangements apply for uploading REAS certificates that comply with the Equipment Safety Rules.
  • After 1 October 2019 NSW REAS private certifiers who have not made application to become a QLD RECS cannot upload any new certificates onto the EESS database.

The temporary transitional arrangements allow for a total of a 12-month period of transition for industry to ensure they have correct certificates on the EESS database to register their equipment on the EESS.

There is no prohibition against an NSW REAS private certifier applying for recognition under Queensland legislation and becoming a RECS.

Any external certifier that is not accredited or is not in the process of obtaining accreditation under the Queensland legislation by 1 October 2019 will have restricted access to the national certification database and will not be authorised to upload new certificates.

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