RCD testing

An RCD (residual current device, also called a safety switch) watches the current flowing out and back on a circuit and cuts the power within a fraction of a second if some of it leaks, for example through a person. Testing confirms it still does that. The routine in-service test is the push-button test: the device is tripped using its own test button, checked that it disconnects, and reset. Each RCD is recorded on your register with the date and the next test due, and fixed RCDs on switchboards are also visually inspected.

Yes, for workplaces. Under regulation 165 of the Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022 (WA), a person with management or control of a workplace must ensure that RCDs are tested regularly by a competent person and that records are kept, and must take an RCD that fails a test out of service. Construction and demolition sites also follow AS/NZS 3012, and portable RCDs are covered by AS/NZS 3760:2022.

It depends on the environment the RCD is used in: every 3 months on construction, demolition, mining and FIFO sites; every 6 months in factories, workshops, commercial cleaning and health facilities; and every 12 months in offices, shops, schools, hotels and similar lower-risk workplaces. Residential rental properties in WA must have at least two RCDs, checked at the start of a tenancy and at safety checks. Pick your environment in the estimate and we schedule the right interval, together with your test and tag.

No. A circuit breaker protects the wiring from overload and short circuits; an RCD protects people from electric shock by detecting leakage current. Modern switchboards often use combined RCBO devices that do both. If your switchboard has no RCDs at all, our licensed electricians can install them, and in WA at least two RCDs are required on residential properties being sold or rented.

The push-button test is the recognised routine in-service test for RCDs in WA workplaces. Trip-time testing with a test instrument is used for portable RCDs and when a device is installed or replaced, and work inside a switchboard is restricted to licensed electricians. Because our technicians are licensed electricians (or licensed partner contractors), we can do whichever test your situation requires, lawfully and with the switchboard left as we found it.

It is taken out of service straight away, tagged "do not use" and recorded as failed on your report, as the regulations require. Our licensed electricians can usually replace a failed RCD on the spot; we quote the replacement before doing it and leave the decision with you.

Look on the switchboard for devices marked with a "T" or "Test" button; each one is an RCD or a combined RCBO. Portable RCDs are the plug-in units or power boards with their own test button. We identify, number and label every one on the first visit so your register is complete.

Test and tag covers the appliances and leads that plug in. RCD testing covers the safety switches that protect the circuits those appliances plug into. Most workplaces need both, and we do both in the same visit: one booking, one register, one report, no second call-out.

Yes, and it is good practice: push the test button, confirm the power goes off, and reset it. It does not replace the recorded test by a competent person that the regulations require, but it catches a device that has stopped working early. If an RCD will not trip or will not reset, stop using that circuit and call us.

A published per-RCD rate, shown in our price list and in the instant estimate on the testing and tagging page. When RCDs are tested in the same visit as your test and tag there is no extra call-out, so bundling is cheaper than two separate visits, and both count as visits toward your Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum status, which lowers your rate the more you test with us.

Perth metropolitan area with our own team, and further across WA through our licensed electrical contractor partners, with Metroway as your single point of contact for the quote, the report and the bill.