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Plant and equipment design registration or alteration

Before certain plant can be used in a workplace, the design of the plant must be registered with WorkSafe. The plant requiring registration of design is set out in Schedule 2 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017.

Apply to register or alter plant and equipment design

Overview

The design of certain plant used in the workplace must be registered with WorkSafe.

If a plant design is altered to an extent that the plant is subject to new measures to control risk, the altered design must be registered with WorkSafe.

Registration of plant design and plant design alterations does not expire.

Types of plant for which the design must be registered

The plant requiring registration of design is set out in Schedule 2 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Schedule 2). This includes:

  • pressure equipment, other than exceptions stated in clause 1.1 of Schedule 2
  • tower cranes, other than the foundations or supporting structure and the crane ties of the tower crane
  • self-erecting tower cranes
  • lifts/ escalators/ moving walks, other than exceptions stated in clause 1.4 of Schedule 2
  • building maintenance units
  • hoists, with a platform movement of more than 2.4 metres, designed to lift persons
  • work boxes, suspended from cranes
  • amusement structures, to which AS 3533.1 - Amusement rides and devices – Part 1: Design and construction applies, other than the exceptions stated in clause 1.8 of Schedule 2
  • prefabricated scaffolding, being an integrated system of prefabricated components manufactured in such a way that the possible geometry of assembled scaffolds is predetermined by the designer
  • boom-type elevating work platforms
  • gantry cranes, with a rated capacity greater than 5 tonnes or bridge cranes with a rated capacity greater than 10 tonnes, and a gantry crane or bridge crane that is designed to handle molten metal or dangerous goods
  • vehicle hoists
  • mast climbing work platforms
  • mobile cranes with a rated capacity greater than 10 tonnes, other than reach stackers
  • chairlifts
  • concrete-placing booms

To learn more about the plant requiring registration of design, refer to Schedule 2 of the OHS Regulations 2017.

Before applying

You'll need to provide:

  • plant designer details
  • design technical standards details
  • signed design verification declaration
  • general arrangement or representational drawings

Upload file sizes

Ensure any documents for upload are within the 2GB file size limit. Files large than this should be split into multiple documents or compressed to a smaller size.

Design verification declaration

WorkSafe Victoria needs verification that the plant equipment you wish to register is safe and produced in accordance with the technical standards and engineering principles specified by the designer.

The person verifying the design must have design knowledge, skills and academic qualifications (ie from university or TAFE) or relevant experience, to independently verify the intended tasks of the plant equipment.

They must not have participated in the design of the plant and/or equipment.

Learn more about design verifiers in the compliance code for plant. This declaration must be signed by the design verifier.

Further information

Equipment design and prescribed equipment

In addition to the requirements set out in Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (OHS Regulations), further requirements apply to certain prescribed equipment under the Equipment (Public Safety) Regulations 2017.

Schedule 1 of Equipment (Public Safety) Regulations 2017 lists the prescribed equipment covered by the design notice requirement. The list in Schedule 1 is the same as the list of plant requiring registration of design under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (see above list for the types of prescribed equipment requiring notice of design).

A prescribed equipment design must be notified to WorkSafe and the notice confirmed by WorkSafe prior to the prescribed equipment being used at an equipment site (eg a non-workplace). It is not necessary to give notice of a prescribed equipment design if the design has been registered under the OHS Regulations.

Interstate plant

An equivalent registration, confirmation or approval of a plant design in another state or territory is recognised in Victoria and there is no need to also register the plant design or give notice of the prescribed equipment design to WorkSafe.

Plant maintenance

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, employers must provide or maintain plant or systems of work that are, as far as reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to health.

An employer must ensure that records of inspections and maintenance carried out on plant (as specified in regulation 106 of the OHS Regulations) are retained for the period that the employer had management or control of that plant.

Fees

Fees for a registration of plant design and notice of prescribed equipment design are based on fee units and subject to change each financial year on 1 July.

Registration or notification is valid for the lifetime of the plant/ prescribed equipment unless design alterations are made.

Fee summary

$336.20

Registration fee.

$336.20

Alteration fee.

Contact WorkSafe's Licensing Branch

To check the progress of an application or if you need assistance, contact the Licensing Branch.

Licensing Branch
PO Box 279
Geelong Vic 3220

Phone 1300 852 562 between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday
Fax 1800 060 727
Email [email protected]

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