Plant registration checker

Pick the plant and your state or territory to see whether its design, each item, or both must be registered with the WHS regulator, and the duties that apply to all plant.

Figures checked 5 November 2026. Free to use, no sign-in.

Victoria and Western Australia have their own Acts; the tool switches to them.

Plant registration

Mobile crane rated over 10 tonnes

Register the design and each item

Both the design and each crane must be registered. Reach stackers and manually powered cranes are excepted.

Design registration
Required
Item registration
Required
Register with
SafeWork NSW

Design or item?

Design registration is done once for a plant design, usually by the designer or manufacturer. Item registration is for each individual unit, by the person with management or control of it, before it is used.

Duties for all plant

  • Manage the risks of all plant, registered or not, using the hierarchy of controls (r 203).
  • Where guarding is used, it must be a permanent or interlocked barrier where practicable, and hard to bypass (r 208).
  • Have plant maintained, inspected and, where needed, tested by a competent person: as the manufacturer recommends, otherwise as a competent person recommends, and inspections at least annually if neither is practicable (r 213).

Source: Schedule 5 (r 243 and 246) of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW).

General information, not legal advice. Your regulator processes registrations and can confirm the details.

How this works

Harmonised states, Comcare and WA: Schedule 5 of the WHS Regulations. Part 1 lists plant whose design must be registered (r 243); Part 2 lists items that must be registered (r 246). Exceptions include manually powered cranes and hoists, reach stackers, scissor lifts and tow trucks.

Victoria: Schedule 2 of the OHS Regulations 2017 lists plant designs to register (r 125). Item registration applies only to amusement structures (r 127C).

All plant: registered or not, you must manage the risks, guard dangerous parts and have it maintained and inspected by a competent person.

Legal basis

Checked against these sources on 5 November 2026. Spotted a figure that looks wrong? Tell us.

Questions

What plant has to be registered?

Schedule 5 of the WHS Regulations lists it. Designs of items such as pressure equipment, tower cranes, lifts, building maintenance units, amusement devices, boom-type elevating work platforms and mobile cranes over 10 tonnes must be registered. Individual items of boilers, pressure vessels, tower cranes, lifts, escalators, building maintenance units, amusement devices, concrete placing booms and mobile cranes over 10 tonnes must also be registered before use.

What is the difference between design and item registration?

Design registration covers a plant design and is done once. Item registration covers each individual unit and must be in place before it is used. Some plant needs both.

Is Victoria different?

Yes. Victoria’s OHS Regulations have their own list of plant designs to register, which includes chairlifts but not escalators or moving walkways, and only amusement structures need item registration.

Do forklifts or scissor lifts need registering?

No. Forklifts are not on the list, and scissor lifts and vertically moving platforms are expressly excluded. Operators may still need a high risk work licence for some plant, and all plant must be kept safe.

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Questions the calculator can’t answer?

Workfloor answers pay, award, leave and termination questions for your team, with the Fair Work Act section or award clause behind each answer.

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