Australia AS 1735 and Lift Registration: State by State 2026

By Sujit Katariya, ElevatorPlus · Published 11 August 2026 · Last updated 11 August 2026 · ~7 min read · Compliance reviewed by Mr. Sumeet Katariya

In short: Victoria never registers your lift. It registers the design and stops there. Queensland registers the item and makes you renew it every 31 January. New South Wales renews annually too, while South Australia runs a five year cycle. There is no national lift registration scheme, and AS 1735.4 is not the maintenance standard people think it is.

Key takeaways

• AS 1735.4:2020 covers electric and hydraulic service lifts rated at 300 kg or less that are not designed to carry people. It is not a maintenance standard and it does not set inspection intervals.
• Maintenance and inspection frequency comes from WHS Regulation 213: a competent person, following the manufacturer's recommendations, or a competent person's recommendations, or annually if neither is reasonably practicable.
• Lifts appear in Schedule 5 of the WHS Regulations for both design registration and item registration, but Victoria sits outside that scheme entirely and registers designs only, under Schedule 2 of the OHS Regulations 2017.
• Western Australia is now harmonised. The WHS Act 2020 and the Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022 apply there. Victoria is the genuine outlier.
• AS 1735.1:2016 is superseded. AS 1735.1.1:2022 replaced it on 18 June 2024, and the part number changed from 1735.1 to 1735.1.1. A document citing "AS 1735.1" flat in 2026 cites a designation that no longer describes a current standard.
• AS 1735 is mostly not law. In NCC 2022 Volume One Part E3 the only part of AS 1735 referenced at all is AS 1735.12, and only for accessibility. Everywhere else the series binds you through contract or through a registration condition.
• Victoria dropped item registration on 1 July 2014. Design registration under Schedule 2 of the OHS Regulations 2017 is all that remains.
• NCC 2025 was published on 1 May 2026 and adoption is staggered. Victoria, Western Australia and the ACT adopted on 1 May 2026. NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania follow on 1 May 2027. The Northern Territory has not adopted it. Check your jurisdiction before you design to it.

What this guide covers: the AS 1735 parts that matter and the renumbering · what the NCC actually calls up, and what it does not · NCC 2025 adoption by jurisdiction · registrable plant under Schedule 5 · the four big states plus the ACT · who may inspect · maintenance intervals under regulation 213 · what licences your crews actually need · what changed recently

Which AS 1735 parts actually matter, and what year are they?

The series is old in places, freshly revised in others, and the numbering is not intuitive.

AS 1735.1.1:2022 is the current general requirements part, published on 19 August 2022 as the eighth edition. It superseded AS 1735.1:2016, and the supersession took effect on 18 June 2024. Note what happened to the number, because that is what catches people out: general requirements moved from 1735.1 to 1735.1.1. A tender response or maintenance manual citing "AS 1735.1" flat in 2026 is not citing an old edition, it is citing a designation that no longer describes a current document. If your document control has a standards reference string in it, that is a two minute fix.

AS 1735.4:2020, published on 11 September 2020, is titled "Safety rules for the construction and installation of lifts, Electric and hydraulic service lifts", and it identically adopts EN 81-3:2000+A1:2008. Its scope is service lifts with a rated load not exceeding 300 kilograms and not intended to move persons, where the car interior is regarded as inaccessible because of its dimensions and construction. If you have been told AS 1735.4 governs how often you service a passenger lift, that is wrong. It governs dumbwaiters, and it sets no passenger-lift maintenance interval at all.

Beyond those, resist the tidy "all current parts" table. Part statuses in this series move, and getting one wrong in front of a client is worse than saying nothing. Check the Standards Australia store entry for the specific part before you cite it.

AS 1735.12:2020 is the accessibility part, and it adopts EN 81-70:2018 with normative Australian modifications in Appendices ZZ and ZA. The Access Consultants Association has pointed out that the NCC and the Disability Standards "do not automatically reference the 2020 update of AS 1735.12", so the edition your building surveyor applies may not be the edition on your desk. AS/NZS 1735.18:2002 covers private residence lifts and is still current at that vintage.

One more oddity worth knowing. Schedule 5 of the WHS Regulations, as reproduced by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, defines the exemption as "lifts installed in a private residence within the meaning of AS 1735.1:2003". The regulation calls up a 2003 edition that Standards Australia has superseded twice. That is not a typo on their part. It is what the instrument says, and Queensland has since moved the exclusion onto Building Code of Australia building classes instead, which is covered below.

What does the National Construction Code require?

NCC 2022 Volume One deals with lifts at Part E3. Clause E3D2 requires electric and electrohydraulic passenger lifts to comply with Specification 24. E3D3 sets stretcher facility dimensions of 600 mm wide by 2000 mm long by 1400 mm high. E3D5 requires an emergency lift in buildings with an effective height exceeding 25 metres. Accessibility features, handrails, clear door opening, passenger protection, control buttons and lighting flow through E3D7 and E3D8 by reference to AS 1735.12.

Worth being precise about how far that goes, because it is commonly overstated. AS 1735.12 is the only part of AS 1735 referenced anywhere in NCC 2022 Volume One Part E3. AS 1735.1 and AS 1735.2 are not referenced there at all. So if you have told a client that the NCC mandates AS 1735, you overstated it by about eleven parts. Outside the accessibility clauses and Specification 24, the series binds you through your own contract, through a registration condition, or not at all.

NCC 2025 was published on 1 May 2026. It is not universally in force, because adoption is a matter for each state and territory.

We took these from industry adoption summaries because the ABCB's own adoption page blocks automated retrieval, and the NSW date from the NSW Government release directly. Confirm the date for your jurisdiction against the ABCB state and territory adoption table before you rely on it in a design certificate. We also could not verify whether NCC 2025 Part E3 changes its AS 1735 references, so do not assume the accessibility clauses read the same way.

The staggering is the part to watch. A project designed in Victoria and a project designed in NSW in the same month are being assessed against different codes.

Is a lift registrable plant?

Yes in the harmonised states, and the answer has two halves.

Under Schedule 5 of the model WHS Regulations, lifts, escalators and moving walkways require plant design registration and, separately, item of plant registration. The design is registered once. The item is registered per device, and it is the half that keeps coming back.

The exception is narrow, and Queensland recut it in 2026. The Work Health and Safety (High Risk Plant) Amendment Regulation 2026, published on 13 March 2026 and commenced on 29 March 2026, prescribes escalators and lifts as high risk plant at non-workplace premises, and narrows the item registration exclusion. A lift does not require plant item registration if it is installed in a class 1a building within the meaning of the Building Code of Australia, meaning a house or townhouse, or in a sole-occupancy unit in a class 2 building where the lift is used to access more than one level of that unit, meaning the stairlift in a two-level apartment.

That matters because the older Queensland wording defined the private residence exclusion by reference to "AS 1735.1:2003", an edition Standards Australia has superseded twice. If your Queensland registration procedure still turns on that phrase, it predates the amendment.

In New South Wales a private residential lift still needs registering, but SafeWork NSW charges no fee for it.

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How do the four big states differ?

The ACT belongs in that picture too, and it is the one most contractors have never dealt with. It requires both design and item registration, and on top of that a Lift Permit Approval, for which WorkSafe ACT wants a design verification statement confirming that "all tests have been completed in accordance with AS1735", alongside the design registration certificate, an installer's declaration and as-built drawings. The ACT also still operates the Scaffolding and Lifts Act 1912, which surprises people the first time they read it.

Two lines in that table deserve a second look. Victoria is not a lighter version of the harmonised scheme. It is a different scheme, built on the OHS Act 2004, and WorkSafe Victoria's own guidance points only at design registration for lifts, escalators and moving walks under Schedule 2 of the OHS Regulations 2017. It did not always. WorkSafe Victoria states plainly that "since 1 July 2014, you are no longer required to register items of plant with WorkSafe or re-register every five years", so if your Victorian procedures still carry a five year item renewal step, they are twelve years out of date. And the renewal cycles genuinely differ: SafeWork NSW describes item registration as lasting one year, Queensland runs to a fixed 31 January expiry, and SafeWork SA's guidance quotes the model position that "a registration for an item of plant takes effect on the day it is granted and expires 5 years after that day". If you run a national contract on one renewal reminder, you will miss something.

Who may inspect, and how often?

There is no lift specific occupational licence in Australia that we could verify. The test is the WHS definition of a competent person, which SafeWork SA states as someone with "educational or vocational qualifications in an engineering discipline relevant to the plant to be inspected, or knowledge of the technical standards relevant to the plant to be inspected". SafeWork NSW adds that it can formally determine competency through its own assessment form.

Frequency comes from regulation 213. The person with management or control of plant must ensure maintenance, inspection and, if necessary, testing is carried out by a competent person, in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations if any, otherwise in accordance with a competent person's recommendations, and where inspection under either of those is not reasonably practicable, annually.

Read that carefully, because it means the OEM manual is the legal reference point for your service frequency in most cases. Not the standard, and not a rule of thumb.

Lift mechanics themselves are trained through the electrical stream, and the occupation sits at ANZSCO 341113, which is a statistical and migration classification rather than a licence. We could not find any Australian jurisdiction issuing a dedicated lift mechanic or lift maintenance contractor licence from a primary source.

What you actually need breaks into three buckets. Electrical licensing, which is state by state, through NSW Fair Trading, Energy Safe Victoria, the Queensland Electrical Safety Office and their counterparts, with cross-border mobility via the East Coast Electricians Scheme and Automatic Mutual Recognition. High risk work licences, covering the lifting and access elements of the job: Queensland is the only large jurisdiction publishing lift-specific guidance, and it maps the work plainly, with dogging for guide rail placement, rope installation and car and counterweight installation, basic rigging for lift motor placement because that uses lifting gear and connects loads, intermediate rigging where multiple cranes lift an escalator, and scaffolding tickets above four metres. Plant registration duties, which legally sit with the owner or PCBU, though in practice you fill in the forms.

So if you are moving crews across borders, confirm the electrical licensing position with each state's electrical regulator rather than assuming your WHS registration covers it.

What changed in the last three years?

Five things.

18 June 2024. AS 1735.1:2016 was superseded by AS 1735.1.1:2022, and the general requirements part was renumbered. This is the change most likely to be sitting unfixed in your document templates right now.

New South Wales remade its regulation. The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 commenced on 3 October 2025 and replaces the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017. The plant registration architecture carries across, but if your procedures cite clause numbers from the 2017 instrument, they now cite a repealed regulation.

Western Australia completed its move into the harmonised family with the Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022, which is why WA now reads much more like NSW and Queensland than it did five years ago.

Queensland prescribed lifts as high risk plant at non-workplace premises. The Work Health and Safety (High Risk Plant) Amendment Regulation 2026 was published on 13 March 2026 and commenced on 29 March 2026, and it recut the item registration exclusion around class 1a buildings and class 2 sole-occupancy units. If you register plant in Queensland, read it.

And NCC 2025 arrived on 1 May 2026 with staggered adoption, set out in the table above.

What an Australian contractor should be recording

1. The plant item registration number for every lift, the issuing regulator, and the exact expiry date, since NSW annual, Queensland's fixed 31 January and the model five year rule do not line up.
2. The plant design registration number for each model you install, held once and reused, with evidence you supplied it to the owner.
3. The manufacturer's recommended maintenance and inspection schedule for each unit, because regulation 213 makes that the default legal frequency.
4. Evidence of the competent person's qualifications for every inspection you sign, kept with the report rather than in a personnel file.
5. Which AS 1735 edition each installation was built to, and which NCC edition applied at the date of the building approval.
6. The safe to operate statement supplied with each registration application, and the inspection it was based on.

Frequently asked questions

Does AS 1735.4 set lift maintenance intervals?

No. AS 1735.4:2020 covers electric and hydraulic service lifts of 300 kg or less that are not designed to carry people. Intervals come from regulation 213 and the manufacturer.

Is a lift registrable plant in Australia?

In the harmonised states, yes, for both the design and the item. Victoria requires design registration only.

Is Western Australia harmonised?

Yes. WA adopted the WHS Act 2020 and the Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022. Victoria is the remaining non harmonised jurisdiction.

How often must a lift be inspected?

Per the manufacturer's recommendations. Failing that, per a competent person's recommendations. Failing both, annually.

Does EN 81 apply in Australia?

Not as law. Parts of it are adopted inside Australian Standards, such as AS 1735.12:2020 adopting EN 81-70:2018 with Australian modifications.

Is NCC 2025 in force?

It was published on 1 May 2026, but adoption is by state and territory. NSW adopts it on 1 May 2027.

Do private residential lifts need registering?

Queensland excludes them. NSW still requires registration but charges no fee. Check your state.

Who counts as a competent person?

Someone with relevant engineering qualifications or knowledge of the relevant technical standards. Some regulators will assess and confirm this formally.

Is AS 1735.1:2016 still current?

No. AS 1735.1.1:2022 superseded it on 18 June 2024, and the part number changed from 1735.1 to 1735.1.1.

Is AS 1735 mandatory in Australia?

Not as a whole. In NCC 2022 Volume One Part E3 the only part referenced is AS 1735.12, for accessibility, alongside Specification 24 for electric and electrohydraulic passenger lift installations. Other parts bind through contract, through a registration condition, or not at all.

Do I need a lift mechanic licence in Australia?

We could not find one in any jurisdiction. You will need the relevant state electrical licence, plus high risk work licences matching the dogging, rigging and scaffolding parts of the job.

Did Victoria always work this way?

No. WorkSafe Victoria states that since 1 July 2014 you are no longer required to register items of plant or re-register every five years. Design registration under Schedule 2 remains.

When does Queensland item registration expire?

On 31 January, regardless of when it was granted, with renewals due on that date each year.

How many people are trapped in Australian lifts each year?

No authoritative current figure is published that we could find. Fire and Rescue NSW does not break out lift rescues and Safe Work Australia publishes no lift-specific breakdown. Do not quote a number for this.

The bottom line

Australia looks like one market and is not one regulatory regime. The standards are national, the code is national in name, and everything that actually generates a renewal notice is state level. Build your compliance register around the state, not the country, and make the manufacturer's manual the anchor for your service frequency. That is where a regulator will start.

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Related reading

• BCA lift maintenance in Singapore
• LOLER and passenger lifts in the UK
• Elevator inspector certification in the US
• Lift maintenance checklist 2026

About the author · Sujit Katariya is part of the ElevatorPlus team, which builds the Elevator Business Operating System used by 200+ elevator companies across 20+ countries. Compliance reviewed by Mr. Sumeet Katariya.

Sources: Queensland WHS Regulation, regulation 213 Maintenance and inspection of plant · NSW Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 · SafeWork NSW, plant item registration · SafeWork NSW, lifts, escalators and moving walkways · Business Queensland, plant requiring registration · Business Queensland, register or renew plant registration · WorkSafe Victoria, plant and equipment design registration · WorkSafe WA, what kinds of plant require registration · SafeWork SA, item of plant registration guidance note · NCC 2022 Volume One, Part E3 Lift installations · ABCB, NCC 2025 state and territory adoption information · NSW Government, NSW to adopt new National Construction Code in May 2027 · Standards Australia, AS 1735.1.1:2022 · AS 1735.1:2016 status and 18 June 2024 supersession · AS 1735.4:2020 title, scope and 300 kg limit · Standards Australia, AS 1735.12:2020 · WorkSafe Victoria, notify or register high risk work, item registration ended 1 July 2014 · Business Queensland, register or renew plant registration, 31 January expiry · WorkSafe Queensland, Work Health and Safety (High Risk Plant) Amendment Regulation 2026 · WorkSafe Queensland, high risk work licences in the lift and escalator industry · WorkSafe ACT, Lift Permit Approval · Safe Work Australia, Managing the risks of plant in the workplace code of practice · WorkSafe Victoria, plant and your legal duties

On NCC 2025 adoption dates: the ABCB's own state and territory adoption page blocks automated retrieval, so the per-jurisdiction dates in the table above were taken from industry adoption summaries, with the NSW date confirmed directly from the NSW Government release. Confirm your own jurisdiction against the ABCB table before relying on it in a design certificate. We also could not verify whether NCC 2025 Part E3 changes its AS 1735 references, and we could not establish a national lift mechanic licence or an authoritative Australian lift entrapment figure from any primary source. Where this article says we could not verify something, that is literal, and the regulator is the place to settle it.