Applications must be made by an individual, body corporate or public authority. Applications for licence cannot be made in the name of a Trust, Partnership or Joint Venture.
It is an offence to use unregistered plant or plant designs.
Once you have submitted your application, we will notify you when we have made our decision to grant or refuse registration.
Item of plant registration is issued for a maximum 5 year period. Registration of plant design does not expire
You must:
- keep a copy of your registration and all inspection certificates/reports
- ensure the registration number is marked on or near the item of plant
- provide your registration documents to our inspectors, if requested
- notify us of any change of details.
We will send out renewals for plant registration when due.
Transferring mobile plant registered in another state or territory
You do not need to register mobile plant in South Australia if it is already registered under your name in another state or territory.
However, you will need to contact us to confirm if you can operate an item of plant in South Australia if:
- you already hold plant registration for your mobile plant and
- it was issued with an exemption from requirements to hold a design registration.
Items of plant requiring registration
The following items require registration:
You must register amusement devices covered in section 2.1 of AS 3533.1 2009 - Amusement rides and devices - Design and construction.
Examples of amusement devices that require registration include:
- most powered and non-powered (manually operated) mechanical devices
- inflatable devices (continuously blown) with a platform height of 3 metres or more
- climbing walls and bouldering walls
- giant slides
- go-karts
- high ropes courses, bridge swinging, bungy jumping
- flying foxes
- miniature trains not owned and operated by a model railway society, club or association.
However there is an exception for:
- class 1 devices
- playground equipment
- water slides (static structures)
- wave generators
- sealed inflatable devices
- inflatable devices that do not use a non-return valve.
See our Amusement Devices (Plant) page or our Inflatable Amusement Devices page for further details on registering and maintaining your amusement device.
Contact us if you are unsure if an amusement device needs to be design or item registered.
| Form | Fee |
|---|---|
| Plant | $417 |
| Plant - Variation / Change of ownership | N/A |
| Plant design - New or alteration to design | $145 |
| Plant and plant design - Replacement licence | $134 |
You must register boilers categorised as hazard level A, B or C according to section 2.1 of the Australian Standard AS 4343:2005 - Pressure equipment - Hazard levels.
Design registrations numbers must be permanently marked on each pressure equipment item manufactured to that registered design.
All pressure equipment, including boilers, imported into South Australia must be assessed for design registration.
Heritage boiler designs do not need to be registered.
See the Pressure plant & equipment page for further details on safety, registration and inspections of boilers.
| Form | Fee |
|---|---|
| Plant | $417 |
| Plant - Variation / Change of ownership | N/A |
| Plant design - New or alteration to design | $145 |
| Plant and plant design - Replacement licence | $134 |
Cranes that are manually powered do not require registration.
You must register plant designs for:
- gantry cranes with a safe working load greater than 5 tonnes
- bridge cranes with a safe working load of greater than 10 tonnes
- gantry and bridge cranes with a designed to handle molten metal or Schedule 10 hazardous chemicals.
The design of a crane includes the supporting structure and foundations. Design verification must include the supporting structure and foundations.
| Form | Fee |
|---|---|
| Plant design - New or alteration to design | $145 |
| Plant and plant design - Replacement licence | $134 |
You must register gas cylinder designs covered under part 1.1 of the Australian Standards - Gas cylinders - General requirements.
| Form | Fee |
|---|---|
| Plant design - New or alteration to design | $145 |
| Plant and plant design - Replacement licence | $134 |
You must register plant designs for hoists, designed to lift people, with a platform movement exceeding 2.4 metres.
| Form | Fee |
|---|---|
| Plant design - New or alteration to design | $145 |
| Plant and plant design - Replacement licence | $134 |
All lifts must be registered.
Lifts in private residences must be properly maintained and registered but are exempt from the renewal fees.
See our lift & lift design page before registering a new lift or lift design.
| Form | Fee |
|---|---|
| Plant | $417 |
| Plant - Variation / Change of ownership | N/A |
| Plant design - New or alteration to design | $145 |
| Plant and plant design - Replacement licence | $134 |
You must register mobile cranes and crane designs with a rated capacity of more than 10 tonnes. A vehicle loading crane (VLC) is a mobile crane.
Cranes that are manually powered do not require registration.
| Form | Fee |
|---|---|
| Plant | $417 |
| Plant - Variation / Change of ownership | N/A |
| Plant design - New or alteration to design | $145 |
| Plant and plant design - Replacement licence | $134 |
You must register pressure vessels categorised as hazard level A, B or C according to section 2.1 of AS 4343:2005 - Pressure equipment - Hazard levels. However there is an exception for:
- gas cylinders
- LPG fuel vessels for automotive use
- serially produced vessels designed to Australian Standard AS 2971.
You must register pressure vessel designs categorised as hazard level A, B, C or D with the exception of:
- pressure piping designs.
The design registration numbers must be permanently marked on each pressure equipment item manufactured to that registered design.
All pressure equipment imported into South Australia must be assessed for design registration.
See the Pressure plant & equipment page for further details on safety, registration and inspections of pressure vessels.
| Form | Fee |
|---|---|
| Plant | $417 |
| Plant - Variation / Change of ownership | N/A |
| Plant design - New or alteration to design | $145 |
| Plant and plant design - Replacement licence | $134 |
Cranes that are manually powered do not require registration.
| Form | Fee |
|---|---|
| Plant | $417 |
| Plant - Variation / Change of ownership | N/A |
| Plant design - New or alteration to design | $145 |
| Plant and plant design - Replacement licence | $134 |
Hoists that are manually powered do not require registration.
| Form | Fee |
|---|---|
| Plant design - New or alteration to design | $145 |
| Plant and plant design - Replacement licence | $134 |
Change of details
You must provide us with written notice within 14 days if:
- you change your name or address or any other information stated on your application for registration
- the item of plant or plant design has been altered to an extent where it is subject to new control measures
- a fixed item of plant is moved to a new location
- you are no longer the owner (or have management or control) of the plant.
Replacement documentation
Complete the registration replacement application form to request a replacement copy of your registration documents.
Granting a registration
When making a decision to grant a registration we will consider:
- if you hold an equivalent registration in another state or territory
- whether you live in South Australia or your business has a registered address in South Australia
- whether the plant is located in South Australia, or if it is located outside of South Australia, there are special circumstances to grant the registration
- whether you are able to ensure compliance with the conditions of the registration
- whether you have provided full and accurate information on your application.
We may request additional information to support your application for registration.
We will notify you within 14 days of making our decision to grant a registration.
Plant design
For plant design you must include in your application:
- design drawings - these drawings must be kept in electronic form
- a declaration from the plant designer (in English or translated into English) stating that they have complied with their obligations under the Act in relation to the:
- design of the plant
- published technical standards
- engineering principles used in the design
- a statement by the person who has verified that the design was produced in accordance with the published technical or engineering principles specified in the designer's declaration.
- a person is eligible to verify the plant design if they have the relevant skills, qualifications, competence and experience that relates to the plant design
- a person is not eligible to verify the design if they were involved in the production of the design or employed by the company who produced the design
- the design verifier must document the process they used to undertake the verification and their findings.
We will not provide copies of design registration certificates or drawings to anyone other than the registration owner, except under certain circumstances. See Regulation 263, Work Health & Safety Regulations 2012 for details.
Renewals
For a renewal of a registration we will also consider:
- whether the plant has been regularly maintained and inspected.
Conditional registration
We may impose conditions on a plant registration. These conditions may involve:
- the use and maintenance of the plant
- information recordkeeping
- the provision of additional information to SafeWork SA.
You must comply with all conditions imposed on the registration.
The decision to impose conditions on the registration is a reviewable decision.
Refusing a registration
We will refuse an application for registration if we are not satisfied that you have provided full and accurate information in your application.
If we propose to refuse your application for registration/renewal you will be given the opportunity to make a submission in relation to the proposed refusal within a specified date. We will consider your submission before making a final decision to grant or refuse a registration/renewal.
If we decide to refuse a registration/renewal, we will provide written notification and the reasons for our decision within 14 days.
If we do not make a decision within 120 days of receiving your application (or requested additional information), the application is taken to have been refused.
The decision to refuse a registration is a reviewable decision.
