August 31, 2020
By: Kongpob Rattanakornkun, Australia/New Zealand regulatory program expert
On March 27, 2020, New South Wales (NSW) Government Electrical Safety Regulator informed the authorized agencies that their temporary acceptance of certificates issued by Recognized External Certification Scheme (RECS) expired on July 1, 2020, at which time NSW will only accept certificates issued by Recognized External Approval Scheme (REAS) Certifiers.
Summary of Recognized External Approval Scheme (REAS):
- Certificate authorized by the New South Wales Government
- Certification type: Certificate of Approval (CoA)
- Certification Marking (Mandatory): either RCM and/or Approval Mark
- Wildcard characters are allowed in model numbers
- Acceptable for all Australian states and New Zealand as of now
Summary of Recognized External Certification Scheme (RECS):
- Certificate authorized by the Queensland Government
- Certification type: Certificate of Conformity (CoC)
- Certification Marking (Mandatory): RCM
- Wildcard Characters are not allowed in model numbers (unless as a separated suffix such as ABC-xxx).
- New South Wales will NOT accept the certificate under RECS after July 1, 2020.
How UL can help
UL’s offices in New Zealand are authorized under both Recognized External Certification Scheme (RECS) and Recognized External Approval Scheme (REAS) to issue the Certificate of Conformity/Approval (CoC/A) for your products. CoC/A can be accepted throughout all Australia states (including New South Wales) and New Zealand.