Traffic Safety Product Certification in Australia and New Zealand

There is no single "Australian certification" for traffic safety products. Acceptance runs on two separate tracks: the product must be manufactured to the applicable Australian Standard — for cones, that is AS 1742.3:2019 clause 4.11.1, with sheeting to AS/NZS 1906.1:2017 — and, for work on state road authority networks, the product usually also has to be on that authority's approved products or registered suppliers list, which is a separate application with its own evidence, sample and renewal requirements.

In New Zealand the levers are different again. NZGTTM now governs temporary traffic management, and road safety hardware that is not on an accepted list goes through NZTA's interim acceptance route.

The two tracks, and why confusing them costs you a project

A product can be standards-compliant and still be unsupplyable into a given state's road projects. Buyers who only ask for "the certificate" find this out after they have ordered.

Australia: which standards actually apply

Retroreflective material. The governing standard is AS/NZS 1906.1:2017, Retroreflective materials and devices for road traffic control purposes — Part 1: Retroreflective sheeting. Its scope, as published:

"Specifies the performance requirements for retroreflective sheeting used in the manufacture of road signs and related traffic control devices. It does not apply to retroreflective pavement markings."

Note the title wording: this standard is about sheeting, meaning the retroreflective material itself. It is not a product standard for a finished cone.

Cones and temporary bollards. These sit in the manual of uniform traffic control devices, AS 1742.3:2019, Part 3: Traffic control for works on roads, in clause 4.11.1 "Traffic cones and temporary bollards" (clause 4.11 is "Devices for delineating and indicating the travelled path").

Where the guidance went. The 2019 revision deliberately stripped guidance out of the standard:

"The 2019 update of AS1742.3 by Standards Australia resulted in the removal of content from the 2009 standard that was determined to be guidance material. This guidance material has been substantially transferred into the Austroads Guide to Temporary Traffic Management."

Austroads publishes a mapping document (AP-C109-20) that maps the superseded AS 1742.3 (2009) content to either AS 1742.3 (2019) or the Austroads Guide to Temporary Traffic Management. So a compliant specification now needs two documents, not one — that split is a common gap in supplier paperwork.

Related parts, current editions: AS 1742.2:2022 (devices for general use), AS 1742.4:2020 (speed controls), AS 1742.13:2023 (local area traffic management), AS 1742.15:2019 (direction signs).

The Queensland register: what an application actually requires

Queensland's Department of Transport and Main Roads maintains "lists of registered suppliers and approved products", and it publishes the technical requirements openly. This is the most concrete evidence set in Australia, and it is a good template for what other states will ask:

"For a cone or bollard product to be accepted as compliant for use in Queensland, the manufacture / distributor must complete the checklist provided in Appendix A."

That last row is the one overseas manufacturers miss. Moving production to a different factory invalidates the acceptance and requires re-application, even if the drawings are unchanged.

Sheeting classes accepted in Queensland: "Sheeting class 100, 400, 1100 (including temporary variations) are approved for use on Queensland roads, see MRTS14 Specification and Annexure for specified application requirements." The application form offers Class 400T, Class 400 and Class 1100.

Scope limit worth knowing: "Cones and bollards nominated on the department's accepted products list are accepted for temporary use in both short and long-term roadworks sites only."

New Zealand: NZGTTM has replaced CoPTTM

This changed recently, and a lot of supplier documentation still cites the old code.

If a supplier quotes CoPTTM as the current requirement, their documentation is out of date.

Acceptance route for hardware. NZTA publishes interim acceptances "pending inclusion in the appropriate NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi specification or guidance documentation", and gives an explicit path for products that are not listed:

"Prior to use of road safety barrier hardware not listed as accepted in M23 a submission must be made to the NZTA Programme and Standards Lead Safety Advisor for review and acceptance on a project or site-specific basis."

"The submission must include evidence of the performance capabilities of the proposed hardware (eg crash test results to MASH protocol), an explanation of why use of the product is proposed and an assessment of the risks compared to use of accepted hardware. Please allow at least 10 working days for assessment of a submission."

The relevant specification is NZTA M23, "Road safety barrier systems", Version 5.0 (April 2022).

The evidence pack a buyer should ask for

If the material is retroreflective, Queensland's sheeting checklist names the exact test reports required under AS 1906.1:2017, and this list is a good way to audit any AU or NZ document pack:

Seven reports. A supplier who provides "a certificate" and no test reports has not evidenced the material class at all.

Three things that do not exist, despite what you may be told

1. There is no dedicated Australian product standard for traffic cones. The requirements live inside AS 1742.3 as a clause, with the sheeting governed by a separate standard. If a datasheet claims to be "certified to the Australian traffic cone standard", ask which document that is.
2. There is no detectable-tape part in AS/NZS 2648. The series currently publishes AS/NZS 2648.1:1995, "Underground marking tape, Part 1: Non-detectable tape", whose scope is expressly tape which is not detectable by metal detectors. No Part 2 covering metal-detectable tape could be located on the official catalogue. If a supplier claims "AS/NZS 2648 compliant detectable tape", that is not a thing as published.
3. Acceptance is not permanent, and it is not transferable between factories. In Queensland it runs three years and ceases on a change of manufacturing location.

FAQ

What certification do traffic safety products need for Australia?

Two separate things: manufacture to the applicable Australian Standard — for cones, AS 1742.3:2019 clause 4.11.1, with sheeting to AS/NZS 1906.1:2017 — and, for state road authority work, listing on that authority's approved products or registered suppliers list, which requires its own application, laboratory test reports and product sample.

Who can issue the test reports?

For Queensland, tests demonstrating compliance with the stated Australian Standards must be conducted by a National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) or equivalent accredited laboratory.

What sheeting classes are accepted in Queensland?

Sheeting class 100, 400 and 1100, including temporary variations, are approved for use on Queensland roads, per the MRTS14 Specification.

How long does an Australian product acceptance last?

In Queensland, three years from the date nominated on the letter of acceptance. It ceases earlier if the product is redesigned, the governing specifications change, the manufacturing process changes, or the location of manufacturing changes.

Is CoPTTM still the New Zealand requirement?

No. The NZGTTM replaced CoPTTM; CoPTTM has not been updated since 1 November 2024, and the NZGTTM must be applied to all NZTA maintenance and capital projects from 1 October 2025.

How do I get a product accepted for New Zealand if it is not listed?

Submit through the NZTA interim acceptance route: a submission to the NZTA Programme and Standards Lead Safety Advisor with evidence of performance, rationale and a risk assessment against accepted hardware. Allow at least 10 working days.

How does this compare with the US and UK requirements?

Each market runs on different instruments. The US uses the MUTCD plus ASTM D4956 sheeting types, covered in our guide to MUTCD cone requirements and reflective tape. The UK uses a single statutory instrument, TSRGD 2016, covered in our UK traffic cone standards guide.

Sources

Standards catalogue metadata

• AS/NZS 1906.1:2017 — standards.govt.nz
• AS 1742.3:2019 — store.standards.org.au
• AS/NZS 2648.1:1995 — store.standards.org.au

Queensland, Department of Transport and Main Roads

• Approved products and registered suppliers — tmr.qld.gov.au
• Traffic engineering and road safety lists — tmr.qld.gov.au
• Cones and Bollards Technical Requirements and Checklist (June 2025) — PDF
• Retroreflective Sheeting Technical Requirements and Checklist (June 2025) — PDF

New Zealand, NZTA Waka Kotahi

• New Zealand guide to temporary traffic management — nzta.govt.nz
• Code of practice for temporary traffic management (status) — nzta.govt.nz
• Road safety barrier systems, M23 v5.0 and interim acceptance route — nzta.govt.nz
• Land Transport Rule: Traffic Control Devices 2004 — nzta.govt.nz

Austroads

• Guide to Temporary Traffic Management content mapping, AP-C109-20 — austroads.gov.au