An off-road caravan can leave China complete, tested and towing straight, and still not be connectable in your market. The electrical and gas installations are each signed off locally, by a licensed person, on the unit in front of them — a certificate no factory can issue from the other side of the world.

Two certificates, both issued where the caravan lands

Australia treats caravan wiring as a transportable installation under the AS/NZS 3001 series; the 2022 edition, AS/NZS 3001.2, applies to connectable installations such as caravans. The work is restricted to licensed electricians, and the sign-off is physical: in Western Australia a Caravan Installation Test Certificate must be completed and fitted to the caravan, and may not be fitted until any defect found is rectified; other states issue their own certificate. Gas is a separate regime: AS/NZS 5601.2 covers LP Gas installations in caravans and boats, and compliance is confirmed by a certification plate completed by the gasfitter who did the work, recording that person's licence number.

What the electrical installation has to satisfy

The 2022 edition changed several things that catch imported units. Low-voltage and extra-low-voltage systems must now be physically separated. A lithium bank installed inside the living space must sit in a sealed, externally vented enclosure, carry a battery management system and be certified to AS IEC 62619; an inverter feeding 230 V circuits needs its own residual current device and must comply with AS/NZS 4763. A lead-acid bank does not meet the same clauses, so the power system belongs on the build sheet. Among the off-road caravans for importers in the range, the 16ft island-bed model is published with 2 × 100Ah AGM batteries, 300W of solar and a 1,000W inverter, the 21ft model with a 2 × 200Ah lithium bank. New Zealand requires a Warrant of Electrical Fitness before a unit is connected, hired or leased, and overseas socket outlets can block it until they are changed.

What the gas installation has to satisfy

Gas work is licensed work, and the appliances must themselves be of an approved type: an unapproved appliance cannot be certified. Ventilation has to be permanent, flue terminals must discharge clear of any annex, quick-connect bayonets belong outside areas an annex could later enclose, and every appliance is expected to carry a flame safeguard. The fittings run on their own timeline — since 1 April 2022 all new and re-tested LP Gas cylinders must have the LCC27 valve and new appliances the matching connection, adaptors bridging the old POL thread to LCC27 are prohibited, and hoses and regulators carry a ten-year service life, as do cylinder test dates. In Queensland the gas system on a recreational vehicle must be inspected and certified before resale, an obligation an importer inherits on the trade-in it sells.

What to write into the order

Five items, settled before production:

• Name the certifier first. Ask the electrician or gasfitter who will sign the unit what they need to see, then order to that list.
• Request the electrical file: schematics, a component list with approvals for the RCD, breakers, inverter and charger, and the test results.
• Request the gas file: pipe layout, appliance approvals, hose and regulator specification, and confirmation of the LCC27 connection.
• Decide who makes the final connection — factory, your workshop or the customer's installer — and price the rework.
• Keep it with the unit. A hire fleet, a resale buyer and an insurer will each ask for it.

Send the market you sell into and the power system on the build sheet, and the documentation can be matched to the standard the unit will face. Talk it through on WhatsApp: +86 186 6381 3961, or write to [email protected] with the model and market; the published range sits at www.lgloader.com.

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