Guidance to help you follow the law on checking pesticide application equipment.
By law, new pesticide application equipment, such as boom sprayers and weed wipers, must be tested under the National Spray Testing Scheme (NSTS) before it is 5 years old.
After 5 years, testing should occur regularly, either every 3 or 6 years, depending on the equipment type. Knapsack, handheld sprayers and pedestrian equipment with less than 3 wheels must also be checked on a regular basis. Remember to keep up-to-date records of inspections, checks and repairs.
Re-testing cycle
Every 3 years
- all boom sprayers over 3m in width
- air blast sprayers
- train sprayers and
- equipment mounted on aircraft
Every 6 years
- booms 3 metres and under
- slug pellet and micro-granular applicators
- weed wipers
- seed treatment
- manually propelled or self-propelled trolley type equipment with 3 or more wheels and a motorised pump and
- other specialist equipment
The links below set out the requirements for equipment testing, such as:
- Sprayer testing (on nsts.org.uk)
- Micro granular testing (on nsts.org.uk)
- Slug pellet applicator testing (on nsts.org.uk)
More information is available on the National Sprayer Testing Scheme website. There is also a selection of useful checklists for the different types of equipment.
Equipment that is not in use or which is not used for applying pesticides is not affected.