Every pink slip and blue slip in NSW is done under Transport for NSW’s Authorised Inspection Scheme, by an authorised examiner at an authorised station. Here’s what each one checks, when a vehicle needs more, and where a PPSR check fits.
The Authorised Inspection Scheme
Transport for NSW authorises inspection stations and the examiners who work at them, and sets the rules they follow. Every pink slip and blue slip is done under that scheme. Each inspection type has a maximum fee, published once a year in AIS Fees, Notice 18.
Pink slips: renewing the rego
A pink slip is a safety check. NSW usually asks for one each year before you renew the rego of a vehicle more than five years old, and your renewal notice says whether you need one. The examiner checks the safety items in the NSW standards, from the brakes and tyres to the lights, seatbelts and windscreen.
Blue slips: registering an unregistered vehicle
A blue slip, or AUVIS report, is for a vehicle that isn’t registered in NSW: one whose rego ran out more than three months ago, one from interstate or overseas, or one with no plates. It has two parts:
- A safety check, the same as a pink slip’s.
- An identity check. The examiner reads the VIN or chassis number, the engine number and the compliance plate off the vehicle, or finds its entry on the Register of Approved Vehicles, and checks they match.
The report is valid for 42 days. You take it to Service NSW to register the vehicle.
When a design check applies
To register a vehicle, a blue slip also needs a design check when the vehicle:
- has an aftermarket body
- is a used import
- is a trailer with an ATM of 4.5 tonnes or less
- has a compliance certificate for a modification
- is found to be significantly modified
The design check looks at whether the vehicle meets the design standards. If a modification needs a compliance certificate from a licensed certifier, the examiner will tell you.
Imported vehicles
A used import needs a blue slip with a design check before it can be registered. A personally imported vehicle is inspected once it’s cleared customs, and again after its personal import plate is fitted, before registration can go ahead. At our workshop, an import’s blue slip is $191, or $99 for a motorcycle, and its design check is quoted on the day.
Where a PPSR check fits
A PPSR check isn’t part of the inspection scheme. It’s a search of a national register that shows whether money may be owing on the vehicle, and whether it’s been reported stolen or written off. We ask for one with every blue slip: bring your own certificate, or we’ll do it for $10. What a PPSR check is explains it.
If it fails
The examiner tells you what failed. If you bring the vehicle back to the same station within 14 days, the second inspection has no inspection fee.
See our prices or book an inspection.
Quick answers
Is a pink slip the same as a blue slip?
No. A pink slip is the safety check to renew the rego. A blue slip adds an identity check, and sometimes a design check, to register a vehicle that isn’t registered in NSW.
How long is a blue slip valid?
42 days from the inspection.
Who decides whether a vehicle needs a design check?
The examiner, by the scheme’s rules: for example a vehicle with an aftermarket body, a used import, a trailer, or one with modifications.
Where these facts come from
- Transport for NSW, Business Rules for Authorised Proprietors and Authorised Examiners, September 2026 (opens in a new tab). Checked 5 November 2026.
- Transport for NSW, VSI 04: Registering imported vehicles in NSW (opens in a new tab). Checked 5 November 2026.
- Service NSW, Get an authorised unregistered vehicle inspection (blue slip) (opens in a new tab). Checked 16 October 2026.
- NSW Government, Safety checks and vehicle inspections (opens in a new tab). Checked 16 October 2026.
