What Needs to Go on a Compliance Plate?

By the Planet Engraving team · 29 Oct 2026

The short answer: the standard or regulator that applies to your equipment decides what goes on the plate, and your engineer or certifier will usually specify it. Most plates include the manufacturer's name, model, serial number, date of manufacture and the key ratings or capacities. Our job is to engrave that content exactly as specified, so it stays readable for the life of the equipment.

Common fields

• Manufacturer name and logo
• Model and serial number
• Date of manufacture
• Ratings and capacities (for example load, pressure or power)
• Certification details, such as a ROPS / FOPS notice of certification
• A QR code linking to manuals or service records (optional, see QR code tags)

Choosing the material

• 316 stainless steel, laser engraved: the most durable option, for outdoors, mobile plant and corrosive places. There's no ink or paint to wash out.
• Black anodised aluminium: crisp silver-white text on black. It's lighter, sharp to read and popular for certification plates. See anodised aluminium engraving.
• Recessed, paint filled: ask about acid etched plates (3 to 4 weeks).

Getting the layout right

• Send your CAD drawing, PDF or an old plate, and we'll lay it out exactly.
• Standard mounting holes are 4mm, with centres 6mm in from the edge, unless your drawing says otherwise.
• Every new layout gets a proof before we engrave.
• For batches, send a spreadsheet of serial numbers and each plate gets its own data. We keep your artwork on file for quick reorders.

See our compliance plates & data plates for the plates we make most.

Questions we often get

Ready to talk about your job? Send us the details below, call 02 4030 5878 or email office@planetengraving.net.