Farm firefighting vehicles

What is farm firefighting vehicle registration

Conditional registration is available for dedicated farm firefighting vehicles (FFVs) including trailers, so they can be used in an emergency to respond to a local bushfire.

FFV conditional registration is for emergency use only. If you plan to use your vehicle more regularly, consider applying for general registration.

A vehicle can only have one type of registration at any time. If the vehicle has seasonal registration during bushfire season, it does not need an FFV conditional registration. FFV conditional registration is only available for a full year.

Read more information about used or secondhand vehicles.

Eligibility

To be eligible for registration:

• Your vehicle must be a dedicated firefighting vehicle with permanently attached firefighting equipment. Vehicles with ‘slip-on’ firefighting equipment, which can also be driven for other purposes, should use general registration
• As FFVs will be used in high-risk situations, a safe use declaration is not acceptable and all vehicles need an inspection to ensure they meet safety standards and to reduce risks to the operator, other road users and the Rural Fire Service
• For light vehicles, an unregistered vehicle (AUVIS) inspection will be required to initially establish registration. After that, while registration must be renewed annually, a safety check/pink slip will only be required every two years, rather than the usual annual inspection. Read more information about safety checks and vehicle inspections
• Heavy vehicles will require an HVAIS inspection when initially establishing registration and then every two years for renewals. Read more about inspections for heavy vehicles
• You can drive an unregistered vehicle to the nearest convenient AIS station. Read more about when you can drive unregistered.

FFV registration conditions

If your vehicle has FFV registration you must comply with these conditions:

• Must have permanently and safely attached firefighting equipment such as water tanks and pumps. More details about attaching equipment can be found in the load restraint guide
• Must only be driven in connection with emergency bushfire incidents. No emergency declaration is required
• If a vehicle is to be used as a fire precaution e.g. during harvest, and you need to drive it on a road, FFV registration is not suitable and general or seasonal registration should be used instead
• If the vehicle’s garage address is situated east of Newell Highway it must only be driven within a 50km radius. This is to enable assistance with bushfires on nearby properties. There is currently no restriction if the garage address is west of Newell Highway due to the greater distance between properties in that area. The garaging address of the vehicle is your residential address unless a different garage address is supplied when registering your vehicle.

Read the FFV conditional registration vehicle sheet to understand the minimum mandatory conditions associated with your vehicle.

Number plates and certificates

Once they are registered, FFVs must display conditional registration number plates.

The Certificate of Approved Operations, detailing the conditions applicable to the operation of the vehicle, must be carried in the vehicle whenever it is used on a road or road-related area.

How to apply for FFV registration

An applicant must attend a Service NSW service centre in person to apply for FFV conditional registration.

For more information visit Apply for a farm firefighting vehicle registration | Service NSW.

Renewing and cancelling registration

Find out how to renew or cancel registration of conditional registration vehicles.

FFVs require an inspection to renew every second year and cannot be renewed online.

Transferring registration

You can't transfer FFV registration. You need to cancel your registration before a new operator can register the vehicle in their name.

FFV Trial report

Read the Farm Firefighting Vehicles second trial report 2025 (PDF 100.37KB) to find out more about the outcomes of the Farm Firefighting Vehicles trial.