Australia
Mobile bars for sale
A mobile bar for sale here is drawn around the pour rate, because chilled volume, ice and glassware storage all follow from how many drinks leave the counter in an hour and none of them can be added later.
The number that decides a bar is drinks per hour at peak, and it decides three things at once. How much chilled volume sits under the counter, how much ice the unit has to hold or make, and how long the serving counter needs to be for the number of people working it.
Everything visible follows from those. The finish matters to the customer and the layout matters to the operator, and the second one is what gets tested every Saturday.
What the pour rate decides
| Pour rate | Drinks per hour at peak, which sets chilled volume, ice and counter length together |
|---|---|
| Refrigeration | Under counter, bottle and keg volume specified separately |
| Ice | Held or made, decided against the service length and the ambient |
| Counter | Length set by the number working behind it, with the serving side decided before the frame |
| Water | Food grade tank and pipework, with a dedicated hand wash basin separate from the glass wash |
| Power | Circuit schedule calculated from the installed refrigeration rather than assumed |
The range
Units this is usually built from
Every one is built to an order and configured to the specification agreed with you. Nothing here is stock.
Bar 220
Draught and refrigeration over cooking, with a long counter and a short setup.
Bar 500
A full bar on one side and a hot line on the other.
VIP 400
Tiled vanities, timber and warm light, for events where the washroom is noticed.
Before you pay
The approval route comes first
A unit that cannot be registered where it is going cannot be used there. So the route is established first, in writing, and each country's route is published with the regulator's own source and the date it was read.
Getting it registered in Australia
Import approval before the unit is shipped under the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018, entry on the Register of Approved Vehicles before it is first supplied, and separately certified gas and electrical equipment. Which route applies to your unit is established in writing before you pay, with the authority and the documents named. The route for Australia, with the regulator's own source and the date it was read.
Questions
Asked before an order, not after
How long should the counter be?
It follows from how many people work behind it at peak, not from the length of the trailer. Two working a short counter serve fewer drinks than two working the right one.
Can it hold kegs?
Yes, and keg volume is specified separately from bottle volume, because sizing them as one number is how a bar runs out of one and not the other.
Australia
What is different here
What is true here and not in the United Kingdom. 5 things that decide a specification in this market and do not apply in the other one, each with the instrument or the authority it was read from.
Decides the unit
01Three masses, and two of them cannot be put on a weighbridge
Vehicle Standards Bulletin 1, Revision 6, defines tare mass as the trailer with no load, fluid reservoirs at nominal capacity, ready for service with all standard equipment and options fitted, including the mass imposed on the towing vehicle. Gross trailer mass is the mass transmitted to the ground by the trailer's tyres when coupled and fully loaded. Aggregate trailer mass is the total mass fully loaded, including the mass imposed on the towing vehicle. The bulletin is explicit that ATM and GTM are manufacturer specified ratings and cannot be measured on a weighbridge.
What it changes. The difference between ATM and GTM is the load carried by the coupling, which is what the tow vehicle has to accept. Two of the three numbers on the plate are declarations rather than measurements, so the evidence behind them is the drawing and the compliance work rather than a ticket.
Read from Vehicle Standards Bulletin 1, Revision 6, August 2026 2026-09-09
Gas certification has to exist at manufacture, and a CE mark is not it
It is an offence in every state and territory to sell or offer a Type A gas appliance that is not certified by an authorised Conformity Assessment Body. The certification must exist at the time of manufacture and cannot be added afterwards, and CE and CSA certification are explicitly not sufficient.
What it changes. The appliance is chosen before the unit is built or it is not chosen at all. An uncertified hot line does not make a unit late in Australia, it makes it unsellable there, which is a different category of problem from a missing document.
Read from Energy Safe Victoria, gas appliances and online sales 2026-09-04
One toasted sandwich moves a coffee unit into a different standard
The NSW Food Authority states that coffee vendors selling only hot drinks and packaged food carry minimal requirements, that Standard 3.2.2A does not apply to them, and that they do not need to appoint a Food Safety Supervisor. It then states that both apply to a coffee vendor selling food that is unpackaged, potentially hazardous and ready to eat, and that the supervisor's certificate has to be in the vehicle before operation.
What it changes. The menu decides the regulatory class before the unit is drawn. Temperature control, the record keeping and a named supervisor arrive together with the first made to order hot item, and retrofitting the cold chain and the handwash to a cart specified for espresso is more expensive than specifying for it once.
Read from Mobile food vendors, NSW Food Authority 2026-09-09
Decides the business
04Four trailers a year through the concessional route, and then a different route entirely
Trailers with an aggregate trailer mass of 4.5 tonnes or less need an approval before they can be provided to the Australian market, and they are expected to comply with the applicable Australian Design Rules. A manufacturer or importer may apply for a concessional Register of Approved Vehicles entry for up to four low ATM trailers in a twelve month period, entered vehicle by vehicle. Above that the route is a vehicle type approval, which is a different piece of work with different evidence.
What it changes. It is a constraint on the business rather than on the unit, and it is the reason a fleet order for Australia is planned as a type approval from the first conversation rather than discovered as a cap on the fifth trailer.
Read from Low ATM trailers, Department of Infrastructure 2026-09-04
The first importer becomes the Responsible Supplier, and an overseas company cannot be one
Under the Electrical Equipment Safety System the first importer of in scope electrical equipment is the Responsible Supplier, and to register they must be an Australian or New Zealand legal entity holding an ABN or a New Zealand IRD number. An overseas based company cannot be registered. There is one Authorised Officer for each Responsible Supplier entity.
What it changes. It decides who imports before it decides what is imported. Either the buyer holds it, or a local entity does, and that is a commercial structure to settle at the start rather than a form to fill at the port.
Read from EESS, manufacturers and importers as Responsible Suppliers 2026-09-08
Specify a mobile bar
Drinks per hour at peak, service length and where it will work.