PAT Testing

There’s no law that says “you must PAT test annually” — that’s a myth the industry sometimes leans on. What the law (the Electricity at Work Regulations) does require is that electrical equipment is maintained in a safe condition. PAT testing is simply the recognised, documented way to prove you’re doing that — and it’s what insurers, landlords’ agents and health-and-safety audits ask to see. We’ll recommend a testing interval that matches your actual risk, not a blanket annual charge for everything.

• Visual inspection plus electronic testing of each appliance
• Pass/fail labelling with test date
• A full asset register and certificate for your records — the document your insurer wants
• Repair or clear advice on any failures (often it’s just a plug or fuse)
• Scheduling that works around your business — early mornings, quiet days, or alongside other electrical work

Offices, shops, cafés and restaurants · landlords providing appliances in rentals · salons and gyms · schools and community venues · tradespeople with power tools · anyone whose insurance or contracts require evidence of appliance safety.

More than a sticker. Each appliance gets a proper visual inspection first — plug, fuse rating, cable condition, signs of damage or overheating — because that catches the majority of real-world faults. Then instrument testing appropriate to the appliance class: earth-continuity checks for Class I equipment (kettles, toasters, most workshop tools), insulation testing for Class II (“double-insulated” — most modern IT and chargers). Extension leads and multi-way adaptors get tested too — they fail more often than almost anything they’re plugged into.

The IET Code of Practice — the standard the industry works to — recommends intervals based on risk, not a flat “everything annually.” Power tools on a building site might warrant checks every few months; kitchen and cleaning equipment roughly yearly; low-risk office IT every two to four years. We classify your equipment and set a schedule that keeps you demonstrably safe and compliant without paying to over-test hundreds of low-risk items every year.

You get a full asset register — every item, its ID, location, result and next-due date — plus a certificate for the file. That’s the document that satisfies insurers, landlords’ agents, head-office audits and health-and-safety reviews. For multi-site businesses we keep one consolidated register so any site inspection can be answered in minutes.

Years of PAT testing produce a predictable list: damaged plugs and cracked casings, incorrectly-rated fuses (a 13A fuse in a lamp that needs 3A), kettle and cleaning-equipment leads worn through at the strain relief, daisy-chained extension leads carrying loads they were never made for, and personal appliances brought from home that nobody ever inspected. None are exotic — but each is exactly how workplace electrical fires start, and every one is cheap to fix when caught at a test. If an item fails, that’s the system working.