Is PAT testing legally required?

The straight answer

No law in the UK says "portable appliances must be PAT tested every year". You can search the statute books all day and the phrase isn't there. What the law does say — in the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 — is that electrical equipment must be maintained so far as reasonably practicable to prevent danger. It sets the outcome, not the method, and it applies to employers, the self-employed and, through housing law and licensing, to landlords too.

So why does everyone PAT test?

Because if an appliance you provided injures someone, "we maintained it to prevent danger" needs evidence behind it. In-service inspection and testing — PAT testing, as everyone calls it — is the recognised, documented way to show the duty was met: each appliance visually inspected, electrically tested, and logged with a dated record. It isn't the only legally acceptable approach, but it's the one insurers, courts and licensing officers instantly understand. Think of it as the standard way to prove a legal duty, rather than a legal duty in itself.

Who will ask you for it

• Insurers — many commercial and landlord policies require electrical equipment to be maintained, and some name PAT records outright. An uncontested claim is worth the test fee many times over.
• HMO licensing — licence conditions commonly require appliances supplied by the landlord to be demonstrably safe, and councils ask for the paperwork.
• Holiday lets and B&Bs — a big deal in Blackpool. Fire risk assessments, booking platforms and insurers all lean on appliance safety records, and guest accommodation gets through kettles and hairdryers at a rate that justifies checking them.
• Letting agents — most simply won't market a furnished property without a PAT record on file.

Sensible frequencies, not blanket rules

Guidance is risk-based: test as often as the environment and the kit demand. In practice:

• Offices and low-risk workplaces — IT kit and desk equipment lead a gentle life; every couple of years is often defensible, with user checks in between.
• Rented homes — annually, or at each change of tenancy, keeps the record current without overdoing it.
• Holiday lets, B&Bs and guesthouses — annually, timed before the season starts. High guest turnover is hard on appliances.
• Workshops, kitchens and site equipment — hard-worked kit in tough conditions deserves the most frequent checks of all.

A blanket "everything, every 12 months" policy isn't wrong, but a risk-based schedule usually costs less and stands up to scrutiny just as well.

What a PAT visit actually involves

More looking than most people expect. The formal visual inspection — plug, flex, casing, signs of overheating — catches the majority of faults before the tester comes out of the van. Then each appliance gets the electrical tests appropriate to its class: earth continuity, insulation resistance, polarity. Everything is labelled pass or fail and logged, and you get the record for your insurer, agent or licensing file. Failed items are flagged with a straight recommendation: repair, replace or retire.

What PAT testing doesn't cover

Worth being clear, because the two get conflated: PAT testing covers things with a plug — kettles, lamps, fridges, extension leads. It says nothing about the fixed wiring those appliances plug into. Sockets, circuits and the consumer unit are the territory of the EICR, and one doesn't substitute for the other. A property can have a folder of immaculate PAT records and wiring that hasn't been inspected since the nineties. If you're responsible for a property, you generally need both on a sensible cycle: the EICR every five years, PAT on the risk-based frequency above.

What it costs

Our PAT visits start from £60, which covers the typical rental property or small business, with per-item rates once counts climb — full details on our PAT testing prices page. Landlords can bundle PAT with an EICR and alarm checks in one visit through our landlord electrician service — one appointment, one invoice, every certificate in the same folder.