ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS
How often does PAT testing need doing?
“Every year” is the answer most people expect. It isn’t what the guidance says. HSE is clear that the law doesn’t require portable appliance testing, or an annual test. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require equipment that could cause injury to be kept safe, and leave how often to check it to the duty holder.
What decides the interval
HSE says the frequency depends on the type of equipment and the environment it’s used in. Its example: a power tool on a construction site needs checking far more often than a lamp in a hotel bedroom. Equipment that’s handled, moved or knocked about needs more attention than equipment that sits still.
HSE’s suggested starting points
For low-risk environments such as offices, shops and hotels, HSE’s leaflet INDG236 suggests initial intervals by type of equipment:
- Battery-operated equipment under 40 volts, and extra-low-voltage equipment such as phones: no checks needed.
- Desktop computers, screens and photocopiers that are rarely moved: a visual inspection every 2 to 4 years, and a combined inspection and test only if they aren’t double insulated (up to every 5 years).
- Double-insulated equipment moved occasionally, such as fans and table lamps: a visual inspection every 2 to 4 years, with no test.
- Double-insulated hand-held equipment: user checks, and a visual inspection every 6 months to a year.
- Earthed equipment such as kettles, irons and some kitchen equipment: user checks, a visual inspection every 6 months to a year, and a combined inspection and test every 1 to 2 years.
- Cables, plugs, extension leads and chargers: user checks, a visual inspection every 6 months to 4 years, and a test every 1 to 5 years, depending on what they’re connected to.
These are starting points. The leaflet says they can be adjusted based on what earlier inspections and tests find. Higher-risk places, such as construction sites, need shorter intervals.
What that means for a contractor’s reminders
If intervals vary by equipment and site, a reminder that assumes 12 months for every client is wrong in both directions: it chases an office that agreed two years, and it’s too slow for a workshop that needs six months. Each client’s next date should come from the interval agreed at their last test, stored with the record rather than worked out later.
- Record the agreed interval at each test, not just the test date.
- Send the reminder on that interval, to whoever books the work.
- Review the interval when a test finds problems, and update the stored date.
The certificate due date calculator gives the next date for any interval and adds it to a calendar. If you’d like reminders like these sent for you, see what we build for electrical contractors.