It is the question we are asked more than any other, usually by someone who has just been told by an insurer or a licensing officer that they need it. The honest answer is more useful than a simple yes or no.
No law uses the words “PAT testing”
There is no statute that says “you must PAT test annually”. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either mistaken or selling something. What exists instead is a duty.
What the law actually requires
The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 place a duty on employers, the self-employed and those in control of premises to maintain electrical systems and equipment so far as is reasonably practicable to prevent danger. The regulations do not prescribe a method. They set an outcome: the equipment must be safe, and it must be kept that way.
Alongside it sit the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, which require work equipment to be maintained in efficient working order and in good repair, and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which sets the general duty of care to employees and anyone else affected by your work.
Why in-service inspection and testing is the accepted answer
If the law sets an outcome rather than a method, you need a method that demonstrably achieves it. In-service inspection and testing — carried out to the IET Code of Practice — is the method the industry, insurers and the HSE recognise. It produces two things the duty demands: equipment that has actually been checked, and a record proving it.
That record is the point. If an appliance causes a fire or injures someone, the question will not be “did you care about safety?” It will be “show me what you did about it.” A dated asset register with test results is an answer. A good intention is not.
Where it is effectively mandatory
Several situations turn the general duty into a practical requirement:
- Insurance. Many commercial policies require evidence of electrical maintenance. A claim following an electrical fire can be challenged without it.
- HMO and residential licensing. Local authorities routinely ask for appliance test records as part of licensing.
- Landlord obligations. Appliances you supply with a let property must be safe, and you are the one who has to show it.
- Contracts and tenders. Larger clients and public bodies frequently make it a condition of working with you.
What this means in practice
Treat PAT testing not as a legal box to tick but as the evidence trail behind a duty you already hold. Get the interval right for your environment, keep the register current, and act on the failures. That is what “reasonably practicable” looks like when someone asks.
If you are unsure what your premises needs, get in touch and we will tell you plainly — including if the answer is that you need less than you expected.