Do you actually need annual PAT testing?

What you were told: "PAT testing is a legal requirement and it has to be done every year."

What the law says: Neither half is true. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 say you must keep electrical equipment safe. They do not mention PAT testing. They do not set an interval. HSE says so in its own guidance.

Why you still need it: You have to be able to show that you kept things safe. A test record from a competent engineer is the cheapest proof there is. So the question is not whether. It is how much and how often.

The simple plan

Forget the jargon. There are three kinds of check and each one has a job.

Before every use. Whoever is about to use an item gives it a quick look. Is the cable cut or frayed? Is the plug cracked or loose? Are there scorch marks? Does it smell of burning? If anything looks wrong the item comes out of use until someone has seen to it. This costs nothing and it catches most faults.

At least once a year. A trained person checks every item by eye and writes it down. Trained means they know what they are looking for. They take the plug apart and check the fuse and the cable grip. They keep a list of every item and what they found.

A full test at least every two years. A competent engineer tests ordinary items with a proper tester. Higher risk items get a full test every year. Power tools on a building site get one every three months.

What is a higher risk item?

Anything that gets moved or handled a lot. Anything that gets hot. Anything used near water. HSE itself gives a kettle and a floor cleaner as examples.

So think kettles and toasters. Portable heaters and fans. Hairdryers and straighteners in a salon. Vacuums and floor cleaners. Extension leads. Hand held power tools. Anything in a commercial kitchen. Anything that has been dropped or damaged before.

Is a toaster higher risk? In a workplace yes. It gets hot. It gets picked up to be emptied and cleaned. It usually sits near the sink. Treat it like a kettle.

Lower risk items are the ones that sit still on a desk. Computers and monitors. Printers. Desk lamps. HSE says items like these in a low risk workplace may not need a formal test at all.

My advice

HSE is right that a computer on a desk is unlikely to hurt anyone. I still advise a full test of everything at least every two years. The test record is your proof if something ever goes wrong. A two year cycle costs very little and it closes the gap.

What I do not advise is testing every item every single year. That is where the money goes and it buys you very little extra safety.

Where the money goes

The usual quote is everything every year at a price per item. In a 40 person office that can be 120 to 200 items a year. Most of them are laptop chargers and desk lamps. On the plan above those ordinary items only need a look in the years between tests.

The contractor is not lying to you. They are pricing the model that is easiest to sell and easiest to schedule. It just is not the only safe way to do it.

Where the detail comes from

The intervals above are at least as often as HSE suggests for shops and offices. The detail comes from the IET Code of Practice for In-service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment. That is the 5th edition. The Code leaves the interval to a risk assessment. It looks at the type of item and where it is used and who uses it. If your engineer talks about Class I and Class II that is where it comes from. You do not need to learn it. You just need a plan like the one above and a written record that you followed it.

What to say to the quote

Ask which items they class as higher risk and why. Ask for a full test of the ordinary items this year and a visual check next year. Ask for the higher risk items to be tested every year either way. Then ask for the minimum charge and the price of any new plugs or fuses in writing. A good contractor will say yes to all of it.