PAT Testing

Landlords and employers must PAT test appliances

Portable appliance testing (PAT) is the process of inspection and testing of electrical equipment and appliances to make sure they are safe in use.  Usually a dangerous piece of equipment can be identified by seeing physical damage of some kind but some faults can only be shown up by testing using specialised equipment. On the other hand, testing alone does not show up the faults that can be seen by eye so both processes must be carried out.

The reason for PAT testing is to comply with various regulations including The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 & Electricity At Work Regulations 1989 which state that any electrical equipment that has the potential to cause injury is maintained in a safe condition. This of course applies to fixed wiring as well as portable appliances.

In other words, if you are, for example, an employer or a landlord and are responsible for maintaining electrical equipment then you have a duty of care towards the people using it.  The Regulations do not specify how this duty of care is to be exercised but certainly one way is to have your portable appliances regularly PAT tested.

In round terms, if your equipment has a normal mains 3-pin plug on it then it is deemed to be a portable appliance. There are some exceptions but they are possibly outside the scope of this blog.

At Sky Electrical we can carry out PAT testing on your appliances whether you are a landlord who only has a few appliances in a rental property or if you are a bank with a dealing floor that has thousands of appliances. Like all our other work, our PAT testing comes with documentation and certification to show that you have exercised your duty of care.

If you’d like to find out more information on electrical services in your area or an electrician please click here.

Tim Laight