Q. Is portable appliance testing compulsory?

A. There are no laws which state that electrical items need to be PAT tested, however the law requires an employer to ensure that their electrical equipment is maintained in order to prevent danger. In reality, a PAT regime is the most sensible and cost effective way of ensuring the safety of staff, visitors and the public.

Q. Should all items be tested every year?

A. No! Any reputable Portable Appliance Testing Engineer will follow the latest Institution of Engineering and Testing (IET) Code of Practice by carrying out a risk assessment for each individual item and decide on a recommended retest date. It may be that some high risk items in high risk areas need to be tested more than once a year whereas a low risk item in an office may only need 4 yearly testing.

SD PAT provides a bespoke service which is tailored to the customers needs. For example, we carry out testing for an IT office in Norwich where we have set up a testing regime based on individual item groups- the equipment in the staff kitchen is tested annually, the class 1 IT leads are tested every 2 years and the remaining items are tested every 4 years. Although we charge slightly more per item than their previous PAT company, we have saved the company over £600 over the 4 year cycle.

Q. What needs to be tested?

A. Put simply, any electrical item should under go some form of inspection and/or testing. This could just be a visual user check to ensure there are no obvious signs of damage or it could need full combined inspection and testing. Again, each item needs to risk assessed to determine the testing regime that is applicable. The basic rule is that anything that is intended to be connected to the mains or a generator needs to be assessed. The IET separates these into the following categories:

1. Handheld appliances such as hair-dryers.

2. Portable appliances such as toasters.

3. Moveable appliances (under 18kg or on wheels) such as compressors.

4. Stationary appliances (over 18kg) such as washing machines.

5. Fixed appliances such as hand dryers which are connected to the mains electrical installation.

6. Appliances for building in, such as built in ovens.

7. IT equipment such as computers, IEC leads, printers etc.

8. Extension leads.

9. Multiway adaptors.

10. Surge protected devises.

The type of devise, along with its environment will determine what testing regime is needed, for example the risk assessment may determine that there is a very low chance of a built in oven being damaged in normal use but a moderate chance of damage occurring during isolation and testing, in this case I would recommend that the oven isn’t tested.

Q. What records should I keep?

A. There are no rules stating what records should be kept, however the IET Code of Practice suggests that all appliances are given a unique ID number and that they are labeled with the appropriate pass/fail sticker. It also recommend that an asset register is drawn up with the appliance ID, date of testing and test results recorded on it. This is all included in our PAT testing prices.