Portable Appliance Testing (PAT)

Portable appliance testing (or PAT) is a regular in-service testing, which should be carried out on all electrical appliances supplied by a plug socket. The frequency of testing depends upon the environment where the equipment is installed and/or used, who use it and how likely would they report any damage, its construction and whether it is a fixed or handheld equipment.

Why you should care

First of all, PAT can considerably reduce the risk of electrocution and electrical fires, and therefore, contribute to the electrical safety in your workplace. From the legal point of view, combination of:

• The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989
• The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
• The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999

—imposes a duty on responsible person to maintain all the electrical equipment safe. Obviously, this includes portable electrical appliances.

How we can help

If you are interested in having your appliances thouroughly tested with use of high quality testing equipment, please do not hesitate to get in touch. It would be really helpful if your enquiry included an estimate of number of appliances requiring testing. In addition to receiving a PAT certificate, you will receive detailed test results to prove testing has been satisfactorily carried out.

IEC leads (C13/C15 with a power plug), extension leads and extensions are tested separately. This means that they count as separate appliances. For example, a typical PC setup (PC screen and case) is made of 4 appliances (PC screen, IEC lead for the screen, case, IEC lead for the case) – provided, that each part has its own IEC lead.

Beware

There are companies and individuals charging suspiciously small amounts for the PAT testing. While some are genuine, many are not. Eventually, you may end up paying for not having the appliances tested but only labeled – something you could possibly do yourself. It's not worth the money.