Do you actually need this?
Do you actually need annual PAT testing?
Almost every PAT quote a small business receives is for everything, every year, per item. The law does not require any of that. Here is what it does require, the two-year cycle that satisfies the IET Code, and what to say to the next quote.
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 require you to maintain electrical equipment so far as reasonably practicable to prevent danger. They do not name PAT testing and they do not set an interval. HSE says so in its own guidance, in those words.
Why you still need it: because "maintain to prevent danger" has to be evidenced, and a test record from a competent engineer is the cheapest evidence there is. The question was never whether. It's how much, how often, and at what price.
Where the money goes
The trade's standard model is everything, every year, at £1 to £3 an item. In a 40-person office that's 120 to 200 items, every year, most of them laptop chargers and desk lamps that the IET Code of Practice says need a visual check every two years and a test every four, if at all.
The contractor isn't lying to you. They're pricing the model that's easiest to sell and easiest to schedule. It just isn't the model the Code describes.
What the Code actually says
Intervals are set by equipment class and environment. For offices and shops, the starting points are broadly: Class I (earthed) equipment, a formal visual inspection every 12 months and a combined test every 24; Class II (double-insulated), visual every 24 months and combined test up to 48 months or not required for some IT equipment. Commercial kitchens and hotels: Class I every 12 months. Construction sites: every three months. Then adjust to your own fault history.
The cycle that works
Year 1: full combined inspection and test of every appliance. This builds the asset register: every item, its class, its location, its result.
Year 2: formal visual inspection of everything, plus a full test of the higher-risk items: kitchen equipment, hand-held tools, anything with a damage history, anything flagged last time.
Year 3: back to Year 1.
That keeps every item under formal inspection every year and under full test at least every two years, which is what the Code asks for ordinary premises, and it halves the bill in the visual years. Ask your engineer to note the shorter interval on the certificate for the high-risk items, so the record shows the risk was considered.
What to say to the quote
- "Which items are Class I and which are Class II?" If they can't tell you, they haven't looked.
- "What interval does the Code recommend for this environment?" The answer for an office isn't "annual".
- "Can we do a full test this year and a visual next year, with the kitchen and the tools tested annually?" A good contractor says yes.
- "What's your minimum charge, and what's the per-item rate for replacement plugs and fuses?" Get both in writing.
What you shouldn’t be sold
- Testing new equipment before first use. A visual check and a register entry are enough.
- Per-item pricing on hundreds of Class II items. Most need a look, not a test.
- A certificate as a legal document. The register is the evidence. The certificate is the contractor's.
- Buying your own tester to save money. For a few pounds an item you're paying for someone who knows what a damaged appliance looks like and puts their name on it. Don't.
Quick answers
- Is annual PAT testing a legal requirement?
- No. No interval is set in law. The Electricity at Work Regulations require you to maintain equipment so it does not cause danger; the IET Code of Practice gives risk-based intervals from three months to four years depending on the equipment and environment. Annual for everything is a sales cycle, not a standard.
- What should I do instead?
- For ordinary premises: a full test of everything in year one to build the register, a formal visual inspection of everything plus a full test of the higher-risk items in year two, then repeat. Kitchen equipment, hand tools and anything with a damage history are tested every year. Construction sites are the exception and need three-monthly testing.
This is general information about UK compliance, written for the person paying the bill. It isn’t legal advice. If your situation is unusual, get a professional to look at it.