There is no legal requirement to PAT test every appliance annually. Regulation 4(2) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 requires electrical systems to be maintained to prevent danger, and HSE calls annual testing of everything a myth. The IET Code of Practice 5th edition replaced fixed frequencies with risk-based intervals, HSE INDG236 gives suggested initial intervals, and SI 2025/1043 adds a five-year appliance check in social housing.
What the law requires
Regulation 4(2) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 states that, as may be necessary to prevent danger, all systems shall be maintained so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, such danger. "Systems" includes portable and movable equipment plugged into the fixed installation. That is the whole legal requirement. The Regulations do not mention portable appliance testing, do not set an interval, and do not require labels or records.
HSE's guidance is direct about the gap between the law and the market. HSG107, Maintaining portable electrical equipment, paragraph 18, states that the Regulations do not make it a legal requirement to test all portable electrical appliances every year. INDG236, Maintaining portable electric equipment in low-risk environments, states that it is a myth that all portable appliances in an office need a PAT every year, and that there is no legal requirement to record results or label equipment. The duty is to maintain. Inspection and testing at intervals set by risk is how a duty holder discharges and demonstrates it.
This guide covers the regime for commercial premises. The fixed installation has its own five-yearly periodic inspection; see our EICR testing guide and our commercial EICR cost guide.
Who is responsible
The employer holds the duty for equipment its employees use, and the person in control of premises for equipment provided to others, for example guest room appliances in a hotel or communal equipment in a care home. Where equipment is hired or brought in by contractors, the contract should say who maintains it. The duty holder can appoint a contractor to inspect and test, but the risk assessment that sets the intervals is the duty holder's own. Our duty holder guide covers the allocation.
The three levels of maintenance
HSG107 paragraph 36 describes maintenance as a combination of three activities, and most equipment needs only the first two.
- User checks before use: damage to the cable sheath, plug, casing; signs of overheating; wet or dusty conditions. No record needed beyond reporting defects.
- Formal visual inspection by a competent person, which HSE says finds the majority of faults: the user check items plus opening the plug to check the fuse rating, terminal connections and cord grip on rewirable plugs.
- Combined inspection and test using an instrument: earth continuity on Class I equipment, insulation resistance, polarity, and functional checks. Required where the visual inspection cannot confirm safety, principally for Class I equipment and higher-risk environments.
Intervals: what the IET and HSE actually say
The IET Code of Practice for In-service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment, 5th edition (2020) is the reference document contractors work to. Its most important change is what it removed. Table 7.1 of the 4th edition (2012), which gave suggested initial frequencies by premises type, has gone and has not been replaced. The 5th edition requires the duty holder to set intervals by a documented risk assessment considering the environment, the users, the equipment class and type, how often it is used and moved, and its fault history, with worked examples in Appendix 9. A supplier who presents an "IET table" of intervals for hotels, schools or shops is quoting superseded material.
The only verifiable published interval table is HSE's own, for low-risk environments.
HSE INDG236 Table 1: suggested initial intervals in low-risk environments
| Equipment | User checks | Formal visual inspection | Combined inspection and test |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battery operated (under 40 V) and extra-low voltage (under 50 V AC) | No | No | No |
| Desktop computers, VDUs, photocopiers, fax machines | No | Every 2 to 4 years | No if Class II; up to every 5 years if Class I |
| Class II equipment, not hand-held (fans, table lamps, projectors) | No | Every 2 to 4 years | No |
| Class II hand-held equipment (some floor cleaners, some kitchen equipment) | Yes | Every 6 months to 1 year | No |
| Class I earthed equipment (kettles, heaters, some floor cleaners) | Yes | Every 6 months to 1 year | Every 1 to 2 years |
| Cables, leads and plugs connected to the above, and mains extension leads | Yes | Every 6 months to 4 years depending on the equipment served | Every 1 to 5 years depending on the equipment served |
These are initial intervals for offices, shops and similar low-risk premises. They should lengthen where inspections find no faults and shorten where they do. They do not apply to higher-risk environments: construction sites, workshops, commercial kitchens, science laboratories, hotel guest rooms where the public handles equipment, and care homes where residents use it. In those environments the duty holder sets shorter intervals and records the reasoning. HSG107 Table 1 gives equivalent guidance for a wider range of environments and states, at paragraph 57, that its frequencies are not legal requirements.
Environments that change the answer
Hotel guest room appliances are handled by the public and warrant shorter intervals than back-of-house equipment; see our hotel compliance checklist. School laboratories and workshops are not low-risk environments; see our school compliance checklist. Emergency lighting is not a PAT item and follows its own regime, covered in our emergency lighting frequency guide.
The 2025 change for social landlords
SI 2025/1043, the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) (Amendment) (Extension to the Social Rented Sector) Regulations 2025, extends the five-yearly fixed installation inspection to registered providers of social housing and adds a duty that each item of landlord-provided electrical equipment in tenanted homes is checked by a qualified person at intervals of no more than five years, or sooner if the previous record requires. Commencement was 1 November 2025, with 1 May 2026 for tenancies that began before 1 December 2025. This is the first statutory appliance-check interval in English law, and it applies to housing associations and council landlords, not to private landlords or commercial premises.
What good evidence looks like
Records are not required by law, but without them the risk-based regime cannot be demonstrated. The practical minimum is:
- An equipment register listing each item or class, its location, its class (I or II), its environment, the interval chosen for visual and for test, and the one-line reasoning.
- A record of each formal visual inspection and test with date, result and the person who did it.
- A defect log showing equipment removed from service and what replaced it.
- A review of the intervals after each cycle: lengthen where no faults, shorten where faults cluster.
A contractor whose deliverable is a sticker on each item and a one-line certificate has not given you a compliance record.
Competence and procurement
HSE states that the person doing a formal visual inspection needs training in what to look for and the person doing combined tests needs to understand the instrument and the results; an electrician's qualification is not required for either, and many organisations train in-house staff. For contracted testing, the checks are: evidence the tester works to the 5th edition and sets intervals by risk rather than annually for everything; a sample register and report; and the instrument calibration certificate. Pricing is usually per item, so an inflated item count or an annual-for-everything regime is the common way cost is padded. Our contractor vetting and accreditation guide sets out the electrical competence schemes.
Common failures and enforcement consequences
- Everything tested annually regardless of class or environment: expensive, and it displaces attention from the user checks that catch most faults.
- Nothing inspected at all because "PAT is not a legal requirement": the maintenance duty still applies and a fault causing injury is a Regulation 4 breach.
- No register, so intervals cannot be shown to be risk-based.
- Extension leads and adaptors ignored, though they are the most damaged items in most premises.
- Higher-risk rooms on office intervals, particularly school laboratories and commercial kitchens.
Enforcement is by HSE or the local authority under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. After an incident the question is not whether a PAT label was present but whether the duty holder had a system of maintenance proportionate to the risk, which is exactly what the register and records show.
Working with TICDesk
TICDesk is a UK procurement desk for testing, inspection and compliance work. Tell us the premises type, an equipment count if known and whether you want a risk-based programme set up or an existing regime reviewed, and we introduce up to three vetted electrical contractors, typically within 48 hours. The service is free to the client; TICDesk earns a success fee from the contractor. Visit our electrical desk or open a brief.
Frequently asked
Is PAT testing a legal requirement?
Not as a named test. Regulation 4(2) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 requires all electrical systems, including portable equipment, to be maintained so as to prevent danger so far as is reasonably practicable. HSE guidance HSG107 states the Regulations do not make it a legal requirement to test all portable appliances every year, and INDG236 calls annual testing of everything in an office a myth. Inspection and testing at risk-based intervals is how you demonstrate maintenance.
How often should PAT testing be done in an office or shop?
HSE's INDG236 Table 1 gives suggested initial intervals for low-risk environments. Class I earthed equipment such as kettles and heaters: formal visual inspection every 6 to 12 months and a combined test every 1 to 2 years. Class II hand-held equipment: visual every 6 to 12 months, no test. Desktop computers: visual every 2 to 4 years, test up to every 5 years if Class I. Extension leads: visual every 6 months to 4 years, test 1 to 5 years.
What changed in the IET Code of Practice 5th edition?
The 5th edition, published in 2020, removed Table 7.1 of the 4th edition, which gave suggested initial frequencies by premises type. The IET states the table has not been replaced; frequency is now set by a documented risk assessment considering the environment, the users, the equipment class and type, frequency of use and fault history, with worked examples in Appendix 9. Any supplier quoting an IET table of intervals for hotels, schools or shops is using 2012 material.
What are the three levels of in-service inspection and testing?
HSG107 describes maintenance as a combination of checks by the user before use, looking for damage to the cable, plug and casing; formal visual inspections by a competent person, which find the majority of faults; and, where necessary, a combined inspection and test using instruments to check earth continuity, insulation and polarity. Most equipment needs only the first two at appropriate intervals. The combined test is reserved for Class I equipment and higher-risk environments.
What is the difference between Class I and Class II equipment?
HSG107 defines Class I equipment as relying on the exposed metal parts being effectively earthed for protection, for example kettles, toasters, heaters and older desktop computers, so the earth continuity test matters. Class II equipment is constructed with high-integrity double insulation and does not have or need an earth connection, marked with a double-square symbol, for example most phone chargers, laptops and hand-held tools. Class II needs visual inspection but generally no electrical test.
Do I have to keep PAT records and put labels on equipment?
No law requires either. HSE states in INDG236 that there is no legal requirement to record results or label equipment, and HSG107 describes a log as a useful management tool for monitoring the maintenance plan. In practice an equipment register with the interval and reasoning for each class, and a record of each inspection, is the only way to show an inspector, insurer or Care Quality Commission that the risk-based regime exists. Labels are convenient, not compulsory.
Are there new appliance testing rules for landlords?
For social landlords, yes. The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) (Amendment) (Extension to the Social Rented Sector) Regulations 2025, SI 2025/1043, require registered providers of social housing to have each item of landlord-provided electrical equipment in tenanted homes checked by a qualified person at intervals of no more than five years. Commencement was 1 November 2025, with 1 May 2026 for tenancies that began before 1 December 2025.
Sources & further reading
