Compliance hub / Sector guide
PAT testing — EAWR 1989 and the IET Code of Practice
Portable Appliance Testing isn't actually a legal requirement by name — but the duty under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 to maintain electrical equipment 'so far as is reasonably practicable' is. The IET Code of Practice for In-service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment (5th edition) is the accepted means of meeting it.
What the law says
EAWR 1989 places a duty on employers to maintain all electrical systems and equipment to prevent danger. The 5th edition of the IET Code of Practice (2020) moved the industry to a risk-based regime: a combination of user checks, formal visual inspection and combined inspection-and-test, with intervals set by the duty-holder based on environment, equipment type and user. Class I (earthed) and Class II (double-insulated) equipment have different test regimes.
Recommended starter spec
- Asset register: every portable and movable appliance with a unique ID.
- Risk-based interval matrix per environment (office vs construction vs hire).
- Formal visual inspection between full tests — typically the bigger compliance gap.
- Calibrated PAT tester (annual calibration certificate kept with the report).
- Competent person — trained to City & Guilds 2377-22 or equivalent.
- Failed-item quarantine and repair / disposal procedure.
Common gaps we find
- Every appliance tested at the same blanket 12-month interval regardless of risk.
- Visual inspections never carried out between formal tests.
- PAT tester itself out of calibration — invalidating every certificate.
- Test stickers without matching report — can't prove who tested or when.
- Equipment hired in or brought from home not added to the register.