Regulation hub / Article
EAWR 1989 — Electricity at Work Regulations
The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 are the statutory foundation for everything electrical in UK workplaces — from the fixed installation to the kettle in the staff room. They're framed in terms of preventing danger and injury, not a checklist, which is why guidance documents like the IET Code of Practice exist to translate them into practice.
The headline duty
Regulation 4(2): 'As may be necessary to prevent danger, all systems shall be maintained so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, such danger.' That single sentence is the source of every fixed-wire inspection, PAT regime and switchgear maintenance plan in the UK.
Fixed installation — the EICR
The fixed electrical installation must be periodically inspected and tested — an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR), prepared to BS 7671 (the IET Wiring Regulations). Recommended intervals are typically 5 years for commercial and 3 years for industrial premises, shorter for high-risk environments.
In-service equipment — what PAT actually is
EAWR doesn't mention PAT. The IET Code of Practice (5th edition) provides the accepted method: a combination of user checks, formal visual inspection and combined inspection and testing, with intervals risk-assessed by the duty-holder. See our dedicated PAT testing article for the detail.
Working on or near live equipment
Regulation 14: no work on or near a live conductor unless it's unreasonable for it to be dead, and suitable precautions are taken. The default is dead-working — proved by safe isolation procedure (lock-off, test, prove, re-test). Live working is the exception, not the rule.
Competent persons
Anyone working on electrical systems must have technical knowledge or experience sufficient to prevent danger and injury. For complex work this typically means City & Guilds 2391 (inspection and testing), 2382 (BS 7671), or equivalent NICEIC / NAPIT scheme membership.