Property Maintenance

PAT Testing — Portable Appliance Testing

Guardian Edge carries out in-service inspection and testing of electrical equipment across the UK. There is no law requiring 'PAT testing' by name — the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require electrical systems to be maintained to prevent danger, and testing at risk-based intervals is the recognised way to demonstrate that.

A duty to maintain, not a duty to test everything every year.

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Who this is for

Employers and workplace duty holders
HMO and student accommodation landlords
Facilities managers with equipment across multiple sites
Letting agents providing appliances in furnished lets

Problems it solves

Everything is being tested annually regardless of risk, at unnecessary cost
Nothing has been tested at all and an insurer has asked
There is no asset register so nobody knows what should be tested
Failed items were labelled and then left in use

What Guardian Edge provides

Our pat testing scope

What we provide

Formal visual inspection and combined inspection and testing
Asset register creation with unique identifiers and location records
Risk-based interval setting rather than blanket annual testing
Clear reporting on pass, fail and remedial items
Repair or replacement of failed equipment

Typical scope

Offices, retail, hospitality, industrial and workshop environments
HMOs, student accommodation and furnished lettings
IT equipment, kitchen equipment, tools, extension leads and portable plant

Before we price anything

Inspection & survey process

01
Build the asset register
You cannot manage testing intervals without knowing what equipment exists and where it lives.
02
Set intervals by risk
A double-insulated desk lamp in an office is a different risk from a 110V site tool. The HSE explicitly supports a risk-based approach rather than universal annual testing.

On site

How the work is delivered

01
Inspect and test
Formal visual inspection first — most faults are found visually — followed by electrical testing where the risk warrants it.
02
Label and record
Each item labelled with its identifier and test date, and recorded in the register.
03
Deal with failures
Failed items are removed from service, not merely labelled. Repair or replacement is quoted with the report.

Compliance

What the rules actually require

There is no statutory requirement to carry out 'PAT testing' as such. The requirement is in the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989: electrical systems must be maintained so far as reasonably practicable to prevent danger.
The HSE's position is that the frequency and extent of inspection and testing should be determined by risk assessment, and that blanket annual testing of all equipment is often unnecessary.
For landlords, the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 do not require portable appliance testing, but the Landlord and Tenant Act and general safety duties mean appliances provided by the landlord should be safe.
Anyone claiming that annual PAT testing of every item is a legal requirement is overstating the position. We will not.

Standards & legislation

These are not all the same kind of obligation, and we do not present them as if they were. A statutory duty is law. A British Standard is the recognised way of demonstrating you have met one. Guidance and our own recommendations are neither.

Legal requirementElectricity at Work Regulations 1989
Duty to maintain electrical systems
The actual statutory duty. Inspection and testing is a means of complying, not the duty itself.
Read the primary source →
Official guidanceIET Code of Practice for In-service Inspection and Testing
Recognised methodology and interval guidance
The reference document for inspection procedures and suggested risk-based intervals.

Ongoing support

Planned, reactive and multi-site.

Most providers do one of these well. The value of a single provider is that the schedule, the emergency and the portfolio all sit in the same place.

Planned maintenance

Testing programmes on risk-based intervals across the estate
Register maintained as equipment is added and disposed of

Reactive support

Testing for new equipment and after repair
Rapid testing where an audit is imminent

Multi-site & national portfolios

One register and one programme across every site

Procurement, simplified

What happens next?

01
Tell us what you need
One form, one call or one email. A photograph or an existing report is enough to start.
02
We assess the requirement
We confirm scope, access, and whether a site survey is needed before anything is priced.
03
You receive a clear quotation
Itemised, with what is included and what is not. No provisional sums that move later.
04
We arrange attendance
A confirmed date and window, with the engineer or trade named in advance.
05
Works are completed
Carried out by directly managed engineers or vetted specialist subcontractors.
06
Evidence is supplied
Certification, test records and photographic evidence where the work calls for it.

Answers

PAT Testingquestions.

Is PAT testing a legal requirement?

Not by that name. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require electrical systems, including portable equipment, to be maintained so as to prevent danger. Inspection and testing is the recognised way of demonstrating that, but the HSE is explicit that frequency should follow a risk assessment rather than a blanket annual rule. Some insurers and licensing regimes impose their own testing conditions, which is a contractual matter rather than a statutory one.

Get a quotation for pat testing.

One form, one call or one email. A photograph or an existing report is enough for us to start — and we will tell you plainly whether a site survey is needed before anything is priced.

Request a Quote Arrange an Inspection Or call 0800 634 3475