PAT Testing for Offices: What Low-Risk Workplaces Need

If you manage an office, you've probably been told your computers, kettles, and desk lamps all need PAT testing every year. It's one of the most persistent myths in workplace safety — and the HSE has gone out of its way to correct it.

This guide explains what an office actually needs to do about portable appliance safety, why "annual PAT testing" isn't a legal rule, and how to take a proportionate approach that keeps people safe without over-testing low-risk kit.

The office over-testing myth

The HSE is unusually direct on this point. Its guidance for low-risk environments states plainly:

"It's a myth that all portable electrical appliances in a low-risk environment, such as an office, need to have a portable appliance test (PAT) every year."

And on what the law requires:

"The law simply requires employers to ensure electrical equipment is maintained in order to prevent danger – it doesn't state what needs to be done or how often."

Offices are the textbook example of a low-risk environment. The equipment is mostly stationary, used by careful adults, rarely moved, and kept indoors in a dry, controlled setting. That risk profile is the opposite of a building site or a busy commercial kitchen — and the testing regime should reflect that.

What the law actually requires

There is no law that names "PAT testing" or mandates an annual test. The duty sits at a higher level. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require that electrical systems are "maintained so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, such danger." Office equipment also falls under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, which require that work equipment "is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair."

Neither regulation prescribes a method or a frequency. They set the outcome — equipment that's safe to use — and leave the route to you. PAT testing is one well-established way to meet that duty, but for low-risk office kit it's rarely needed as often as people assume. For the full legal picture, see our guide to whether PAT testing is required by law.

A proportionate approach for offices

For a typical office, a sensible regime has three layers — and most of the work isn't formal testing at all:

1. User checks (everyone, every time)

The first line of defence costs nothing. Encourage staff to glance at the plug, cable, and casing of equipment before use, and to report anything damaged — a cracked plug, a frayed lead, a burning smell. Most defects that cause harm are visible, and the person using the item every day is best placed to spot them.

2. Formal visual inspection (periodic)

A competent person looks more carefully at each item on a periodic basis — checking the plug wiring, cable condition, and casing. For low-risk office equipment, a visual inspection on its own is often enough; many defects can only be found this way and not by electrical testing.

3. Combined inspection and testing (less often, risk-based)

Full PAT testing — the measured electrical checks — is the deepest layer and the one offices need least frequently. For low-risk office equipment, intervals of one to two years (or longer for the lowest-risk items) are commonly appropriate, but the right interval is a judgement based on the equipment and how it's used, not a fixed rule.

To understand how these three levels fit together, see our guide to the levels of PAT inspection.

Which office equipment to focus on

Not all office equipment carries the same risk. A useful way to prioritise:

Lower risk (test less often)	Higher risk (watch more closely)
Desktop computers, monitors	Extension leads and multi-way adaptors
Desk lamps, phone chargers	Portable heaters and fans
Printers, stationary equipment	Anything that gets moved, knocked, or runs hot
IT in a server room (lower risk but still inspected)	Older or visibly worn equipment

Extension leads deserve special attention — they're moved, overloaded, daisy-chained, and trodden on more than anything else in an office. They're worth more frequent checks than the kit plugged into them. For a full breakdown of what does and doesn't need attention, see our guide to what needs PAT testing.

Setting the right frequency

Because the law sets no interval, the right answer is risk-based. Use our PAT testing frequency calculator to work out sensible intervals for your office equipment based on type and environment, and our frequency guide for the reasoning behind those intervals.

The honest takeaway for most offices: you almost certainly need to test less often than a contractor selling annual testing will tell you — but you do need a documented, proportionate regime that shows you've thought about it.

Keep the records, skip the over-testing

The trap offices fall into is paying for unnecessary annual testing while keeping poor records — exactly backwards. A proportionate, risk-based regime with clear documentation is both cheaper and more defensible than a blanket annual sweep with no paper trail.

PATvault is being built to help low-risk workplaces do exactly this: log your equipment once, set risk-appropriate intervals, and keep an audit-ready record without the over-testing.

Join the PATvault waitlist → We'll notify you at launch.