How to Set Up a PAT Testing Procedure: A Practical Guide

Most workplaces don't have a written PAT testing procedure. They have a PAT testing habit — the same contractor visits each year, or someone does a batch of tests whenever the topic comes up — but no documented process that answers who does what, when, to which appliances, and how results get recorded.

A written procedure matters for two reasons. First, it removes the reliance on individual memory — if the person who normally "handles PAT testing" leaves, the work doesn't fall through the gap. Second, it creates the audit trail you need to demonstrate compliance. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, Regulation 4(2) requires that "all systems shall be maintained so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, such danger." A procedure is your evidence that the maintenance obligation is being systematically discharged.

Setting one up isn't difficult. Here is what it needs to cover.

Step 1: Decide who is responsible

Every procedure needs a named owner. For PAT testing, this is typically whoever holds the health and safety brief — a facilities manager, office manager, health and safety coordinator, or premises manager. In smaller businesses, it's often the employer directly.

The procedure owner doesn't need to carry out the testing personally. Their job is to make sure testing happens on schedule, records are maintained, and failed appliances are removed from service.

If you use an external contractor for the electrical testing, the contractor's role should be defined clearly: what they test, what records they produce, and how those records are passed back to you. You own the maintenance obligation; the contractor is the delivery mechanism.

Assign a named deputy for cover. If your procedure owner is on leave when the annual test cycle falls due, the work should not stall.

Step 2: Build an appliance inventory

You cannot run a PAT testing procedure without knowing what you're testing. Build an inventory of all portable electrical appliances in the workplace.

For each appliance, record:

Asset number or unique identifier (a label on the appliance)
Description (make, model, serial number where available)
Location (which room or area)
Class (Class I or Class II — relevant for knowing which tests apply)
Date of last test and result
Recommended next test date

The PAT Register Template Generator produces a CSV with these columns pre-formatted. Download it, fill in the rows, and it becomes the working version of your inventory.

Keep the register up to date as equipment changes. New appliances should be added before they go into service (not after their first test). Disposed appliances should be removed or marked as retired — a register full of appliances that no longer exist creates confusion and compliance gaps.

Step 3: Set testing frequencies

Testing frequency is the most common source of confusion in PAT procedures. The Regulations don't specify how often. The IET Code of Practice (5th Edition) provides guidance based on equipment type, environment, and usage pattern — not a single annual rule for everything.

A practical approach for most office environments:

Equipment type	Suggested testing frequency
IT equipment, monitors, printers	Every 4–5 years
Desk fans, small appliances (non-kitchen)	Every 2–4 years
Kitchen appliances (kettles, microwaves)	Every 1–2 years
Extension leads, multiway adapters	Every 1–2 years
Portable heaters	Annual
Power tools	Annual or more frequently if in heavy use

Adjust based on your specific environment. A warehouse with power tools in daily use runs on very different frequencies from a quiet office where equipment is rarely moved. The HSE notes that "the frequency of inspection and testing depends upon the type of equipment and the environment it is used in."

Write these frequencies into your procedure so they're applied consistently across testing cycles, not decided on the fly by whoever happens to be testing that year.

Step 4: Decide what testing is done in-house vs contracted out

Not all PAT testing needs to be contracted out. The HSE confirms that "in many low-risk environments, a sensible (competent) member of staff can undertake visual inspections." The competence requirement is the ability to recognise visible faults — damaged cables, cracked plugs, burn marks — not an electrician's qualification.

A practical split for many workplaces:

User checks (daily or weekly): Carried out by anyone who uses the equipment. Brief on what to look for; add a "report faults" step to your induction process.
Formal visual inspection (scheduled): Carried out by a trained member of staff. Training is available as a short course; it's not electrician-level.
Combined inspection and testing (with PAT tester): This is where most contractors come in. Required for higher-risk equipment or when the results need to feed into a formal assurance process.

Define which approach applies to each category of equipment in your procedure. A low-risk office environment might run visual inspections in-house and only contract out for the power tools stored in the plant room.

Step 5: Define the record-keeping process

Every test result needs to be recorded. This is a legal expectation under PUWER 1998, Regulation 5(2), which requires that "where any machinery has a maintenance log, the log is kept up to date."

In practice this means:

The register is updated after every testing session — not at the end of the month
Passed appliances get their next test date noted
Failed appliances have their removal from service recorded, along with the reason and any remedial action
The person who carried out the test is recorded (name, and company if a contractor)

Decide who is responsible for updating the register. If the testing is done by a contractor, they will typically provide a test report — your procedure should specify that this report is filed and the register updated within a set number of days.

Step 6: Set up a review trigger

A PAT testing procedure needs a schedule, not just a process. Build in a trigger that ensures testing happens:

Diarised dates in the calendar owner's diary and a backup calendar
Automated reminders if you're using a register that supports date-based alerts
A quarterly review of the register to identify upcoming due dates before they pass

For the schedule itself, use the PAT testing schedule guide as a framework for structuring what gets tested when across a full year.

What to do when the procedure identifies a failure

Your procedure should include a clear escalation path for failed appliances:

Remove from service immediately — unplug, label "Do Not Use — failed PAT test [date]"
Investigate: is the fault visible (cable damage, cracked plug) or only detected by testing (insulation failure)?
Decide: repair, replace, or dispose
If repaired, retest before returning to service
Record the outcome in the register

The procedure owner is responsible for ensuring this process runs to completion — not just that the fault is noted.

What a written procedure looks like in practice

A procedure doesn't need to be a formal document. A one-page summary covering the steps above, pinned to the inside of a cabinet door or stored on the shared drive, is often enough. It should cover:

Who owns PAT testing in this workplace
What equipment is in scope (with reference to the register)
When each category is tested (frequency table)
Who carries out testing (in-house vs contractor)
How results are recorded
What happens when something fails
When the procedure is reviewed (annually is standard)

The PAT Compliance Checker asks a set of questions that map directly onto these steps — run through it to identify gaps in your current setup before you commit your procedure to paper.

This guide is for workplaces in England, Scotland, and Wales. The legal framework is the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 (UK-wide) and PUWER 1998. For specific questions about compliance in your setting, the HSE website and the IET Code of Practice are the primary reference sources.