This is not an easy answer, but to keep it short – appliances should be tested as often as is necessary to maintain safety; how often is that? That is dependent on an assessment of the risk.

Most people, companies, authorities, insurers etc consider annual testing to be the best policy, and it’s generally accepted that if you get tested annually that, that is ok, assuming the equipment or use is not high risk.

There used to be discussions over all kinds of different frequencies, but these just confuse people, especially these days with such high turnover of equipment.

In general, power tools and similar on a building site should be tested every 3 months, in a normal workplace every 6-12 months is sufficient. Most workplaces like shops, cafe’s, property, general businesses every 12 months is common. In an office with fixed equipment such as monitors on arms, PC’s with cables in trunking etc, assuming it’s well maintained, this could be extended to 2 or even 3 years.

But whatever period you choose don’t just pick a number out of thin air, do a proper risk assessment or speak to us – we have the experience to recommended sensible options.

We have a page dedicated to PAT Testing Frequency.