Portable Appliance Testing for landlords of rental properties, HMO’s, Holiday Lets, Static Caravans, etc.
As a landlord or holiday-let owner, you’re responsible for ensuring all electrical appliances in your property are safe to use. At DRA PAT Testing, we make that process quick, affordable and stress-free.
We provide professional PAT testing for landlords, letting agents and holiday-let owners across Newcastle, North Tyneside and the North East, helping you stay compliant and protect your tenants and guests — with same-day certificates and flexible appointments that fit your schedule.
⚡ Why Landlords Need PAT Testing
If your property includes electrical items like kettles, TVs, toasters, heaters or lamps, they all need to be checked regularly for safety.
PAT testing helps you:
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✅ Meet legal safety obligations under landlord and HMO regulations
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✅ Provide proof of safety for insurance and letting agents
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✅ Protect your tenants or guests from electrical faults
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✅ Avoid costly downtime or complaints caused by faulty appliances
Whether you rent long-term, short-term, or run an Airbnb or serviced apartment, PAT testing is an essential part of keeping your property safe and compliant.
Top tip for Landlord’s PAT Testing
Plan ahead and get the PAT testing booked in when you are between tenants and guests. This is the best time to get appliances checked –
- There is no confusion whether appliances are yours or theirs
- We’re not disturbing anyone so we can take more time over the job, ensuring any needed repairs are carried out
- There’s no need to include the tenant or guest in the arranging of the appointment, making it much easier.
- If something fails, you have time to replace it.
🏖️ Perfect for Holiday Lets & Airbnbs
We work with hundreds of local hosts across Whitley Bay, Tynemouth, North Shields and Newcastle, providing fast, reliable PAT testing between guest stays.
Our engineers can test appliances such as:
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Kettles, toasters and microwaves
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TVs and entertainment systems
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Heaters, lamps and hairdryers
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Irons and cleaning equipment
You’ll receive your digital certificate the same day, ready to share with your insurance provider or platform.
🕒 Flexible Appointments for Busy Landlords
We understand that managing properties can be time-consuming — that’s why we make testing simple.
We’ll liaise directly with tenants or property managers, or arrange access with letting agents or keys so you don’t need to be there.
Early-morning, evening and weekend appointments are all available at no extra cost.
Testing is also conducted at a fixed price – no additional charges for extra items or repairs.
📋 What’s included
- Full visual inspection of every appliance
- Earth continuity, insulation and polarity testing
- Pass/Fail labelling for each item, with unique ID numbers
- Digital PDF report and compliant PAT testing certificate including electrical test results
- Free advice on any issues found
- Free minor repairs including replacement plugs and fuses
📍 Local PAT Testing You Can Rely On
We’re based in Newcastle upon Tyne and provide PAT testing throughout: North Tyneside, Whitley Bay, Tynemouth, North Shields, South Shields, Gateshead, Sunderland, Seaham and Durham, Washington, Chester Le Street, and surrounding areas.
We understand the needs of local businesses — reliable service, clear communication, and flexible timings that fit around your workday.
We charge sensible prices, give honest advice, can help you comply with the regulations and do repairs for free.
We can provide the full range of electrical safety inspections including fixed wiring inspections (EICR), fixed appliance testing and emergency lighting inspections.
💬 What our Clients Say
📞 Book your Landlord PAT testing Today
Protect your business, your staff, and your customers with professional PAT testing from Newcastle’s most trusted team.
Get in touch today for a free, no-obligation PAT Testing quote.
👉🏻 Call 0191 666 1009 or email [email protected]
DRA PAT Testing — keeping landlords and guests safe across the North East since 2009.
Further Information about Landlords PAT Testing
⚖️ What the Law Says and How we can help you be and stay compliant
While there isn’t a specific legal requirement named “PAT testing,” the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 and the Housing Act 2004 require landlords to ensure that all electrical appliances provided in a rental property are safe at the start of a tenancy and maintained throughout.
PAT testing is the easiest, most recognised way to prove you’ve done this.
We can help you get those Landlords Certificates in place:
PAT Testing: The PAT testing bit is what we do, we can come in to the property, whether you are there or not – either using key boxes, or dealing direct with the tenant to arrange access. If it’s a holiday let we can go in between guests.
Every appliance you provide needs testing so you have a record that they are safe to use. This includes white goods, cookers, Microwaves, lamps, TV’s, anything you provide that plugs in.
All we need to know is what appliances are yours – if the property is empty, that’s obvious, but if full of tenants equipment we need to know what we’re going to test. If something needs a repair, like a new plug we’ll sort that out. We provide you with an itemised PAT Testing Certificate Report, as a PDF document on completion. We can do all that at a fixed price, and if you book us to do more than one property, we’ll give you discount.
EICR: So the fixed wiring (wires in the walls) need testing every 5 years. We can arrange this for you. We work with some excellent electrical engineers, all with certification from NICEIC, NAPIT, etc.
🔎 What We Test:
We test all appliances you provide in the property, including but not limited to:
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Kettles, toasters, microwaves
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Fridges, freezers, washing machines
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Lamps, extension leads, chargers
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Televisions, heaters, and more
💷 Transparent Pricing
No hidden fees. No call-out charges.
From just £55 for up to 10 items — with discounts for multiple properties or portfolios.
Want an exact quote? [Click here for a free, no-obligation estimate] .
📋 What You’ll Receive:
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A full PDF report and appliance register
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Individual pass/fail labels on each item
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A certificate for your records or letting agent
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Expert advice on any issues found
🏠 Serving Landlords Across the North East
We work with independent landlords, letting agents, housing associations, and property managers across the North East. Whether it’s a student let, HMO, holiday cottage, or long-term rental, we’ve got you covered.
📞 Book Your Landlord PAT Test Today
Make safety simple. Book your test in minutes.
Contact us now to get started:
This complete guide to Electrical hazards in property is a really good read, and gives a neutral take on this, so you can read it without getting our perspective. This article shows the importance of electrical safety, and supports what we are saying. Whilst you may think we’re only saying what we are saying to get you to buy or service, this should show you that what we are saying is genuine.
Have you registered your appliances?
A great tip for helping to maintain safety is to register your appliances; when you have done this, if any appliance problem is flagged, a recall, or need for repair you will be notified by the manufacturer. Then appropriate action can be taken.
Some appliances have been known to catch fire due to a common fault – surely its better to be notified in advance, and have an engineer come out to fix it rather than waiting for it to burn down your house! We have witnessed this first hand; seeing the after effects of a dishwasher that caught fire, for a new client (came to us after the fire). When we checked, the ‘recall’ notice had been applied for 2 years, but as the appliance was not registered, the landlord didn’t know.
To register your appliances, even the ones you have had for years visit Register My Appliance.
When you buy new appliances, also complete the manufacturers registration information card or online, to be notified direct too.
You can also check to see if any of your appliances have been recalled via Electrical Safety First – here.
PAT testing for Landlords FAQs
If you own or manage property that you let to other people, whether its short term like Air B n B or a long term rental agreement, you need to make sure electrical equipment you provide is safe to use.
PAT testing, is a great was to keep your tenants safe, as it checks electrical appliances are safe.
Regular PAT Tests in your property will reduce the risk of electric shock to users, but also protect your property from electrical fires.
Contact us today to arrange your Landlords PAT testing.
Does a landlord need to do PAT testing?
To make sure electrical equipment is safe, a landlord, like any other business owner, needs to get the electrical appliances provided as part of the tenancy agreement, tested, to make sure they are safe.
They need testing before the tenancy begins, and then should be rechecked at regular intervals throughout the term of the tenancy – it is usual for these checks to be done annually.
Regular PATs will help to reduce the chances of a damaged appliance not being spotted, and thus reduce the risk of fires or electric shock.
This page is intended to provide guidance to Landlords who rent out property that includes electrical appliances. If you know what you need to do and want to arrange your PAT testing, please contact us here.
Do I need to PAT test my tenant’s equipment?
As the landlord you only need to test the equipment you provide, as you have a duty of care to your tenant.
You do not have to test your tenants equipment, but for peace of mind for your own insurance etc you may want to make sure the tenant is using genuine appliances, and correctly.
We come across a lot of situations where the appliances the tenant has don’t meet British Standards. For example, foreign students often bring their 2-pin laptop leads and then use the wrong adaptor or plug straight into our sockets, which can be very dangerous.
How often do I need to get equipment tested?
It depends on the circumstances; you should always get equipment tested at the start of a tenancy before the tenant moves in. Then you need to get equipment checked again, ideally by the same person, within an acceptable time period to minimise risk. In most cases this is done annually, but if you change tenant sooner you’ll need to get a new test done then.
If you find the tenant becomes long term, you may be able to increase the intervals between tests, if the risk allows.
I have an HMO, do I need to get equipment tested for that?
Yes; the same rules apply.
However, some councils have specific rules on HMO’s which may regulate how often you get appliances checked.
Do you charge more for HMO PAT Testing?
Arranging HMO PAT testing is no different to any other rental property, unless you supply equipment in bedrooms. In normal rentals its usually only communal appliances that are provided but in an HMO there are sometimes things like wall mounted televisions. If that is you then we’re going to need access to every room.
What it costs for HMO PAT testing depends on how many appliances are needed, if they are in bedrooms and what the access situation is.
Do we do PAT and EICR?
Yes, we can manage both your fixed wiring and appliance inspections.
Is PAT testing a legal requirement for landlords?
The Housing Act 2004 (England and Wales) includes the requirement for a risk assessment for residential rental properties. This requires an assessment of all potential hazards that may be present in a residential property, and ‘to provide a safe and healthy environment for any potential occupiers or visitors’. From an electrical perspective this includes the electrical installation and equipment provided in the property. The condition of associated leads and plugs of equipment should also be taken into account in the assessment, if they are provided as part of the rental property.
Guidance from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) indicates that when accommodation is re-let, the electrical equipment will be classed as being supplied to that tenant for the first time and should therefore be rechecked.
So, before the start of each new let of a residential property the electrical equipment supplied with it (e.g., fridge, washing machine, kettle, TV, etc.) should be PAT tested.
The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 require electrical equipment to be safe when first supplied, e.g. it should carry a genuine “CE” mark. This means it satisfies European safety requirements and so when new, will be safe to use.
These regulations also apply if equipment is supplied as part of a hire agreement, sold second hand and if supplied in the course of business, thus including the safety of electrical equipment that is supplied as part of furnished accommodation (treated as hired/leased).
The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 is important for companies that hire or supply equipment as part of a contract for good and services. Within a hire agreement, goods supplied under the contract must be electrically safe for use.
Newcastle City Council says it is a legal requirement that Newcastle Landlords have a property license; the compliance guidance for licensing (March 2020) stipulates that:
All electrical appliances are tested on an annual basis and at the commencement of each tenancy.
A Portable Appliance Test (PAT) Certificate should be provided to verify this.
The licence holder must ensure that all portable electrical appliances i.e. those items supplied by a plug e.g. kettles, toasters, washing machines, fridges etc provided by the landlord are in a safe condition.
Read the Property Licensing guide to compliance here
The guidance also requires the landlord to provide satisfactory periodic inspection reports for the electrical installation of the property for the license application; the “EICR” should be repeated every 5 years.
For further, impartial advice find information for Landlords on the Landlord Zone website
DRA PAT Testing provides portable appliance testing for landlords, letting agents and holiday lets across Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Gateshead and the surrounding North East region.