Get a PAT Test Certificate – everything you need
A PAT testing Certificate is an important document to keep in your company’s Health and Safety file; in fact it could be essential.
If there is an accident at your workplace, caused by a faulty electrical appliance, the investigators are going to want to see evidence that you have done everything you can to ensure that the appliance was safe.
A recent PAT test report, which shows that appliance was safe within a reasonable amount of time leading up to the accident, could be a valuable document, as it could just be your ‘get out of jail free’ card.
A PAT record is going to show that you did get the appliance checked to make sure that it was safe, and the check did show that the appliance was safe.
Having that document is going to give you evidence that you have done what was expected of you, to ensure the equipment was safe to use.
You can give yourself this peace of mind, by getting us, DRA PAT testing, in to inspect and test your electrical equipment to make sure it is safe to use, and to provide you with your very own PAT Test Certificate.
You can get a PAT test Certificate by contracting us to do your electrical equipment testing, to make sure appliances are safe to continue using. When we have done our checks and deemed the appliances to be satisfactory we will provide you with your Portable Appliance Testing Certificate.
Do you need a Portable Appliance Testing Certificate for your business?
Readers land on this page for different purposes. If you want to learn more about the certificates then read on but if you want to arrange to get your appliances safety tested so you can get a PAT test Certificate then get in touch with us to get a price or to make an appointment.
The Portable Appliance Testing Certificate
The Certificate must have your company name and address on it; that’s essential.
In order to comply with the Electricity at Work Regulations you need to ensure electrical equipment used at work are safe to use.
To do this in your business you need, either a competent person in-house who has been on a suitable training course to carry out regular checks of your electrical equipment, or the option preferred by most, is to get a specialist Portable Appliance Tester in from another company to do the job for you – that’s who we are.
What is a PAT test Certificate?
A PAT test Certificate is a document issued to you following completion of the PAT test.
It’s a record of what has been done. Records take all kinds of format from a hand written list to a fancy PDF document.
As a rule, there is a minimum requirement for the PAT Testing Certificate, which is, that every certificate must contain:
- The details of the site where the test has taken place
- A record of each appliance tested, and whether it passed or failed
- The date the test was done
- The details of the company or person that conducted the tests
This is an example of the PAT test Certificate we issue
This is an example of our PAT test Certificate records list
How to get a PAT Test Certificate
To meet the legal obligations for maintaining the type of equipment you have, whether they are low or high risk you will need to inspect and test your electrical equipment on a regular basis, which will get you a PAT testing certificate.
The PAT test certificate confirms you have had portable electrical appliances checked to make sure they are safe; the certificate acts as suitable records should you ever need them.
When we carry out inspections and testing of your electrical equipment, whether that is at home, work, etc we provide you with the PAT Testing Certificate. It is a document which provides confirmation that each appliance tested is safe to use; we list every appliance, showing what it is, what ID number it has been allocated and whether it is safe or not.
If an appliance is not safe we will guide you on what measures you need to take next.
- The certificate you receive will list all the appliances tested, and their unique ID numbers (that match the labels stuck to the appliances)
- The report includes the results obtained by the tests carried out – we check each appliance is not damaged, and test those that need it to make sure they’re within the required safety range.
- We also break down the report to locations at your site, for example, a list of appliances in the office, the meeting room, the kitchen etc.
- In addition to the list of appliances tested, we provide a report on any appliances that we can’t repair; which fail overall.
- We also provide you with an overview certificate document to keep in your records which will show the test date and your address.
We are very experienced, and the best at what we do, so we can assure you when we say your appliances are safe; they are.
Our PAT test Certificates have been scrutinised, and deemed acceptable, by Health and Safety professionals, fire officers, insurance investigators etc.
We also guide our clients on the most appropriate pat testing frequency for their equipment use, as knowing how often a PAT test is needed is good to know, because you can get it done too often, and that would be a waste of your money.
Portable appliance testing is carried out in almost every workplace in the United Kingdom, it has been getting done for many years and is very important for protecting business owners and equipment users alike, for differing reasons. A PAT test certificate confirms that a business owner has completed portable appliance testing, and serves as confirmation that the electrical appliances in the workplace, office, or home for that matter, are safe.
Portable appliance testing is carried out to reduce the chances of an accident occurring.
Although it is not a legal requirement to get portable electric appliances tested; it is a requirement to make sure they are safe to use, and as the only recognised method for checking an electrical appliance is safe is by a PAT tester it is essential you get it done.
We will provide you with your own PAT test Certificate after we have tested your appliances.
A portable appliance is any electrical appliance that can be unplugged from a socket; all electrical appliances with a plug fall under the scope of “portable appliance testing”.
Our engineers are competent to carry out testing of electrical equipment; portable, and fixed too. Fixed appliances are those that are connected to the mains via a fused spur rather than a socket. We are a team of experienced professionals, qualified and insured who conduct PAT testing daily in the North East of England.
Our PAT test certificates include all the information you need to be able to show you have taken necessary action to check your equipment is safe to continue using.
Contact us to get your PAT Test Certificate
Why is a PAT test Certificate from us better than one from others?
If you ever get investigated for an electrical equipment accident you’re going to need evidence that your equipment is safe. If you have a PAT test Certificate that just says “pass” and tells the reader not much else, then you’re going to be in a tricky spot, because as evidence goes, it’s not very helpful.
A record from us shows you the test results obtained when the appliance was checked. These results can be used to determine how safe an appliance was. An expert eye looking at them will be able to see they were really safe when last checked, and that, is going to help you.
You see, a record that just says “pass” doesn’t tell you anything. It’s well known that ‘cowboys’ cut corners, and one of the corners they often cut, is not actually doing the test at all, then saying an appliance passed PAT testing when it didn’t actual get tested; it just got looked at. Sometimes it doesn’t even get that!
If you need a PAT test Certificate; you need your equipment testing
Arranging to have your electrical equipment tested couldn’t be simpler; all you need to do is contact us to make the arrangements. You can book your PAT testing here or contact us to discuss your situation.
Check out our main page for PAT testing Certificates which provides further information about how this certification supports that a business is complying with the Electricity at Work Regulations.
What benefits do PAT testing Certificates offer?
In order to comply with work regulations electrical equipment must maintain safety standards; to prove this has been done most people get PAT testing done. The PAT test involves a formal visual inspection by a competent person, plus, if necessary a test carried out by a portable appliance tester manchine.
After it’s been done they are sent a PAT testing Certificate. The Certificate confirms PAT has been completed and equipment that has passed is safe.
However contrary to popular belief, the certificate is not a single document saying “this certificate confirms..” but is actually a record of all appliances tested and the results obtained.
The results obtained by the tests that took place are shown next to the appliance, these include; result of the visual inspection (arguably the most important part of the test), result of the earth test carried out on appliances that require an earth for safety, result of the insulation test which is carried out on all appliances with exposed metal parts, and the result of the Polarity test which is carried out on power cords that have an earth wire (e.g. extension and IEC leads). Other Tests may be carried out that we don’t show the results for, such as if a socket tester or voltage meter has been used.
The results are more beneficial if they show the electrical readings but that isn’t necessary and some don’t provide it; sometimes a simple pass or fail is sufficient providing you know what it means. We alway provide reports with readings, unless you tell us not to.
The results are broken down into locations at your site, for example, separating the main office from the meeting room, and from the kitchens.
When a PAT certificate is issued it confirms that the client for whom the equipment has been tested is complying with the regulations by having their appliances tested, to make sure they are safe.
The certificate is evidence that the responsible person is taking steps to ensure safety of users of equipment.
The PAT Testing Certificate must show the address where the testing took place, the name and address of the company that did the testing, the date of the test and it is recommended but not essential, that an expiry date be shown. After all the results of the test are only as good as the time they are done; the tester can’t guarantee the appliance will stay in that condition until X date.
The PAT testing certificate doesn’t show the list of appliances or their results, that is for the report; the certificate is an official document that provides proof that appliances have been tested so that business owners can confirm their compliance with the regulations.
If you want to know more about what PAT testing can do for you check out our blog on the best benefits of PAT testing.
If you receive a list of appliances with no readings on then you have no clear evidence of what has been done, and the report is not complete.
We provide every client with:
- the opportunity to check the engineers work and sign off the job sheet before he leaves
- a full report and certificate, emailed as a pdf, within 5 days of the job being done
- a record of your reports kept on our servers for as long as you are a client
- recommendations on what to do with failed appliances
- recommendations for PAT testing frequencies
- an automatic booking system, for future retests, provided to you with your PAT Report, and a reminder nearer the time
The report is sent to you as one pdf document attached to an email address.
Frequently asked questions about PAT Test Certificates
What is a PAT test Certificate?
A PAT test Certificate or Portable Appliance Testing PAT Report (depending on who you ask) is a document that is issued to business owners after their electrical equipment has undergone the practice of Portable Appliance Testing PAT, otherwise referred to as PAT testing. Portable Appliance Testing is a process conducted on electrical appliances used by businesses to ensure they are safe for continued use.
Although it is recommended that we call it PAT or Portable appliance Testing we in the industry prefer to call it Inspection and Testing, but no-one knows what that means, so we simply call it PAT testing. We try to refrain from the use of the word ‘portable’ as that causes confusion and doesn’t cover everything we do.
“Portable” refers to the appliance being portable from the mains, ie it can be unplugged. It has nothing to do with whether it can be moved. However, it is not just appliances with plugs that we have to test. We also test appliances with industrial adaptors, and appliances that are wired directly into the mains supply via a fused connection unit (or spur).
Put them all together and we are completing PAT testing, after which we issue you with a completed PAT test Certificate Report.
The PAT testing Certificate provides confirmation that the company or organisation in question, is complying with the regulations by having regular inspections carried out on their portable electrical equipment.
These regular checks look for damage and other risks that need repairing or fixing in order to make the appliance and or workplace safer.
What does a PAT test certificate look like?
A PAT testing company such as us has our own PAT testing certificate template that we use to provide our clients with the certificate they need to show evidence that they are complying with the UK health and safety regulations for electrical safety.
Our Certificate is a very thorough document, much like the electricians EICR document; it includes your information and ours as standard, details of the latest calibration of the test machine that was used on the job (that is an important part missed off a lot of Certificates), and includes itemised details of all the appliances that have been tested and have passed or failed.
Our report is broken down in to locations at your site, for example, if you are running a doctors surgery the report will show all the appliances in each room, e.g. all the equipment in the reception area, everything in the admin office, everything in each doctors room, and so on.
Each item tested is assigned its own unique ID number, of which it will be the only one ever with that number in our database, for reference later; that number displays in the report and you can cross-reference it to the appropriate appliance in the room.
Some PAT Certificates show an expiry date; this is actually not a recommended procedure but can be useful as a guide for how often testing should be carried out.
The certificate is a document; we call it the PAT Testing Certificate Report to minimise confusion; the report consists of:
- The front cover
- The generic guidance document
- The PAT testing Certificate
- The itemised PAT Testing detailed report
- The itemised Fails report
- Photographs of any major fails
How to get a PAT test Certificate
To get a PAT testing certificate you will need us to come to your place of work, or home, depending on what the equipment is used for, for us to inspect and test your electrical appliances to confirm they are safe. When we have done our inspections we will be able to provide you with a certificate. We don’t issue the certificate before leaving your site; that is done at our office and emailed to you as a pdf report.
We get a lot of calls from people who want a PAT testing certificate, but they expect us to just send them one. That’s not possible without having first tested the appliances the certificate is for, which is what do.
So we need to arrange to visit your home or workplace to test your electrical appliances after which we will provide you with an itemised report and overall certificate. It is actually the itemised report and any guidance we can give you for improving safety that is important, not the actual certificate (which doesn’t really do much if we’re honest).
PAT testing is a serious business – inspecting and testing electrical equipment to confirm it is safe is an essential part of any health and safety policy that shouldn’t be taken lightly. We can’t just give you a certificate; we need to actually test your equipment first.
There’s a couple of images below that show good examples of our PAT testing Certificate and a part of an itemised report.
How often do I need to renew the PAT Certificate?
How often PAT is done depends on the risk assessment; whether your workplace or equipment is low, medium or high risk, etc. It could be as often as every 3 months, or as little as every 5 years.
It depends on the appliance, it’s use, the environment it is used in and other factors. Carrying out a risk assessment or getting us to guide you is the best way to determine how long a PAT test certificate lasts.
Have a look at our PAT testing frequency page which goes into a lot more detail about this topic.
How much is a PAT Test Certificate?
A PAT test certificate is issued after PAT testing is carried out; pat testing costs as little as £1.00 per item; sometimes even less than that, but sometimes more. It depends very much on the job in hand, including variants like the location and the number of appliances that need testing.
Do you get a Certificate for PAT testing?
Yes… we issue a certificate as a PDF document to every client who we do PAT testing for, no matter whether you have only one appliance or tens of thousands.
How much is a house PAT test certificate?
When we do PAT testing in rental properties for landlords we tend to charge a fixed rate for the property, depending on its size and the amount of equipment we will be expected to test, and possibly repair. The best thing to do is contact us for a price, or check out our landlords pat testing page for more information.
Can I do my own PAT test Certificate?
If you have done a suitable PAT testing training course, have the knowledge, experience, and equipment there is no reason why you can’t test your own equipment and issue yourself a certificate, although we would question the ethics of doing so and surely you’d want an independent opinion.
Also, testing your own equipment is a costly business. You need to pay for training (and take time out to do it); buy PAT tester machines, labels, tools, have the time to actually do it, buy the software to produce just one certificate a year. All in you could spend anywhere from a thousand pounds upwards – will it really be worth it?
