Portable device or PAT testing is an electrical test performed on "mobile" objects such as kettles, microwaves, vacuum cleaners, table lamps, toasters and coffee machines, and many electricians will tell you that they must be done before the tenants enter a property.
Portable device testing and the law
Legally, this is not true. There is no law stipulating that PAT checks for tenants must be carried out, which the government has recently clarified.
What the law states is that all electrical equipment in a rental property must be safe to use and that it is the landlord's responsibility to ensure this before the tenants move in and, also, during rental also.
Most experts, including those from the Electrical Safety Council, recommend that homeowners visually inspect all of the electrical devices provided on each leased property to verify that the cables are not worn or that the plugs are damaged. It is also recommended that any new item bears the kite mark "CE", which is the manufacturer's claim that it meets all European safety laws.
Whether you then decide to have all PAT checked is a matter of choice, not of law. But most experts agree that, if homeowners want peace of mind, the £ 50-100 it will cost to hire a qualified electrician to perform PAT checks is worth it.
A visual examination is the most important factor, but if an item short-circuits and then catches fire, be able to prove that it had been PAT checked recently (every two years for small items and four years for the bigger ones) would help things.
More importantly, PAT checks can signal potential problems before tenants move in, but don't just rely on them - they shouldn't be done instead of a visual check, but rather as a backup.More info
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