Portable Appliance Testing (PAT)

The local authorities require certain businesses to carry out an In Service Inspection and Test (or Portable Appliance Test) (PAT) to comply with Health and Safety regulations

An annual Portable Appliance Test is carried out on all electrical appliances used in connection with the business, which have a plug top and are plugged into an electrical socket. Some appliances are genuinely portable like kettles, toasters, hair dryers etc but some appliances are fixed like refrigerators and large photocopiers etc but they still come into the category of portable appliance for the purpose of the Portable Appliance Test..

A sticker is put onto the appliance to show either that it has passed or been rejected, the person who did the test and the date it was tested