We get asked on a regular basis by landlords all the time – do I need to provide PAT testing at my rental property? Unfortunately there is no straight yes or no answer; the answer is going to vary depending on the circumstances, and the following article is going to help dispel some myths.
Firstly, outside of boring stuff like laws, acts and regulations; if you answer yes to any of the following, then tough luck. These are going to MAKE you do PAT testing at your property.
- Do you let through a lettings agent that says you must perform PAT testing?
- Does your landlord’s insurance specify that you must perform PAT testing?
- Is your rental property in a selective licensing area that specifies that you must perform PAT testing?
- Is your rental property in Scotland?
If the answer is yes to any of the above – don’t bother reading any further. Go and book a PAT tester!
If the answer is no, or you’re not sure, we’re going to help you with a bit more information so you can make your mind up.
If you’re not sure about any of those 4 questions, there’s only 1 way to find out; ask them!
Lettings agents & PAT testing
Lettings agents can be a little ruthless. They will often try to lead you into having work done by one of their preferred contractors to which they’ll resell to you at an inflated margin. Even if they say it must be done, shop around. If you’re the type of landlord who doesn’t care and is happy to pay the price and leave them to it for minimal aggro, I doubt you’d be reading this page anyway.
Insurance companies
Insurance policies are generally a little less black and white. You’ll see terms such as ‘all reasonable precautions’ and things like that. So if you see those dreaded words, deliberately leading you into the murky underpass of legal jargon, what is a reasonable precaution? Well, that depends on what you’re trying to argue.
In the event of a tenant getting an electric shock from an appliance, is it going to be a possible to argue that undertaking PAT testing wasn’t a reasonable precaution? Or in the event of a house fire that is later found to have been caused by an electrical appliance? They do happen. Humans underestimate the risk of bad things happening to us; because we don’t like to think of bad things happening to us. (Check out optimism bias on Wiki if you don’t believe me)
Selective licensing
You may not have heard of this one and it will depend on whether this applies to an area that you rent property in or not. To put it in simple terms, the government has given local authorities the power to force landlords to hold a license to be able to rent out their private rental property. The idea was to squeeze out rouge landlords and get housing stock up to standard. 84% of tenants are satisfied with their accommodation so in hindsight the rouge 16% of landlords are probably still rouge, and the decent ones are now paying extra fees for the privilege.
But it does mean there are some paperwork hoops to jump through; councils want to see EPCs & gas certificates, with some insisting on PAT testing; others recommending it as best practice. They might throw some ambiguity in like this little beaut from East Staffs Borough Council:
Electrical appliances and furniture supplied by the landlord must be kept in safe condition
How do you provide evidence of them being safe? Regular PAT testing combined with visual checks by the landlord on inspection days & a method that the tenant can use to make the landlord/agent aware of any issues with those appliances. Either that or don’t provide any!
Joking aside, that’s easier said than done. Even hard-wired appliances, such as ovens, extractor fans, boilers (even gas boilers have 230v pumps and controls) and showers are appliances. They will require testing. Any ‘PAT tester’ that claims they don’t, doesn’t know what they’re talking about. The most recent Code of Practice even provides a safe isolation procedure for testing these items.
Additional/Mandatory Licensing
Additional or Mandatory Licensing is similar in its nature to selective licensing, in that it lays out a list of rules that landlords must comply with to be able to rent out their property. Mostly, these categories cover HMOs (House in Multiple Occupancy) where 3 or more people form 2 or more households under the same roof, usually sharing some communal facilities, such as kitchens, bathrooms & WCs, utility areas etc.
These may specify PAT testing explicitly, or use language similar to that of the selective licensing, where they don’t mention PAT testing (or it’s proper name of In Service Inspection & Testing of Electrical Equipment) but they may allude to electrical equipment being kept in a ‘safe condition’.
North of the Border & PAT testing
If you’re any further north than Berwick Upon Tweed then I’ve got good news and bad news for you. Good news is, it’s nice and simple as the Scottish Government have made it black & white as to whether you need to do it or not; under The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 PAT testing is a legal requirement. Bad news is, it is a legal requirement.
If your property is in England or Wales, there is no legal requirement for PAT testing, however the points that we’ve discussed above may make it mandatory or a ‘best practice’ choice for you to decide upon.
Them lot in Westminster (and Cardiff) & PAT testing
Remember what I’ve just said, about you being able to make an informed choice now that you have all the information, almost as if you’re a fully grown-up adult with your own brain you can use? Well, you can’t really. Unless you’re in Wales. For now.
With the introduction of the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rental Sector (England) Regulations 2020, all private rental properties must have an EICR (electrical installation condition report) carried out, and have any remedial works completed to get it into a ‘satisfactory’ condition by a suitably qualified electrician. (A similar law is due to come into force in July 2022 in Wales).
This tests everything from your consumer unit (fuseboard), parts of the incoming supply, sockets, switches, spurs, lighting points and all the wiring in between. While this doesn’t cover portable appliances, in the guidance notes published on the gov.uk website, they’ve decided to put a paragraph in there recommending that you do it.
Why only a recommendation? Probably so that they can dodge the bullet on the age old question; how long do I need between PAT tests? A generally accepted rule of thumb is around 2 years on portable, 4 years on stationary/fixed, or at change of tenancy. In practice, most contractors will have a minimum invoice amount that they charge so it may be worthwhile for piece of mind over-testing by doing everything at 2 year frequencies for no extra cost.
I still don’t think I’ll bother. Is there anything else to consider about PAT testing?
Check the smallprint on your buy to let mortgage or your consent to let agreement; that house is still the bank’s until you’ve paid it off remember. I doubt they want you to burn it down just yet.
