Compliance & Testing · Service
PAT testing — done properly, with asset logs you can actually use.
In-service inspection and testing of portable and moveable electrical equipment for industrial, commercial and educational sites — with a full asset register and digital certificates.
What we do
The service in plain English.
Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) is the in-service inspection and testing of moveable electrical equipment — an activity required by the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 and best-practised to the IET Code of Practice (5th Edition). Lutrom carries out PAT testing across industrial sites, commercial estates and educational premises, with two important differences from the "man in a van with a ticker" version: we test to the correct combination of inspection and testing rather than blanket-testing everything on autopilot, and we hand over an actual digital asset register (searchable, filterable, exportable) rather than a shoebox of paper certificates. The IET Code of Practice makes clear that combined inspection and testing is only one part of the compliance picture — user checks and formal visual inspections carry equal weight — so our reports include recommended intervals for each of the three activities per environment, not a blanket "annual" retest. For multi-site portfolios we run a single account with consolidated reporting, scheduled retests and a live dashboard so head office can see compliance status across every site at once.
What's included
Every job covers the following.
- Combined inspection and test to IET Code of Practice, 5th Edition
- Formal visual inspection scoring and recorded observations
- Test failures rectified on the spot where safe and practical (plug rewires, fuse changes)
- Digital asset register — every item bar-coded and logged with results
- Digital certificate — issued same day, distributable straight to insurers or auditors
- Retest interval recommendations per environment (not a blanket annual)
- Multi-site rollout with consolidated reporting for portfolios
- Out-of-hours testing available for retail, education and hospitality sites
- Optional 'not-in-service' testing of stock or store-room items on request
Who it's for
Common on these sites.
Industry
Education & Schools
EICRs, fire alarm servicing and electrical works for schools, colleges and universities.
Industry
Retail & Commercial
Multi-site rolling maintenance and one-off installs for commercial estates.
Industry
Manufacturing & Production
Uptime, compliance and continuous improvement for production lines.
Industry
Sport & Leisure
Stadium electrical, LED floodlighting and back-of-house engineering.
Our approach
Survey. Quote. Deliver. Sign off.
01
Asset count & access
We ask for an approximate asset count and confirm access windows. Retail, education and hospitality sites usually want out-of-hours; industrial sites are usually inside working hours around a permit.
02
Test
Every item combined-inspected and — where the environment justifies it — combined-tested to IET Code of Practice. Failed items rectified on the spot if safe, or removed from service and labelled.
03
Report
Digital asset register uploaded same day. Each asset carries its result, retest interval and location. Insurers, auditors and head office can be given read-only access.
04
Retest scheduling
Retest dates can be recorded so future inspections are easier to plan.
How we price this work
No surprise invoices.
PAT testing is priced by asset count with a minimum callout fee for small sites. Multi-site portfolios attract volume pricing and are quoted per site with a single consolidated account. Failed items rectified on the spot (plug rewires, replacement fuses, replacement plugs) are included in the per-item price. Where an item requires more substantial repair (replacement flexes, PAT tags for fixed-location equipment) it's quoted separately.
Coverage
Where we deliver this service.
We deliver pat testing — done properly across the North West of England — from our Northwich base. Same-day dispatch for callouts and scheduled visits for planned work.
Service FAQ
What clients ask before they call.
How often does equipment actually need testing?
Not annually as a blanket rule — that's the most common mistake in the industry. The IET Code of Practice recommends intervals based on the environment: construction and hire equipment monthly to three-monthly, industrial four times as often as offices, offices and low-risk retail every two to four years. Our reports set a specific interval per asset per environment rather than a blanket annual retest.
What's the difference between PAT testing and formal visual inspection?
Formal visual inspection is a documented look at the plug, flex and casing without opening or testing. Combined inspection and testing includes electrical tests (insulation resistance, earth continuity, polarity). The IET Code of Practice recommends different balances of the two depending on the environment — for many office assets, more frequent formal visual inspection is more useful than annual combined testing.
Do you provide asset labels?
Yes — every item that passes gets a durable label with a unique ID, test date and retest date. Failed items get a red 'failed — do not use' label until they are repaired or removed. The unique ID links to the asset in our digital register.
Can you take over from our current PAT contractor?
Yes — very common. We take on the existing asset register (whatever format it's in) and rebuild it as our digital register on the first visit. Existing labels are honoured until first retest; from that point the site is on our labels.
Do you test 3-phase and hard-wired equipment?
3-phase portable equipment: yes, where it has a plug and can be moved. Hard-wired equipment isn't strictly PAT — it's covered under fixed-wire testing (EICR) rather than PAT. We're happy to test both under a single visit, and the reports flag which is which.
What about our stored spares that aren't in daily service?
Optional. In-service items are tested as a matter of course. Store-room items (spare kettles, spare cables, replacement laptops) can be tested on request as 'ready for service' items, so they can be issued without needing a test on the day of issue. It's quoted separately from the in-service testing.
Got a project, a survey or a compliance deadline?
Talk to a working engineer — not a call centre. Every enquiry gets a same-day human reply.
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