Why furnished lets need it
For Bristol landlords, Portable Appliance Testing, or PAT testing, checks the safety of anything with a plug that you as the landlord supply with the property — kettles, toasters, microwaves, washing machines, fridges, lamps, TVs and the rest. Unlike an EICR, which covers the fixed wiring in the walls, PAT testing covers the moveable items you've furnished the property with, and it's these appliances that are statistically responsible for a large share of electrical fires and shocks in rented homes.
There's no single law in England that names PAT testing directly, but landlords have a general legal duty under the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations and the Landlord and Tenant Act to ensure electrical appliances they provide are safe. In practice, insurers increasingly expect evidence of regular PAT testing before paying out on an electrical fire claim, and it's the clearest, most defensible way to show you've met your duty of care if something ever goes wrong.
We test every portable appliance in the property using calibrated test equipment, checking earth continuity, insulation resistance and lead condition, then label each item with a pass date and issue a certificate listing everything tested. Anything that fails is flagged immediately so you can decide whether to repair or replace it before the property is re-let.
What's included
- Visual inspection of every plug, lead and casing
- Earth continuity & insulation resistance testing
- Pass/fail labelling on every item tested
- Full asset register & certificate for your records
- Can be combined with your EICR or void-property check
How often should furnished lets be tested?
There's no fixed legal interval, but annual testing between tenancies is standard good practice for most furnished lets, with kitchen appliances and anything heavily used by tenants worth checking more frequently. HMOs with shared kitchen equipment tend to need more frequent testing simply because appliances get more use across more tenants.
Pricing
PAT testing is priced per appliance, with a lower rate per item as the number tested increases, so a fully furnished HMO with a shared kitchen typically works out cheaper per item than a single flat. We'll give you a fixed total once we know roughly how many items need testing.
Frequently asked questions
Not by name, but landlords have a general duty to keep supplied appliances safe, and PAT testing is the standard way to evidence that duty.
We'll flag it clearly and advise whether it's repairable or should simply be replaced — most failures are a damaged lead or plug rather than the appliance itself.
No — PAT testing only applies to appliances the landlord supplies with the property, not anything tenants bring themselves.
Furnished let due a check?
Get every appliance tested and certified before the next tenant moves in.