How much does a PAT test cost in 2026? Per-item and minimum fees
In short: In 2026 PAT testing usually costs £1 to £3 per appliance, with most firms charging a minimum or call-out fee of £50 to £90 that covers the first 20 to 30 items. A small office of 20 to 50 appliances runs £60 to £120; on larger sites the per-item rate falls as the count rises. There is no legal fixed interval; testing frequency is risk-based under the IET Code of Practice.
Key points
- Budget £1 to £3 per appliance, with a £50 to £90 minimum visit fee.
- A small office (20 to 50 items) is roughly £60 to £120.
- There is no legal fixed interval; frequency is risk-based under the IET Code of Practice.
- The legal duty sits in the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989: keep equipment safe.
- A competent person can test; it does not have to be a qualified electrician.
PAT testing is priced in a way that confuses people, because the headline number and the bill rarely match. Quotes of "a pound an item" are real, and so are minimum charges that make a five-appliance job cost the same as a thirty-appliance one. Both are honest once you see how the work is costed.
Typical prices in 2026
| Job | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Small office or shop, up to 30 items | £50 to £90 (often a minimum fee) |
| 20 to 50 appliances | £60 to £120 |
| 50 to 100 appliances | £1.50 to £2.50 per item |
| Larger sites, 100+ items | £1 to £1.50 per item, priced on volume |
London and the South East sit at the top of each band. The per-item rate falls as the count rises, because the travel and setup are fixed and only the testing scales.
Why there is a minimum fee
The cost of turning up is the same whether there are five appliances or fifty: the van, the travel, the calibrated tester, and the time to label every item and write the register. A pure per-item price on a tiny job would not cover the visit, so most testers set a minimum that absorbs the first 20 to 30 items. If you only have a handful of appliances, you are paying for the visit, not the testing, and combining it with other work is the way to make it worthwhile.
What the engineer actually does
For each appliance: a visual inspection of the plug, lead and casing, then the electrical tests appropriate to its class. A Class I appliance (earthed metal casing) gets an earth continuity test and an insulation resistance test. A Class II appliance (double insulated, the square-in-a-square symbol) gets an insulation test only. Each item is labelled with a pass or fail and a date, and the results go on a register that the responsible person keeps. Our note on certificate and register software covers keeping that record somewhere you can produce it when an insurer or auditor asks.
The law, and the myth of the annual test
There is no regulation that says "PAT test every year". The duty is in the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989: electrical equipment must be maintained so as to prevent danger. The IET Code of Practice translates that into a risk-based system, where the testing interval depends on the equipment and where it is used. A 110V tool on a construction site is checked far more often than a kettle in a quiet office. Anyone selling a legal requirement to test annually is selling a convenient simplification, not the law.
Who needs it
- Employers, for equipment used at work, as part of maintaining it safely
- Landlords, for appliances they supply, explicitly in Scotland and as good evidence everywhere
- Event organisers and venues, often as a condition of hire or licence
- Holiday lets and HMOs, where supplied appliances and turnover raise the risk
For the engineer pricing the work
The margin on PAT testing is in volume and routing, not in the per-item rate. Price a realistic minimum that covers the visit, fall to a volume rate above it, and produce the register the same day rather than that evening. A register that lands clean and on time, with retest dates the customer can plan around, is what turns a one-off office job into an annual booking, the same logic that runs underneath every safety certificate a tradesperson issues.
Common questions
How much does PAT testing cost per item?
Typically £1 to £3 per appliance in 2026, falling toward the lower end on larger sites where the count justifies a volume rate. Most jobs also carry a minimum or call-out fee, so very small jobs are priced on the minimum, not the per-item rate.
Is PAT testing a legal requirement?
There is no law that says PAT test, and no fixed annual rule. The duty comes from the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, which require electrical equipment to be maintained to prevent danger. The IET Code of Practice sets out a risk-based approach to how that is achieved and how often.
How often should appliances be PAT tested?
It depends on the equipment and the environment, assessed under the IET Code of Practice. A drill on a building site is checked far more often than a desktop computer in an office. Annual is a common default for many workplaces, but it is a risk decision, not a legal interval.
Can I do my own PAT testing?
A competent person can carry it out; competent means trained to use the tester and to interpret the results, not necessarily a qualified electrician. Many businesses bring in a specialist because the competence, the calibrated tester and the record-keeping are easier to buy than to build.
Do landlords need PAT testing?
In England there is no blanket legal duty to PAT test a rental, but landlords must keep supplied electrical appliances safe, and in Scotland the duty is explicit under the repairing standard. Where a landlord provides appliances, a record of testing is the simplest evidence they met that duty.
SparkCerts runs the whole job for a UK sparky: quote it, fill the certificate in on site with readings checked as you type, and the invoice goes out with the cert attached. Three jobs free, then £12 a month.
Try it on your next job