PAT Logbook

Guides / Retest interval records

THE PAT LOGBOOK FIELD NOTES · PLAN THE NEXT VISIT

PAT retest dates: record the reason for the interval

Keep the evidence and the decision alongside the next inspection or test date. A date copied from last year's report tells the next person very little about why it was chosen.

PAT Logbook Editorial · Published:
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A PAT Logbook field guide. PAT Logbook supports agreed retest intervals and a Due list for upcoming and overdue retests. Keep a short decision note with your maintenance records so the date has a reason the duty-holder can review.

Annual PAT testing is not a universal legal interval

HSE's PAT FAQs explain that the Electricity at Work Regulations require equipment that could cause injury to be maintained in a safe condition. They do not impose annual appliance testing. Suitable inspection and testing frequencies depend on the equipment and its environment.

The IET's explanation of its fifth-edition Code of Practice places that decision with the duty-holder, using knowledge of the equipment and workplace. Its risk factors include use, users, environment, construction and previous maintenance records. The IET's current public catalogue still lists the fifth edition; the explanation itself dates from March 2021.

A software suggestion, an old label or a familiar booking cycle is a starting point to check against that assessment. This guide helps you record the decision; it does not choose a safe interval for a particular appliance.

Make the decision traceable

  1. Identify the equipment covered. Record the client, site and appliance IDs or a clearly defined group. Describe where and how the equipment is used. Keep different conditions visible when deciding whether a group can share a maintenance plan.
  2. Gather the evidence. Bring together previous inspection and test results, repairs, reported damage and relevant manufacturer instructions. Note missing history rather than treating a blank record as evidence that nothing went wrong.
  3. Record the activity and its reason. Distinguish user checks, formal visual inspection and combined inspection and testing. Write down the chosen interval or review date for each applicable activity and the assessment or document supporting it.
  4. Name the decision owner. Record who agreed the maintenance plan, when, and any advice they relied on. If you are the visiting tester, make a recommendation and the duty-holder's decision distinguishable in the handover.
  5. Say what would prompt an earlier review. Examples include reported damage, repeated faults, a change of use or a move to a different environment. Give the person managing the register a clear route for raising those changes.

These are suggested administrative fields. HSE describes records as a useful management tool; it does not prescribe this form or make PAT records a general legal requirement.

A decision record to keep with the register

Use this blank editorial worksheet alongside the duty-holder's assessment. Complete it using the actual assessment; leave interval selection to the responsible duty-holder.

RecordComplete for this decision
ScopeClient, site, appliance IDs or defined group, location and use.
Evidence reviewedPrevious results, faults and repairs; manufacturer guidance; assessment reference and any missing information.
Activity and timingWhich check, inspection or test; chosen interval or review date; reason for that choice.
DecisionDuty-holder or responsible decision owner, date agreed and advice used.
Review trigger and actionWhat change needs review, who receives it and how the outcome will reach the register.

Keep a reference to the supporting assessment where the full reasoning is stored elsewhere. Update the decision note when the plan changes and retain the previous basis with the relevant visit records.

Use the Due list to organise work

Once the plan is agreed, check that the interval entered in PAT Logbook matches it. The current App Store listing describes editable HSE-derived starting suggestions and a Due list. A starting suggestion still needs review for the actual equipment and use.

Keep the assessment or decision note with your records and refer to it during the next visit. This page does not claim PAT Logbook has a dedicated risk-assessment form or automatically selects the right interval.

When handing over, distinguish the completed visit's results, outstanding actions and planned future work. The certificate and failed-item checklist helps with that handover; consistent appliance IDs keep the supporting history attached to the right equipment.

Check the reason before entering the next date

For your next PAT Logbook job, confirm the agreed interval, keep its supporting decision note and check the Due list against the plan. Keep user checks and fault reporting active between visits.

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Sources and scope

Sources checked . This is record-management advice for workplace equipment, not an electrical test procedure or fixed-installation EICR guide.