Fixed Appliance Testing

Fixed Appliance Testing

Why you need Fixed Appliance Testing

Is your business controlling its electrical risks or is there more you could be doing?  Fixed Appliance Testing is an aspect of electrical testing which is frequently neglected by business owners and landlords but it is just as important as PAT Testing.  We take it for granted that the fixed appliances we use constantly, such as storage heaters, cookers and hand dryers will be fine but, they may not have been installed correctly, or as with any electrical item which undergoes regular use, they may have been damaged due to wear and tear.  Therefore, the importance of regular electrical testing of your rented or company’s electrical equipment cannot be emphasised enough from both a Health & Safety and liability perspective.  Let us pause for a moment to take a look at the pictures below.  Without a Fixed Appliance Test, would you have known that the cooker was dangerous in the picture beneath?  Would you have known that there was a real risk of fire due to a loose connection in the cooker outlet, not to mention the damaged cable?

Faulty fixed appliances can be fatal and the majority of them do not get tested.  Around a thousand work-related electrical accidents are reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) each year and about 30 people die of their injuries.  ACtest is actively raising the profile of Fixed Appliance Testing because it is not discussed widely enough.  Ensuring that you have a systematic programme of inspecting and testing to check both portable and fixed appliances greatly minimises the risk of injury and fires as there is a higher chance of spotting faults and rectifying them.

What is a fixed appliance?

A fixed appliance is an electrical appliance which is usually connected to the electricity supply via a fused outlet to which the flex is permanently connected.  Fixed appliance examples are: storage heaters, hand dryers, hob units, ovens, cookers, machine tools.  Below are examples of fixed appliances:

Fixed Appliance Testing for hand dryers

Fixed Appliance Testing for storage heaters

Fixed Appliance Testing for cookers

Do you supply or rent out any electrical appliances?

You have probably heard this repeated before but all employers, organisations and landlords have a duty to meet numerous Health and Safety requirements and one of the ways in which this can be done is by choosing ACtest to help you!  Our Fixed Appliance Testing service can include a full, visual and combined inspection and electrical safety test (from the electrical outlet to the appliance) including all cable and control units as well as labelling and a certificate of testing.  Under the current Fixed Appliance Testing regulations, we can certify each fixed appliance from one to five years depending on the equipment type, installation and environment.

Our Fixed Appliance Testing guarantees

  • Experienced Fixed Appliance Testing engineers, fully qualified City & Guilds 2377 or above to ensure expertise
  • DBS-vetted Fixed Appliance Testing engineers
  • Full range of tests performed as recommended by the IEE Code of Practice (The Institute of Electrical Engineers).  The IEE Code of Practice is basically the Inspection and Testing Bible in the electrical world and is worth a read, especially if you are directly involved in Health & Safety.
  • All reports include certification and detailed itemisation which can be issued electronically or hard-copy bound and posted (we will also keep a back-up for six years for FREE!)
  • We are SAFEcontractor accredited and a registered member of The NICEIC and the Government Standard Trustmark. The NICEIC is one of the five regulatory bodies in the UK.
  • All our Fixed Appliance Test engineers are smartly turned out in ACtest uniform and strive to work in harmony with our clients!

If you would like a Fixed Appliance Testing quotation, please click on the ‘quote request’ button at the top of this page or, alternatively, 0203 5815729 to speak to one of the team.

We also carry out Electrical Installation Condition Reports (formerly known as Periodic Inspection Reports/Fixed Wiring Report) which is a detailed report on the fixed wiring of an installation.