PAT testing: 2,900 searches a month, the law that does not say what people think it says, and the page that prices it per item

"PAT testing near me" is searched about 2,900 times a month in the UK, and most of the people typing it believe something that is not true: that the law requires every appliance to be tested every year. It does not. The Health and Safety Executive's own guidance says there is no legal requirement for annual testing; the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require electrical equipment that could cause injury to be maintained in a safe condition, and the frequency of inspection and testing depends on the type of equipment and where it is used. That gap between what people believe and what the law says is the whole opportunity. The page that wins the search is the one that tells the office manager the truth in its first paragraph, then prices the job per item so they can book it in a minute, because every competitor's page says "contact us for a quote" and repeats the myth.

Who is searching, and what they are really asking

Four buyers, one search, and almost every one of them has been told by somebody that it is an annual legal duty. A page that corrects that calmly, and then explains what sensible frequency looks like for their equipment, is the page they trust with the booking.

What the page says about the law

Say what HSE says and link to it. There is no legal requirement for annual PAT testing. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require equipment to be maintained so as to prevent danger; they do not say how or how often. HSE's position is that the frequency depends on the equipment and the environment: a power tool on a building site needs more attention than a desk lamp in an office. The IET's Code of Practice, which is what competent testers work to, no longer even calls it PAT; it is in-service inspection and testing of electrical equipment, and much of it is a visual check by a trained person rather than a meter on every plug. Say that too. It costs you nothing, it is true, and it is the sentence that makes the office manager believe the rest of the page.

Open your own PAT page and look for the words "legal requirement" or "annual". If they are there without HSE's qualification, the page is repeating the myth, and the buyer who checks GOV.UK or HSE before booking will notice.

The page, in the order the buyer reads it

1. The honest first paragraph: no legal annual requirement, what the regulations do require, how frequency is decided, and that you will advise on it.
2. The price per item, with the minimum call-out, and what is included: the label, the register, the certificate, minor repairs such as a fuse or a plug.
3. How the day works: how long per item, whether work can carry on, what you need access to, how the register is delivered.
4. The buyers, each in a short section: offices, landlords, schools and care homes, events and traders, because each is its own search and its own question.
5. The qualifications: the course and the body, the calibration certificate for the tester, your insurance, the register you are on if you are an electrician as well.
6. The towns you cover and the lead time, and the form that asks for the approximate number of items and the type of premises, which is all you need to quote.

The register and the certificate: what the buyer files

The office manager is not buying a test; they are buying a document that satisfies an auditor, an insurer or a head teacher. Say what they get: a register listing every item with its number, location, result and next-inspection date, in a form they can open without you; a certificate for the file; a label on each item with the date. Show a sample register on the page, with the business name removed, because the buyer who can see the document stops asking what they will receive.

Say also what happens to a failed item: labelled, removed from use, reported on the register with the fault, and repaired or replaced by agreement. A page that says this reads as a tester who has done it in a real office, and that is the whole difference between the two quotes the buyer has open.

Why the per-item price wins

The office manager has forty items and a budget line. A page that says a price per item and a minimum charge lets them book without a phone call; a page that says "contact us for a competitive quote" sends them to the one that did not. The price does not have to be the lowest; it has to be there. Publish the bands if the price varies by quantity, and say what is included, because the next competitor's price excludes the register.

What to expect

PAT pages are a thin field and an honest page with a price usually shows for the town searches within weeks. The contract buyers, schools and care homes, come more slowly and through the register and the references; the page's job for them is to exist and to be credible. Watch two things: impressions for queries with "PAT" in them, and bookings that arrive from the form with an item count already filled in, which is the page doing the quoting for you.