There is no criteria for producing reports in the IEE Code of Practice 3rd edition; the reports formats and content will vary, depending upon the requirements of the management team in managing and reviewing the inspection and testing of electrical equipment. There are however recommended model forms which indicate the information to be recorded - IEE C of P section VI pages 113 through to 121.
An easy solution is to employ a commercial PAT Testing software package such as SimplyPats or Seaward PATGuard Pro or Elite, all which will provide a range of standard reports for you to use in managing the testing and planning the retesting of your appliances. Although the IEE C of P does not give guidance on reports it does emphasise the need to record results for inspection and audit.
On page 38 section 8.3 of the IEE CoP it states that;
"Although there is no requirement in the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 to keep records of equipment and of inspections and tests, the HSE Memorandum of Guidance on these regulations advises that records of maintenance including tests should be kept throughout the working life of the equipment. These records are a useful management tool for reviewing the frequency of inspection and testing and without such records duty holders cannot be certain that the inspection and testing have actually been carried out".
"These records may be retained on paper or in electronic memory providing reasonable precautions are taken with respect to security".
