A green pass label on an e-bike charger tells you the plug is wired correctly, the lead is sound and the case has not been damaged. It tells you nothing about the battery on the other end of the cable, and the battery is where the fire risk lives. This is the one area where standard PAT procedure, carried out properly and to the letter, genuinely does not address the hazard in front of it. It is worth being honest about that, because a pass label in the wrong place creates false confidence.
The volumes are no longer marginal. The Fire Protection Association recorded 432 UK fires involving e-bikes and e-scooters in 2025, a record. The Office for Product Safety and Standards received reports of 211 such fires in 2024, with close to half of them indoors, and because that reporting is voluntary the real figure is higher. QBE's freedom of information work across UK fire services put lithium-ion fires at over 1,300 in 2024, with e-bikes the single largest contributor. In November 2025 the National Fire Chiefs Council warned that safety standards have not kept pace with how widely these batteries are now used.
What a PAT test actually measures
In-service inspection and testing, as set out in the IET Code of Practice for the In-Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment, is built around a visual inspection followed by electrical tests where the inspection alone does not give enough confidence. The electrical tests are earth continuity on Class I equipment, insulation resistance or an equivalent leakage measurement, polarity and continuity on leads, and a functional check. Every one of those looks at the mains side of the equipment: the bit between the socket and the transformer.
Why testing a charger is a thin test in the first place
Most e-bike, e-scooter, power tool and mobility scooter chargers are Class II double insulated units with a low voltage output. There is no earth to test continuity on. Many manufacturers advise against applying a 500 V DC insulation resistance test to electronic switch mode power supplies, so a competent tester substitutes a touch current or leakage measurement, or relies on inspection. On a moulded plug charger with a captive lead, the honest description of what has happened is a careful visual inspection, a lead test and a load or leakage check. That is a reasonable process for the charger. It is not an assessment of the battery, and it was never designed to be.
What the test cannot see
A pass label on a charger does not tell you whether the battery has been dropped, crushed or driven over, and impact damage is one of the main triggers for thermal runaway weeks or months later. It does not tell you whether cells are swelling inside a sealed casing, whether the battery management system is still functioning or has been bypassed, or whether the cut-off that should stop charging at full capacity still works.
It also says nothing about provenance. Cheap replacement batteries and non-original chargers bought through online marketplaces are heavily represented in fire investigation findings, as are batteries that have been opened up and re-celled by a third party. A counterfeit charger with a convincing looking plug and a fake conformity mark will pass a lead test quite happily. Nor does the test flag a mismatch: the right connector on the wrong output voltage or current is an entirely mechanical fit and an electrically dangerous one.
Finally, standard testing intervals do not map onto battery behaviour. Reinspection periods are set by environment and equipment type, on the assumption that deterioration is gradual. A lithium battery can be perfectly healthy in March and a hazard in April because someone knocked a bike over in a car park.
The risk sits in the charging area, not the appliance
Once you accept that the battery cannot be certified by a handheld tester, the useful question changes. It stops being "has this been tested" and becomes "if this battery fails, what happens next". That is a question about location, separation and detection.
The pattern we see on site is consistent. E-bikes charging in a corridor that is also the only means of escape. A charging bench in a warehouse with cardboard stacked against it. Four chargers and a kettle on one four gang extension lead. Batteries left on charge overnight with nobody in the building. Damaged batteries stored in a cupboard next to good ones because nobody knows how to get rid of them. A mobility scooter charging in a residents' lounge in a care home. Cordless tool batteries on a DT department windowsill in full sun.
Where the legal duties sit
There is no single regulation headed "lithium batteries", but the duties already exist. Regulation 4(2) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 requires electrical systems to be maintained so as to prevent danger, and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 require work equipment to be suitable and maintained. Article 9 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, and if you have significant quantities of batteries charging on your premises and your assessment does not mention them, it is neither. For residential blocks, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 duties around common parts and escape routes are directly relevant to where tenants park and charge. Landlords also have to consider charging arrangements as a hazard under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System.
The Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 21 July 2025, gives government power to make specific rules for products including e-bikes and their batteries, and to place duties on online marketplaces. Secondary legislation is still to come. It will improve what gets sold. It will not retrospectively fix the batteries already sitting in your bike store.
Why insurers are asking
Insurers moved on this before the regulators did. QBE has publicly called for legislation on lithium-ion battery safety in personal e-transport. On renewal questionnaires we now regularly see specific questions about whether e-bikes, e-scooters or mobility scooters are present, where they are charged, whether charging is supervised, and whether charging areas are separated from the main building. Some policies carry conditions or endorsements: charge in a designated area only, not overnight, not on escape routes, or not inside the building at all.
If you cannot answer those questions with evidence, you are relying on the underwriter's goodwill. A dated written record of what is on site, where it charges and what controls are in place is a short document that answers most of the questionnaire directly, and it is far easier to produce before a renewal than after a claim.
What a charging-area survey covers
We offer this as an add-on to a normal testing visit, because we are already walking the building with a clipboard. It covers an inventory of battery powered equipment, chargers and spare batteries, with make, model and age. Battery and charger matching, including any aftermarket or re-celled batteries and any missing or suspect conformity markings. A close visual inspection of each battery for swelling, distortion, dents, corrosion, heat discolouration and damaged contacts, with anything doubtful taken out of use. Then the area itself: distance from combustibles and from escape routes, ventilation, surface it sits on, socket and extension lead loading, RCD protection, and whether detection in that space is appropriate given how a battery fire develops. We also look at your overnight charging policy, your quarantine and disposal route for damaged batteries, and whether staff know what to report and to whom. You get written findings you can drop straight into your fire risk assessment or send to your broker.
Who this tends to matter most to locally
Across Chesterfield, north east Derbyshire and the Peak District the recurring cases are employers with cycle to work schemes and no designated charging point, holiday lets and bunkhouses offering e-bike charging to guests, care and sheltered housing schemes with several mobility scooters, schools with device trolleys and cordless tool batteries, and warehouses running battery powered pallet trucks. HMO landlords have a specific version of the problem: tenants charging e-scooters in a shared hallway, which is both a fire risk and usually a breach of the tenancy.
We test the chargers to the Code of Practice because that part still matters, and it is part of our standard PAT testing work in Chesterfield and across Derbyshire. We just will not pretend the label covers the battery. Visits are priced by length, from £50 for up to an hour, £125 for a half day and £250 for a full day, and the charging survey normally fits inside a visit you were booking anyway. It is also a sensible addition alongside care home testing and school testing, where mobility scooters and device trolleys concentrate a lot of stored energy in a small number of rooms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does PAT testing cover e-bike and e-scooter batteries?
No. PAT testing, properly called in-service inspection and testing, assesses the mains side of equipment: the plug, the lead, the earthing on Class I items and insulation or leakage performance. It can confirm a charger is safe to plug in, but it cannot assess cell health, internal damage, swelling or whether the battery management system still works. Battery risk has to be managed through visual inspection, procurement controls and the fire risk assessment instead.
Can you PAT test a lithium battery charger?
Yes, and it is worth doing, but understand what it produces. Most chargers are Class II double insulated switch mode units, so there is no earth continuity test to perform, and many manufacturers advise against a 500 V DC insulation resistance test on their electronics, so a leakage or touch current measurement is used instead. In practice the value comes from the visual inspection and the lead test, which will pick up damaged cables, cracked casings and obvious counterfeits.
Do we legally have to do anything about e-bike charging at work?
There is no regulation specifically named for lithium batteries, but existing duties apply. Article 9 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, and if batteries are charged on your premises that assessment needs to address where, when and under what controls. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 also require equipment to be maintained so as to prevent danger.
Will our insurer ask about lithium-ion battery charging at renewal?
Increasingly, yes. Renewal questionnaires now commonly ask whether e-bikes, e-scooters or mobility scooters are present, where they are charged and stored, and whether charging happens overnight or unsupervised. Some policies carry conditions restricting charging to designated areas, prohibiting overnight charging or requiring charging outside the main building, so it is worth reading any endorsement carefully rather than assuming cover is unchanged.
Where should staff charge e-bikes and e-scooters at work?
The safest option is a designated area outside the main building or in a separate non-combustible store, on a hard surface, well ventilated, away from escape routes and clear of stored combustibles. Charging should be on a fixed socket rather than a daisy-chained extension lead, ideally with RCD protection and a way to isolate everything at the end of the day. Avoid unattended overnight charging, and make sure detection in that area is suitable given how quickly a battery fire develops.