Odd request anybody else had this

oldtimer · Aug 31, 2012

Got an email today enquiring about getting their sons electrical equipment PAT tested for his hall of residents apparently the university want documentation for this .

I have never heard of this s is this new or maybe I just have not come across this

alarm man · Aug 31, 2012

ive seen it in schools we work at where all equipment we bring on site must have a pat sticker on it before we can use it on site,so sounds plausable.

happyhippy68 · Aug 31, 2012

If you follow the letter of the law any electrical item that is accessible by members of the public (I.E Other students) in a communal area of a halls of residence then the landlord (University) has a legal duty of care to ensure that appliance is safe to use and a Portable appliance test and inspection by a person who is trained to assess its safety is evidence of this. Some universities and businesses make it a condition of use to test all equipment brought into their facilities.

oldtimer · Aug 31, 2012

Yep and I understand that with the university send their spark in for a day to blitz all the students equipment but to put this onus on to the student and say you get it done and show us the docs is an extra cost to mum and dad

Strima · Aug 31, 2012

Very common to have items PAT tested, the MOD has been doing it for years in single accommodation. As pointed out, duty of care and insurance come into it.

If the university require it then they should provide it free of charge IMHO.

happyhippy68 · Aug 31, 2012

oldtimer said:
Yep and I understand that with the university send their spark in for a day to blitz all the students equipment but to put this onus on to the student and say you get it done and show us the docs is an extra cost to mum and dad

That was the way they used to run it, but now they do not want the legal responsibility and liability attached with doing the testing. If you test it and supply a certificate I bet there will be a clause in the Halls of residence tenancy agreement about maintaining electrical equipment and limited liability to the university. I would shoot all the layers IMHO

grantr37 · Sep 8, 2012

I had that back in 1999 when I was a student and moved into Student Halls of Residence for the first time, there was a part of the Tennancy agreement that said- no Electric blankets, no deep fat fryers, no Lava lamps, no candles, inflatable chairs/sofas forbidden due to fire risk (I don't think they manufacture those anymore, used to sell them in high street shops for about £20 and students bought them for extra seats at parties.....does anybody here remember them? they were see through plastic) there was a part saying that all televisions brought in had to be authorised by the Halls manager by showing a TV licence (not many students bothered back then as it was beer ££ but I think its a lot stricter now on that subject) and the agreement had "all electrical items brought into Halls must have a portable appliance safety label attached otherwise the University Janitor/spark would be testing on this and that date....
I remember it was a nice old building and there was also a notice about no Hairdryers in rooms as it was an old world war 2 era wiring system and was only rated at 6 Amps.....2 girls on my floor managed to trip the breakers one Friday night with 2 hairdryers on the go at one time resulting in no lights or power on the whole floor until the next afternoon, as the distribution board cupboard was locked by the janitor, who was home by then...I was there to see the look on their faces when the front desk staff turned up with torches....(I gave them a couple of glowsticks and had a chuckle)

I remember one of the students made a fortune out of setting up Ethernet cards for the other students to get onto the internet via the University network which had just been installed in the building with new points in all the rooms(320 rooms+ more at other Halls across town) back when wi-fi didn't exist and people were less clued up....he charged them £80 a time for a £15 ethernet PCM slot card....

With the Student Halls its their insurance that wants PAT testing due to fire and shock risk.....most students will give it the middle finger :rockon: