PAT TESTING full time

[john h owen]

Does anyone/can anyone do Pat Testing full time and what are the pitfalls?

 

[Short Circuit]

John, There are companies doing PAT Testing alone, and certainly many people doing it as a full time occupation. Personally i think it is a hard thing to make a decent living from ( like most other things these days). The biggest down side to PAT testing for me is the competition from people who do courses and class themselves as competent without any experiance then go around offering to test things for 70p, and just throwing a roll of stickers around a room - i cant see how anyone can make a living against people like that! It is bad enough doing it for £1.50 an item. To me, the tester should have anm electrical background to have a good sound understanding of the epuipment and the readings obtained!
I do some, but look at on it as another string to my bow, and it gives another service i can offer to my customers in the commercial areas.

The main pitfall is the competition over pricing!

 

[Adam W]

I suppose you could, but the pitfalls outweigh the benefits:

It's boring,
It's a thankless task - you have to unplug every item to test it, which causes disruption which people see as 'health and safety gone mad',
Companies are doing it as a loss leader to gain regular customers for other things, so you would have to compete on price either also at a loss or try to cut costs some other way,
PAT testing is based on legislation and box ticking rather than a service people actually want - a small change in legislation and/or consumer habits and you could find yourself out of business and/or out of a job,
There aren't many electrical companies that can't/won't do PAT testing, every domestic installer does a PAT course, and there are plenty of specialist companies doing it already, so it's very much a saturated market,
To offer testing of fixed appliances wired in to FCUs you would need to be competent to isolate and disconnect them, which would involve further training costs and make it even less competitive.
Did I mention it's really boring?

 

[jimmymac]

Hi Adam, i have a question for you.....do you find PAT testing boring??

 

[Adam W]

Yes, exceedingly. Can you tell?

 

[jimmymac]

There were mild references in your post...lol

 

[oldtimer]

It depends what your nature is some guys actually like doing the same thing as they are not stretched and there is no hassle although you will find most of the sparks do it like me as a loss leader or extra service to the business. Also there is guys who this is their sole trade and job and they are happy because it got them out of a hole with the job they had before and now they are their own boss but as been mentioned it is a tough old game with the 70p test. So if you are going to do it it will cost you about £750-£800 for a tester a cop a C&G course and labels as that is what it cost me but it wont make me a millionare so far I just want it to pay for itself in the first year and so far I have made £200

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Boring........thats an understatement, it aint much more interesting to teach either, although the new exam seems a lot more difficult to pass, without any electrical know how.

Cheers..............Howard

 

[irn-brue]

if you enjoy watching paint dry you may enjoy this as a full time career. its extremely monotonous and is hard to make a good living out of it.

 

[telectrix]

pat testing is about the only thing worse than chasing walls.

 

[mackers]

PITFALLS ,,after 1/2 a day i would have hung myself with the flex from the nearest toaster!!!!!!!!!!!
on the plus side you could make a good living testing 1000 units a day!

 

[shellyanne]

I do PAT Testing full time after being made redundant, have 14 years experience but was lucky enough to buy the eqipment cheap as business closing. I can now do it the way I want so I can go home at night knowing I have made a difference. It is time consuming and boring but I now have a great collection of customers that I go back year on year. I dont test everything yearly only higher risk items and have followed some really bad companies where once I ended up changing 36 plugs as they were not BS/kite marked standard or even the fuse. Many companies out there say they do over 300 tests a day, impossible if you are doing it right. I think my price is about right for the sites I do but i cannot compete with ones doing it for less than 90p they cant be doing it right. I dont make alot of money but it covers what I was earning before and keeps me busy some weeks only 3 days some 5 days if varies. My main job is to make sure I feel I have left the site in a safer way. Sorry if this sounds strange but I enjoy going back to my sites every year and its better than not working at all.

 

[Sparky Ninja]

I do PAT Testing full time after being made redundant, have 14 years experience but was lucky enough to buy the eqipment cheap as business closing. I can now do it the way I want so I can go home at night knowing I have made a difference. It is time consuming and boring but I now have a great collection of customers that I go back year on year. I dont test everything yearly only higher risk items and have followed some really bad companies where once I ended up changing 36 plugs as they were not BS/kite marked standard or even the fuse. Many companies out there say they do over 300 tests a day, impossible if you are doing it right. I think my price is about right for the sites I do but i cannot compete with ones doing it for less than 90p they cant be doing it right. I dont make alot of money but it covers what I was earning before and keeps me busy some weeks only 3 days some 5 days if varies. My main job is to make sure I feel I have left the site in a safer way. Sorry if this sounds strange but I enjoy going back to my sites every year and its better than not working at all.

If what you are saying is true, then you are a rare breed.

 

[oldtimer]

There is nothing wrong with excelling and taking pride in what you do plus if you enjoy it then there is a bonus I think a lot of us get too hung up at times I am like a lot of sparks I don't like doing PAT testing but have now realized that it is a good addition to my business so I have had to change my approach to it where before it was a drag to get into it now I have to be positive and say well I am getting paid for this and that's better than sitting doing nothing. The only thing that discourages me is the state the PAT industry is in with regards to the just plug it in and push the button mentality and the fact they have brought out a new COP yet nothing is any clearer