The great pat testing scam

[gazj82]

I personally tell people they will definitely find someone cheaper than me right from the off, it will be my usual hourly rate, take it or leave it. I don't do a per item price, BUT I will change fuses, repair what can be repaired etc as I go along. Most go with this, they don't want a stack of failed stuff at the end of the day.

I can do between 50 and 80 items a day depending on what's being tested. If someone is doing 300 they ain't doing them properly! I doubt my tester could do 300 in 8hrs if it was testing continuously!

 

[ryan1988]

I work with a company and we get a lot of PAT contracts, what I see from some company's is a joke and laughable . Was finishing a large site the other day that has taken a month to complete and was told I'm not as fast as thr guys they had last year. But they asked what I was doing when I was opening plugs, checking terminations fuse ratings etc as the others so called "engineers" didn't do that at all.
I found old appliances that had been tested by this other firm for the past 3 years with the cardboard on the plug from a new purchase... never taken off, uninsulated pinned plugs not changed and just passed etc, it was pardon the pun shocking at the standard I was seeing.

The H&S contact was in shock when I went to him at the end of the job saying, well me and my colleagues have finished....... We have changed 456 fuses to the correct rating, done 100 plug changes and 120 plug refits.....and failed 45 items..... he couldn't believe it as the other company had passed everything every year without any problem..

The thing is PAT testing isn't the most complex work in the world so there are so many cowboys out that just go around and sticker everything and don't even test properly......making a joke out of the people who do it properly and take it as a serious job/ contract

 

[Geordie Spark]

Here ye gan Ryan ...... Just for you!! >>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFCoaNjZqUM

 

[ryan1988]

Im a PAT tester and these comments are just what the trade needs.All too often i get to site and iam immediatly accused of having the "easiest job in the world","money for old rope" or "do you just put stickers on them?"
I work for a large company with many big contracts and we pride ourselves in doing the job properly,i earn just above minimum wage doing the job and believe pay is also a factor in the lowering of quality.we cant compete with the 50p firms.It would be a big help if the customer had a better insight in to what a good tester does and the reasons why,alot of places i visit just let me get on with it and sign my jobsheet when i say im done without checking a single appliance or shadowing me whilst im at work.Im sure most firms have it done just for insurance purposes.
I really like my Job and chose to do it.For me a PAT tester should be qualified to atleast city&guilds 2377,be registered with a governing body and have an on-site assessment.the rule about competent person is far to vague and has given licence to any employee to carry out tests.
firms are not going to pay £2 per item to a fully qualifed and experianced PAT engineer when "John"the part time caretaker can do it for nothing.
every post i see regarding PAT testing is negative due to poor customer experiances from incapable testing firms.

8

I also work for a firm that gets a lot of large PAT contracts, and we take PAT testing as serious and professinally as EICR and PIR work. Every time I go on a PAT job I'm instantly thought also of having the easy job of the day etc. Our company also carry out quality checks on myself and fellow employees. They go to random jobs you have done and check the quality of the work and give a fully quality assessment. I have seen one of the supervisors go ballistic because someone who was employed didn't carry out a fully visual of the cable of 10m extension reel, he told this other emplpyee to the job properly or not at all.

It does annoy me when I meet people who say all PAT testers are cowboys when a lot of them do the job properly and professionally well the ones I have worked with anyway.

 

[Risteard]

uninsulated pinned plugs not changed and just passed

Whilst such plugs may not be reused, existing ones do not need to be taken out of service. See the Code of Practice.

 

[ryan1988]

Whilst such plugs may not be reused, existing ones do not need to be taken out of service. See the Code of Practice.

I stand corrected

 

[kenuk]

Whilst such plugs may not be reused, existing ones do not need to be taken out of service. See the Code of Practice.

Indeed, but if you care about customer safety surely they really should be - I could not sleep at night knowing I left a known risk.

 

[Rocky1964]

I can sleep at night knowing I've not hurt (or potentially hurt anyone) through my actions!
I believe these guys are under enormous pressure to achieve targets but it could be their kids in another school using kit with stickers on (which is what's being done!)