Which PAT tester

[jumpjamesjump]

There's a lot of different PAT testing machines out there from £300 to close to £3000, I'm not going planning to do a lot of PAT testing but I think it is a good service to be able to offer, any reccommendations for any particular reason?

thank you very much

 

[Risteard]

If I didn't have a downloadable tester then there's no way that I'd offer the service. I use a Megger PAT450.

 

[pc1966]

The cheapest are often "PAT checkers" that only offer pass/fail, a good choice for non-skilled staff to do internal testing after a brief course, but no good for anything unusual.

In my last job we had the Seaward Primetest 100 which our technician used to PAT test all of our equipment. It is basically a manual tester, but that was for internal compliance and not as a service and the main time-consuming aspect then was getting the opportunity to take stuff off-line to test it. The PAT database in this case was a manually updated spread sheet, again not that efficient but it doubled up as an asset register as we always had new stuff tested before it was put in to use.

As @Risteard said if you are doing this as a professional service you need to make it fast and easy for yourself, so automated recording, etc, and matching labels printing would be essential.

As with all things, there are lots of cowboy operators that offer dirt-cheap PAT testing "service" that is not worth even the low price as they don't do a proper job (mostly they don't inspect for damage or check the right fuse is fitted, and often they seem to have monkeys that don't even test properly).

So if selling your time you need to be sure you can compete on quality and have a convincing case that will make folk realise it is worth getting it done correctly. That might go well as an extra to offer clients who are already happy with your work.

 

[jumpjamesjump]

The cheapest are often "PAT checkers" that only offer pass/fail, a good choice for non-skilled staff to do internal testing after a brief course, but no good for anything unusual.

In my last job we had the Seaward Primetest 100 which our technician used to PAT test all of our equipment. It is basically a manual tester, but that was for internal compliance and not as a service and the main time-consuming aspect then was getting the opportunity to take stuff off-line to test it. The PAT database in this case was a manually updated spread sheet, again not that efficient but it doubled up as an asset register as we always had new stuff tested before it was put in to use.

As @Risteard said if you are doing this as a professional service you need to make it fast and easy for yourself, so automated recording, etc, and matching labels printing would be essential.

As with all things, there are lots of cowboy operators that offer dirt-cheap PAT testing "service" that is not worth even the low price as they don't do a proper job (mostly they don't inspect for damage or check the right fuse is fitted, and often they seem to have monkeys that don't even test properly).

So if selling your time you need to be sure you can compete on quality and have a convincing case that will make folk realise it is worth getting it done correctly. That might go well as an extra to offer clients who are already happy with your work.

Thank you for such a detailed reply. Yes I am very much just want to offer thoroughly carried out PAT testing to current clients for example who I already do annual gas inspections in HMOs for.

If you don’t mind what kind of price range do you offer, how long do you roughly take per an item to do a thorough job are there any items that catch you out time wise like microwaves? What’s your best sales line when peope start talking about 67p an item?

much appreciated

 

[pc1966]

I don't do that professionally to have an answer, but hopefully other here might be able to help (even by PM if they don't want to discuss prices openly).

If it were me looking at this market, the first thing would be to ask my clients how much skilled time would they expect to get for 67p?

Then I would include a description of what is needed to competently PAT test something:

• Locate each item to be tested
• Make sure it can be removed for testing (e.g. switching off or moving things)
• Perform an inspection for signs of physical or thermal damage
• Check the correct fuse is fitted
• Perform a measurement to verify insulation and protective conductor continuity
• Record the test (important for any future insurance claims)
• Print and affix a pass label, or remove from service if unsafe
• Restore item to its intended location

Some clients will only chose on price, for them you should walk away if you can. Others will pay what they see as a fair price for something useful. For them you can explain what is important for safety and how it will reduce the risk of injury or damage to their property, as well as reducing any conflict with insurers under worst case situation, if it can be shown it was done professionally.

If you do commercial work many will pay extra for you working around their business hours so they have the least interrpution (so out of hours, waiting around for folk changing shift so machines can be switched off for a few minutes to test, etc). For that you need to discuss it with them and let them know you can be flexible for a fair price.
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Just to add you will probable find the occasional IEC kettle lead, or laptop clover-leaf lead fails, so having a few in your van so you can swap and charge for as needed might be worth discussing. Same for badly fitted 13A plugs, incorrect fuses, etc.

Having fuses and plugs to allow repairs might differentiate you from test monkeys as you are also qualified to repair, etc, so less outage and disappointment for the clients when the inevitable fault/risk is uncovered.

But essential you have an agreed cost and approval to do that with the client. Some will just want the stickers, others will want things put right on the spot where practical.