pat

[Belle427]

what are the requirements to be able to carry out pat tests,as a qualified electrician i would like to branch out into this area but am unsure of the regulations,anyone recently carried out any courses to gain the correct paperwork etc...

 

[andy]

you could do a PAT course?

 

[Adam_151]

you do realise its dead boring? right?

 

[Belle427]

yeah its only a small amount but its all money at the end of the day,i just wondered if you had to have the course and certificates under your belt before doing it to ensure compliance

 

[JohnD]

Doing the PAT testing and reporting is extremely simple, you'd be hard pressed to use up a whole day in the training. You'll need to buy the testgear and keep it up to date. It should be a straightforward thing to bring in a bit of extra work, and if you give a good service you ought to get the same customers coming back every year (I used to do it at the theatre, on a rolling basis - no need to do every appliance at the same time. You need to keep a register of appliances on site matched up to dates, results and stickr numbers. Don't trust the customer not to lose his register, keep a copy.

Being compertent to carry out the rectification of faults is obviously a different matter.

 

[Steve]

our company use their security branch to do PAT testing. Sunwin Security - same ppl that do cash in transit, service alarms, service CCTV, change safe codes. they do it all! good idea, keeping it all in house though.

alternative reply: who's pat?

 

[crystal ball]

I think competence is the criteria, buy a copy of the IEE code of practice, that gives all the info. Be careful when buying a tester, I have a Robin smartpat5500, and find it awkward to use as is the software

It is a boring job but I prefer it to heaving wardrobes about and crawling round in the loft

 

[Spark123]

If buying a tester I would recommend one which stores the test results, PAT testing in itself is a bore, manually recording the results is even worse. Personally, I have access to an AVO pat4dvf which imo is pretty streight forward. Competence wise, I don't think you can go far wrong with C&G2377, although it is worth checking with your insurance company first to make sure.

 

[crystal ball]

At my previous place of work the contractor who did the PAT used a manual tester and hand wrote the results, must have been 3000 bits of kit to test, also he used to test microwaves by cooking instant mash in them fora few minutes and taking the temperature