pat testing

[davidre]

hello
whats the demand like for residential pat testing for rentals? although not legal requirement for domestic sector is pat testing a yearly legal requirement for commercial premises ie offices etc? thanks

 

[timtheenchanter]

PAT testing is not a legal requirement at all, it is merely a good way of showing due care with respect to the electrical equipment.

I cant see the market being that big for residential rental, I have been in a few rented houses, and the most I got was a washer and fridge, 2 items...

also PAT is not done yearly, it depends much more on what the equipment is, its location and likly use...

also PAT is very difficult to make a living at (and extremely boring) most people doing a proper job either make very little at it or arepriced out of the market by companies offering a "sticker service" at next to nothing.

I would suggest looking itnto the regs a bit more thoroughly on this.

 

[ricicle]

PATesting

 

[ericmark]

With the sticker service offered by some companies the only way money is made with PAT testing is as a loss leader to get other work which makes money.

However so many items can't be tested using the PAT testing machine. Frost free freezers, Washing Machines, Dish washers all have some timers which mean you need to open it up in some way to test. Since every make is different and to open up to test will normally invalidate any guarantee these items can only be covered with a maintenance contract.

Normally the client wants you as tester to do everything including the record keeping and it is hard to price a job when because of warranty considerations you have to pay appointed people selected by the manufactures to do so much of the work.

The only other option is to cheat. And if your going to cheat then why even bother buying a PAT testing machine may as well just buy the role of ready printed PASS labels?

Remember the phrase is "Inspection and testing of in service electrical equipment" not PAT testing and this includes ALL equipment not just the easy to test stuff. Hand dryers are a real pain to test. The same applies to immersion heaters, and central heating parts. They are not tested when the fixed wiring is tested they still come under "Inspection and testing of in service electrical equipment" it is equipment not part of installation. So welding sets, pressure washers, even the pond pump still come under "Inspection and testing of in service electrical equipment" ask oneself have you got the equipment and skill to do ALL testing? If not forget it.

 

[maguire]

Although I agree with the comments made as to the omnitest and the like outfits etc who test for peanuts 50P an item in some cases, there is still an earning to be had if done right I charge £1.85 per item fixed or plug in I however repair/replace damages plugs,cords outlets etc where needed at no extra charge. things like immersion heaters, panel heaters, IE fixed wire items are no real hassle if you use a flying lead and conductor clamp block, as far as washing machines fridges, and dryers are concerned a whole load of horse manure is talked about how hard these are to test, ok ther are a few things going on with them so whats wrong with testing them in turn as long as you understand what resitances you can expect alter the meter settings accordingly I mean a bog standard pass/ fail tester would fail your immerser because the resisitve load of the element is greater than the testers set parameter, that said however not every one has the patience or the inclination to apply thenselfs
DM