Thread: PAT Testing - Charges!

I take on board what you say about the morals of the tester, thats true, whatever price they charge. But sorry it just doesnt work out - 79p - quality job? I beg to differ. If you operate a "national" service from Northwich, how do you evaluate your quality then? and do you charge for travel on top? Do your engineers get to a workstation of 6 people, log them all off, check all the length of cable, do a proper test, open every plug, find every extension lead (which might be buried under someones shoes, as well as under a desk leg), then put it all back - properly - for 79p. and earn a good days wage? I dont think so. what about a pub. Do they check all the cable, get the drinks fridges out (which are full of drinks), check the pump room, find all the cable etc et etc for 79P???If you are a one man band working in local area only, then maybe just maybe. how many tests have I done where I am taking out someones 13amp fuse from a fan, pulling out failures that others have passed, and just testing where no one else has bothered, sorry I find it all rather hard to believe. how many visuals in that 250 per day??? etc etc etc. Read Jason Slater Technology blog PAT Testing | Jason Slater Technology Blog | Featured
and theres much more where that came from!!

If however you are a tester with morals then all the best - maybe I am doing something wrong!!!!

I'm struggling to see how 79p / appliance is a viable price as it's not only the testing of it and the test equipment to do it, it's the documentation and reporting after the testing that has to be factored in as well. I wonder what the labour / overhead split is on 79p!. No wonder you see so many unhappy PAT testers as they would need a rocket up somewhere to consistantly do 250 tests / day and make a decent hourly rate.

Assuming an 8 Hr day and 250 tests thats an average of one test in just under two minutes throughout the day

How in just less than two minutes do you test / check / document each appliance and factor in the cost of reporting and more importantly invoicing

Originally Posted by pattester

I take on board what you say about the morals of the tester, thats true, whatever price they charge. But sorry it just doesnt work out - 79p - quality job? I beg to differ. If you operate a "national" service from Northwich, how do you evaluate your quality then? and do you charge for travel on top? Do your engineers get to a workstation of 6 people, log them all off, check all the length of cable, do a proper test, open every plug, find every extension lead (which might be buried under someones shoes, as well as under a desk leg), then put it all back - properly - for 79p. and earn a good days wage? I dont think so. what about a pub. Do they check all the cable, get the drinks fridges out (which are full of drinks), check the pump room, find all the cable etc et etc for 79P???If you are a one man band working in local area only, then maybe just maybe. how many tests have I done where I am taking out someones 13amp fuse from a fan, pulling out failures that others have passed, and just testing where no one else has bothered, sorry I find it all rather hard to believe. how many visuals in that 250 per day??? etc etc etc. Read Jason Slater Technology blog PAT Testing | Jason Slater Technology Blog | Featured
and theres much more where that came from!!

If however you are a tester with morals then all the best - maybe I am doing something wrong!!!!

I run a PAT company and 79p a test is possible (although very, very tough) when opening every plug, checking every internal terminal, etc, etc. At this price, it is also possible to change fuses to correct rating, change plug tops and IEC lead and rewire for plug tops at no extra charge. It IS very close to the bone BUT if you use your head and scource your replacement leads and plugs carefully and ethically you will get them for free, the only cost you have is the fuse replacement itself and the time taken to rewire. If you do an efficient job in an office environment and are testing 10,000 + items on one site with 4 engineers why is it not possible to do it for 79p? If a proper job is done and your service is excellent then you keep the client and, in subsequent years there will be very few faults or replacements. There are many, many companies that do just about stick labels on appliances and these companies are pushing the boudaries of price below 60p. The main problem when the test price keeps falling is paying staff at a level where thorough, honest and dilligent people still want to work in this industry. At some point, these cowboys always get found out and will eventually go out of business. Reputation in business is everything! Just to fill you all in, I have been testing and managing contracts (up to the level of 240,000 tests for one company with 400 sites) for 11 years and have seen most of the things a PAT engineer and manager could see. My company is CHAS and SAFEcontractor accredited and have got our ECA inspection on the 24th April. I have also posted on Jason Slater recently.

Originally Posted by UNG

I'm struggling to see how 79p / appliance is a viable price as it's not only the testing of it and the test equipment to do it, it's the documentation and reporting after the testing that has to be factored in as well. I wonder what the labour / overhead split is on 79p!. No wonder you see so many unhappy PAT testers as they would need a rocket up somewhere to consistantly do 250 tests / day and make a decent hourly rate.

Assuming an 8 Hr day and 250 tests thats an average of one test in just under two minutes throughout the day

How in just less than two minutes do you test / check / document each appliance and factor in the cost of reporting and more importantly invoicing

Automation is the key. Sequentially numbered, barcoded labels and the use of short codes for appliance descriptions example; 91 = power lead, 911 extension lead, etc. Upon download of the tester, these short codes are translated to text. Become an environmentally friendly, paperless company and submit all reports electronically in pdf, excel or other format. Invoice electronically. Prepare a template invoice with excel formula embedded and it is just a case of putting address of company, test number total and test price. Hey presto it is done. If clients accept only pdf electronic invoices then use a free online converter - simple.
RE testing, simple time management helps hugely. Whilst the machine is running the tests on one lead, be doing the visual inspection on another, etc, etc. I an office environment it is simple to find a testing sequence that will maximise test to time ratio.
Find my contact details at Omega PAT - Portable Appliance Testing and I will be happy to help if I can

Originally Posted by mogga

whilst in a large supermarket cafe for breakie (after a 4am start) I was asked to check the supply as one of the fridges was off fault found 1no 13a plug left out by "PAT tester" result £700 of ruined food loads of unhappy punters and 1 veryskint and embarrased Pat tester when he turned up to start at nine same guy then was asked to leave by Gen Manager of store when he didnt cordinate with checkout super he said Im on piece work cant afford to hang around

A cardinal sin. As part of a PAT, it is required that a functional test is undertaken. One should also have a routine that involves powering up items such as PC's and then checking that mouse and keyboard are still connected - removing power leads for a test/inspection may dislodge them! People do make mistakes but, as you say, leaving a fridge unplugged is a very expensive mistake!!

£2 per app, assuming it's worth the while.