17th Edition

windies17 · Apr 2, 2016

Hi folks

need a wee bit of advice, I've been working as a sparks mate, on and off for a few years, I've decided to take the plunge and my 17th edition next month.

My question - A guy I worked with suggested doing PAT testing, I am not sure it would be worth my while. Any suggestions

Leesparkykent · Apr 2, 2016

windies17 said:
Hi folks

need a wee bit of advice, I've been working as a sparks mate, on and off for a few years, I've decided to take the plunge and my 17th edition next month.

My question - A guy I worked with suggested doing PAT testing, I am not sure it would be worth my while. Any suggestions

Not really...imo PAT is not worthwhile as there are firms out there that are willing to do it for pittance.

YoungScud · Apr 2, 2016

PAT testing was one of the courses I taught (I retired the other day from training a large DNO), but to be honest, apart from one marine research centre near Oban, all the courses I ran in recent years were for in-house electricians doing testing for their own businesses. I get the impression that most of the major contracts for PAT are dealt with by large companies who don't exactly pay top dollar to their guys. Inspection & testing, while tougher courses, seem to be better from the point of view of making a living. Of course, i haven't worked out there in the real world for many years, these are just impressions I get from guys that I've trained.

windies17 · Apr 2, 2016

Cheers for the reply. I asked my gaffer what he thought of me doing it and he said I was a complete numpty if I was considering it. I cant use foul languge but numpty == bellend

bf03yvd · Apr 2, 2016

Leesparkykent said:
Not really...imo PAT is not worthwhile as there are firms out there that are willing to do it for pittance.

How about doing it privately ??

telectrix · Apr 2, 2016

for pat testing, you need to be competent to do ti. lot of timeit's done by caretakers and hanymen. no need to pay out goodmoney just to get the paper. i did it years ago coz. the firm paid. otherwise save the moneyyou would have spent for beer.