Is PAT testing worth it?

[Chris]

Hi all,

I currently work for a company but looking to go self employed in a couple years (When ive got a mortgage!) and someone has just asked me if i do pat testing, i said no as i dont have the pat tester but it got me thinking.

How lucrative is it?
Is it worth the investment in the pat tester?
and whats the going rate per item these days?

Thanks

 

[Pete999]

PAT test is the same as MOT test.

MOT is Ministry Of Transport Test PAT Testng is Portable Appliance Testing Testing

 

[DPG]

MOT is Ministry Of Transport Test PAT Testng is Portable Appliance Testing Testing

I think he means that the test just proves the item is OK at the time that it is tested, like the MOT. It may still go wrong afterwards even though the sticker still says it's good.

 

[Pete999]

I think he means that the test just proves the item is OK at the point it is tested.

OK then if that's the case apologies DPG

 

[DPG]

OK then if that's the case apologies DPG

I might just be putting words into his mouth of course.

 

[Pete999]

I might just be putting words into his mouth of course.

True very True.

 

[Boing89]

Having spent time as an Asset Manager at my place of work, as well as other things, the maim thing that would be, in my opinion a must, will be an Equipment Register (ER), whereby all your electrical equipment covered by the CoP of ISITEE.
It is my belief that if you're serious about maintain your equipment, and don't have a ER, then if you get someone to do the testing on your behalf, the first port of call would be to get them to produce one, a ball busting job I agree, but a necessary one, will be costly to produce, but necessary in order to test and keep records, just testing what you can lay your hands on is a pointless exercise, but remember it is down to the Duty Holder of your equipment that is responsible for record keeping, and deciding the frequency of testing, people may rubbish this statement, my advice to them is read the CoP.

A decent tester will create an equipment register for you. I know the last Seaward one I used came with software to do so. You could also download the last set of tests for an area onto it. This meant it remembered what was required (even prompting if it was just a visual inspection) saving time and boredom. In theory all you should have to do is ask the responsible person if they’d bought anything new or got rid of anything.

 

[Deleted member 26818]

If I were to seriously consider taking up PAT testing, I would want stickers that could be printed.
Even then, I could see it being soul destroying.

 

[Boing89]

If I were to seriously consider taking up PAT testing, I would want stickers that could be printed.
Even then, I could see it being soul destroying.

That Seaward one I mentioned did that as well.

 

[Deleted member 26818]

That Seaward one I mentioned did that as well.

Destroyed souls?

 

[Boing89]

Destroyed souls?

Oh most definitely.

 

[freddo]

Older appliances are often easier to test.

 

[DPG]

Lovely bit of kit! Looks like it's had a few repairs

 

[freddo]

My grandmother has one of the same model. Though that has its grille and last year I put a nice new butyl rubber flex and plug on it.

 

[ackbarthestar]

I did a PATest yesterday and charged the customer £12.50 per item At those prices I quite enjoy PAtesting.
or if you like COPISITEE.
Ok so it was only 2 items that needed emergency checking.....

 

[chrisdungan]

If you're going to do it properly on a large scale you'll need a fully automated PAT tester like a full spec Megger which prints tags and creates a downloadable file for the customer.
You have to look professional and charge a decent fee. You're up against The wombat test outfits who do it for F**k all.
You then have to decide if the cost of the test instrument is worth the rate of return and if you can make a decent living out of it. Your call but I looked at it a few year ago and went yeah nah