Pat Testing Yay Or Nay

[BlueFlashAsh]

Hi guys im thinking or getting a PAT tester. if you have read any of my previous post you'll know im new to the game and in college working full time (non electric) etc etc. the main reason im getting it is to earn money and get some work at least more in keeping with the trade i think it will also be a good jumping off point to get other small work too. im really just wondering what you guys think? do you do PAT tests? would i ever see the money i spend for the equipment again? is there any money to be made if im only doing it around my job and college? any tips advice or guidance you can give me would be much appreciated also any ideas for equipment? Tester iv seen them range from under a £100 to over a £1k

 

[matt.leung]

do u have any PAT testing training behind you? have u companies that have approached you to PAT Test items for you?

 

[alpha spark]

Most sparks I know won't entertain pat testing for a number of reasons.

Mainly as they get undercut by the sticker brigade.

I recently purchased a pat tester from megger mark as it seemed like a bargain.

I get the odd person asking for items pat testing

And I also pat test my own equipment so it can be allowed on various sites I visit.

Also I've been to number of call outs where the rcd I'n the house has tripped and its down to a faulty appliance. In which I can show y the appliance has failed.

I think it's an investment for my business.

 

[ProDave]

I do some PA Testing, but not a lot.  Knowing your level of intellect, more than a few hours of it at a time will drive you to boredom.  I tend only to do it for customers I know from doing other electrical work.

I just charge my normal hourly rate, but you will find a lot of PAT firms charging ridiculously low "per item" prices so don't try competing with those.

 

[NozSpark]

The main problem with PAT is that you should be charging £2.50 per item as a minimum,, however you will be competing with companies who do it for <£1 per item (the sticker brigade) ; so IMHO I wouldn't base a business on PAT however it could be a valuable addition (giving the whole service)

 

[BlueFlashAsh]

No none atm. In my last job the IT guy did it for my boss (70 mobile phone shops couple of offices) and he said its strait forward and obviously id do a lot of research and do a lot of testing in my own house etc to get confident. plus my college tutors are very good if we ever get a problem there both a phone call away. iv done some testing in the workshop in college using a multi meter on test rigs and the work we do we always test. i was thinking of actually getting a multimeter with a pat test adapter because ill get more long term use out of the multi function tester

 

[matt.leung]

Like Dave, i just test for people that i know, it can be a very boring job and companies really do under-cut you...

 

[BlueFlashAsh]

yea i was shocked at how cheap it is iv done a fair bit of research of what others offer and iv seen it as low as 50p per item. id be happy to make my petrol and minimum wage doing it especially if i get better work from it. has anyone used multi meter and adaptors? because i was thinking of getting one anyway because someone said(on a diff post) that a good way of learning is to test the crap out of my own house and family's homes to get used to using test equipment. we only get to use it once a week in a group of 3 in college and that a good week.

 

[steptoe]

private rental landlord I do work for is the only person I PAT for,

every year when Im doing the PIRs on his student lets, I just charge him an extra hour or so on top of the PIR, other than that its a non-payer for me, I cant/wont compete on price with the sticker brigade.

 

[pistenbroke]

Have a look into some insurance, if you damage equipment or electrocute customers, you will have to pay it out of your own pocket.

 

[M107]

I have a regular group of customers who I do pat'ing for, I charge a set fee + £2.30 per item.

I sat and watched a couple of blokes under taking pat testing around one of our station's last week.....easy to do a whole station in a morning when you don't plug anything into the test unit......

They creamed themselves when they found the IT store and the thousands of iec leads, not so happy when we pointed out the notice on the door ”portable appliance testing in this store to undertaken by brigade technicians only“ after they had started.

Anyway these to mupets have been employed by a national facilities company, only have one test unit between them so one pushes buttons the other applies the pass sticker.

They have a super test unit, it even let's them test and pass a pc that has no psu.

Their charge can't be high because I know what we are paying the facilities company £0.90 per item...........we used to do it all in house, but doing it this way saves money apparently.

I have a primetest 350 and it knocks spots off the old fluke6500. It's so good the brigade have just purchased one from megger mark, along with loads of other goodies.

 

[poni]

do we need too use/buy a tester that is made just for appliances, can we not use the testers we have in the van, like the IR and Ohm tester (also known as a Megger)?

 

[M107]

Depends on the quantity you are testing & if you want to hand write the labels, fine if your doing a couple of dozen but any more than that & believe me you'll be suicidal by the time you get to number 612.................I still have nightmares. 

 

[BlueFlashAsh]

do we need too use/buy a tester that is made just for appliances, can we not use the testers we have in the van, like the IR and Ohm tester (also known as a Megger)?

Depends on the quantity you are testing & if you want to hand write the labels, fine if your doing a couple of dozen but any more than that & believe me you'll be suicidal by the time you get to number 612.................I still have nightmares. 

yea one of the reasons i started post is to get peoples views on this too. because im considering getting a megger or other (not as good as megger marks) brand to start doing some testing at home because we dont do enough to get really good at college. so id kill 2 birds with 1 stone but i could be shooting myself in the foot because even with the PAT adapter will be more awkward than a designated PAT tester. its all still crbvcurbvubruvbruvb in the sky ATM i dont have the cash till 15th of next month but im just finding everything i can out because dont want to waste money and dont want to miss a good opportunity to break into the trade a little either.

 

[poni]

I find that it takes longer, because you have to go through all the tests on a tester made for the job, but with the meter in the van, I can stop when I reach the first fail (normally the cable is cut or the plug is broken), but then again I don't do a lot of PATs ,but the other day I did do 80 odd and failed over half for cable or plug damage, may not do any now for months. but I can see the advantage of the label printing and I see some now have a camera fitted,  

 

 

[BlueFlashAsh]

Thanks all anyone got any suggestions of Cheap PAT and/or Multimeter's? iv already pm you mark i do like megger we use them in college. when i say cheap i dont mean the £25 barley better than analogue ones though im thinking or spending around  £150 less if poss maybe lil more for a good one would love new but probably be 2nd hand that in good nick

 

[streetlighter]

Theres no money in PAT tetsing i was charging £1 per item put theres guys out there doing it for as low as 10p per item I had  a Kewtech basic PAT tester in the carry case with all the adaptors it cost me £500 and never even earned me that back so i sold it on eBay for a loss !

I did buy a Seaward PAT50 last year its just a basic tester that says PASS or FAIL on the display with no readings and cannot be used for testing long extension leads due to set resistance limits.

They can be had for about £200 brand new the next model up the PAT100 will give actual resistance values and is better value for money in my opinion.#

I sold the PAT50 last month and if anyone asks if we no PAT i say no

 

[Robin Spark]

Theres no money in PAT tetsing i was charging £1 per item put theres guys out there doing it for as low as 10p per item I had  a Kewtech basic PAT tester in the carry case with all the adaptors it cost me £500 and never even earned me that back so i sold it on eBay for a loss !

I did buy a Seaward PAT50 last year its just a basic tester that says PASS or FAIL on the display with no readings and cannot be used for testing long extension leads due to set resistance limits.

They can be had for about £200 brand new the next model up the PAT100 will give actual resistance values and is better value for money in my opinion.#

I sold the PAT50 last month and if anyone asks if we no PAT i say no

How the heck can you pat test at 10p per item! Do these guys just use a "pricing gun" that the supermarkets used to use for pricing up foods?  Instead of a price it would just say "PASS"

I think I would prefer to work in Aldi rather than PAT for that silly price.

 

[streetlighter]

Thats what i lost a 100 item PAT job too the green sticker club, When i worked for my previous employer the big green and orange construction firm i was given the task of PAT testing all the depots for the Cheshire highways contract. The amount of items i had to fail on basic visual defects and they had been passed by the previous guy the year before.

 

[Robin Spark]

If it was still the easter holidays I'd be taking my 7 year old daughter to work on friday; she loves putting stickers on things!

Yes got a day full of p.i.t.a.p.a.t but work is work so not moaning!