Per item PAT test charge?

[Neil Holdsworth]

I've been asked to PAT test some items within an office. It isn't something i do so wondered what people charge for doing it? It's roughly 20 items. 

Thanks Neil

 

[pewter]

If it was in a place with naked women and free food i would do it for free.

If it was in west London at some hell hole building with no parking for miles, door staff, books to sign and rules to follow in an office of up there own star fish fancy pants tossers i would want at least £500

 

[Neil Holdsworth]

It's a local taxi firm. Nothing fancy. 

 

[pewter]

i would work out how long it would take me to do it, multiply that by my hourly rate + materials.

If thats seems cheap i would add a bit more on until its balanced between taking the piss / good price.

As i have tons of work it would have to have an incentiive as i hate PA Testing.

If i had no work I would balance the price between good deal / mugging myself off.

 

[Neil Holdsworth]

Well I can't see it  taking more than a couple of hours but it's for someone I do a fair bit of work through so didn't want to take the piss. Like I said I'm not overly bothered about doing it but don't want to say no. I didn't want to go down the hourly rate route as I always thought that these pat testing companies charge by the item. Having an idea of what others charge would kind of justify it in my head if you know what I mean. 

 

[Andy™]

i generally charge per hour for however long it takes

 

[ProDave]

+1 for charge by the hour.

You don't know how long it will take. The 20 items might all be lined up up a table ready for you to test and you will wizz through it, or you might have to hunt them down, unplug them, test them, put them back from where they came and it will take twice as long.
 

 

[kerching]

Charge by the hour

47p per item is lowest bid around here. So your 20 would earn you £9.40!!!!!!!!

hardly seems worth the effort :C

 

[New Venture!]

I do the PAT work for some bands and PA/Lighting hire companies. In these cases the kit is laid out in a warehouse and they pay me £25.00 per hour. I personally wouldn't offer a per item charge as this (if you are doing the checks properly) could easily mean you working for a few quid per hour. 

 

[Evans Electric]

Minimum charge I'd say ....half a day at your rate .

I do a bit of PAT testing ,  a realistic charge is £3 per item  but they can they can get it done for £1 /item   and less  so I charge by the hour.

 

[Neil Holdsworth]

Client is asking for paperwork after, Whenever i've usually done it i stick the sticker on the lead and make a note of the appliance id which i've generated for it. I then make a list on my computer at home.

Anyone do anything better?

Thanks Neil

 

[Badger]

When I get home.ill upload the template ive used recently 

 

[Neil Holdsworth]

That's exactly what i was hoping for!

Thanks Neil

 

[Badger]

heres the template i use ive uploaded a demo sheet to show how it looks but used made up demo names etc for customer confidentiality

View attachment 7727

View attachment 7728

 

[Slowhand]

A bloke who has an accountancy firm in London has a large property near me in Dorset.

He asked me to do some pat testing for him as he was interested in renting the property out.

I told him I'd charge my hourly rate and materials.

He told me that one of the firms he does the accounts for is a testing business in London.

They pat test the equipment in office blocks for big financial firms etc.

They have a maximum testing time of 30 seconds per item.

He wanted me to match that.

I don't see how you can check the plug, fuse and cord in that time never mind the rest of it.

I wished him luck.  

 

[bluetobits]

30 seconds is ridiculous. It takes longer than that for the tester to run its course let alone all the visuals needed. 

 

[Andy™]

30 seconds per item should be just enough for you to slap a sticker on it

 

[Manator]

We have a contract for electrical work for our county council, none of which involves PAT. Most of the call outs I have attended have been amusing, I see green pass stickers everywhere. Fused spurs, socket outlets and even one on a three phase board.The most recent one was a bain marie rated at 3kW with the 16amp plug cut off and replaced with 0.75mm three core flex connected to a 13amp plug top. The current draw was 11.5amps, so the 13amp fuse could hold it but the cable effectively became a heating element.

However it must have been safe because a green sticker was fixed to the cabinet saying so.

 

[Murdoch]

My minimum charge for PAT testing is £60 and that will do up to 24 items....

 

[Lurch]

I stopped doing appliance testing as it is another race to the bottom with even less regulation than normal electrical work. Absolute waste of time and effort, I just tell customers to get some other idiot to do it for 10p then let me know what has failed before rushing out and replacing all the faulty appliances.

I have been in offices where testers have missed items as "they don't need testing" (no reason given though) and then I find a cupboard full of failed items only to take them out and pass every single one. I think that was the last appliance testing job I did, the tester was sold shortly after as it apparently needed £200 spending on it after failing its second calibration at 3 years old so that was that. Cost me more in calibration/paperwork/certificate time than I ever earned on-site. If you are doing appliance testing you need someone doing it for you that you pay minimum wage at best.