PAT Testing Equipment

SkidMarkKing

SkidMarkKing

SkidMarkKing

Associate
Joined
25 Jul 2009
Posts
1,642
Location
England
Hi, i've done a few courses now on PAT testing and i'm looking to expand my companies services (IT support).

Looking for my first testing machine as well as an app to record results/photos for clients.

For the quantity ile be doing I will probably handwrite the labels for now. I have been recommended the Primetest 100 to start with.

Open to recommendations, ideally around the £200 price mark as it's a new service and i'm not sure it's going to warrant a £1000+ tester.

Testing will be done mainly for offices/IT equipment.
 
[FnG]magnolia said:
Suggest you don't.
Click to expand...

Any recommendations?

Just don't want to be paying £1000's for equipment to start.

Think ile send out an email and publish on our social media and see how much interest we get first.

See some machines recommended on the course were £200-£250 but most are recommending £400+ machines online.

I know some machines give a simple pass/fail indicator light but ideally you want the readings.

EDIT: I didn't mean make up my own labels (sorry should have been clearer). I mean buy the label templates (meaning I don't need a label printer).
 
Last edited:
SkidMarkKing said:
Haa, like a PIN number :cry:
Click to expand...

Or an ATM machine.




To be clear on this, you're in for for one hell of a ride. The second any of your clients find out that you're starting this, they'll be asking you for quotes to do six thousand items and can they all be done by this Sunday pls ktnx because they'll have forgotten about this very legal requirement and now you've jogged their memory and oh fiddlesticks we completely forgot about this and it needs doing urgently please do it quickly for us also we need to see the competencies of all your PAT testing staff as well as the calibration certificate for your testing machines oh and please send us your company insurance certificate which clearly states that you're covered for this kind of work.

Oh hang on, those items are brand new, why did you pat test them? We're not paying for that as it wasn't in scope but you also missed all those devices that were locked in those cabinets despite us telling the staff members to leave them out so now you're going to have to come back at your own cost to test those and it can only be out of hours so you have to pay your staff 1.5x oh and please make sure every item is labelled correctly and asseted in line with the company asset register or we'll have to reject the work and you'll have to redo the report and replace all the stickers but only when it suits us because you're inconveniencing us oh and btw we're only paying 65p per device including stickers, asset list creation, chasing people who haven't got their kit ready or put any locked up items on desks oh and keep in mind that we have a policy that commonly used and moved items such as phone and laptop chargers are tested annually and rarely moved items like monitors and computers are tested every 30 months and items which are still plugged in but never move like server equipment are only tested once every five years so you'd best make sure you don't test anything that doesn't need testing or miss anything that does need testing by the way can you colour code the stickers on the plugs to reflect the testing frequency so it's clear for all to understand ktnxbai.



If you can't tell, I am very deeply ingrained in this god awful task of satan and have done it for NPL Teddington. Over a hundred thousand devices and a client who are outright hostile towards us.

cry.gif



I'm sure you'll be fine though, have fun :)
 
Last edited:
Diddums said:
Or an ATM machine.




To be clear on this, you're in for for one hell of a ride. The second any of your clients find out that you're starting this, they'll be asking you for quotes to do six thousand items and can they all be done by this Sunday pls ktnx because they'll have forgotten about this very legal requirement and now you've jogged their memory and oh fiddlesticks we completely forgot about this and it needs doing urgently please do it quickly for us also we need to see the competencies of all your PAT testing staff as well as the calibration certificate for your testing machines oh and please send us your company insurance certificate which clearly states that you're covered for this kind of work.

Oh hang on, those items are brand new, why did you pat test them? We're not paying for that as it wasn't in scope but you also missed all those devices that were locked in those cabinets despite us telling the staff members to leave them out so now you're going to have to come back at your own cost to test those and it can only be out of hours so you have to pay your staff 1.5x oh and please make sure every item is labelled correctly and asseted in line with the company asset register or we'll have to reject the work and you'll have to redo the report and replace all the stickers but only when it suits us because you're inconveniencing us oh and btw we're only paying 65p per device including stickers, asset list creation, chasing people who haven't got their kit ready or put any locked up items on desks oh and keep in mind that we have a policy that commonly used and moved items such as phone and laptop chargers are tested annually and rarely moved items like monitors and computers are tested every 30 months and items which are still plugged in but never move like server equipment are only tested once every five years so you'd best make sure you don't test anything that doesn't need testing or miss anything that does need testing by the way can you colour code the stickers on the plugs to reflect the testing frequency so it's clear for all to understand ktnxbai.



If you can't tell, I am very deeply ingrained in this god awful task of satan and have done it for NPL Teddington. Over a hundred thousand devices and a client who are outright hostile towards us.

cry.gif



I'm sure you'll be fine though, have fun :)
Click to expand...

To be honest most businesses/office setups I look after are only upto 8 users anyway.

Looking to expand the services we offer as well as generating annual recurring income.
 
Tbh the place i work must have been offered a back hander great price for the last pat test for the site, the guy literally put stickers on the items and never tested a thing :eek:
Absolutely disgraceful when you think of the equipment involved and the nature of the business , not too mention the knowledge of the staff using the equipment. The appalling service was reported and if the guy in question turns up again he will be refused entry to the department.
 
No, it's not a legal requirement but helps employers prove they've taken action to keep employees safe if anything did happen.

Can't touch NHS/medical equipment without proper qualification.
 
SkidMarkKing said:
No, it's not a legal requirement but helps employers prove they've taken action to keep employees safe if anything did happen.
Click to expand...
Over 10 years since I did the training but IIRC PAT testing is legally in the grey. Employers under the various H&S act and the electrical act ( whose name I cant remember) have a duty to provide a safe work environment and there are codes of practise that cover testing portable electrical devices. So not testing may bet legal maybe not but doing so is definitely proof of following a recommended code so that cant be held against an Employer in court.

Honestly in all the thousands of tests I've done I think I've only failed a couple of items through the tests the machine runs. The usual failures are burnt out plugs, cracked plug casings and damaged power cables [all potentially reparable] or broken machine casing revealing internal workings.
 
Last edited:
As IT Support, I never had to do it, fortunately, but it was always a pain.
Internal maintenance dept could do it, but, were always ‘too busy’ when we were waiting to put out new equipment.
Yes, the company rules were that EVERYTHING had to be checked, even if it was new out of the box.
 
m4rmite said:
Tbh the place i work must have been offered a back hander great price for the last pat test for the site, the guy literally put stickers on the items and never tested a thing :eek:
Absolutely disgraceful when you think of the equipment involved and the nature of the business , not too mention the knowledge of the staff using the equipment. The appalling service was reported and if the guy in question turns up again he will be refused entry to the department.
Click to expand...
To be fair ours does the same - other than a "visual inspection", because we've told him he can't unplug anything because PCs are in use 24/7 then he doesn't actually test anything, just stickers everything.
 
m4rmite said:
Tbh the place i work must have been offered a back hander great price for the last pat test for the site, the guy literally put stickers on the items and never tested a thing :eek:
Absolutely disgraceful when you think of the equipment involved and the nature of the business , not too mention the knowledge of the staff using the equipment. The appalling service was reported and if the guy in question turns up again he will be refused entry to the department.
Click to expand...
Incredibly, 'visual' testing is legitimate. He's done nothing actually wrong.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom