PAT Engineer Vacancy 300+ Tests A Day

[oldtimer]

I don't know if you are either delusional or pretentious or even both don't get me wrong you are certainly confident in your abilities so please forgive me for being cynical but to he honest I have seen guys like you too many times and sadly its people like you who have brought PAT testing to its knees plus you tick the boxes of a bitter individual who was in a dead end job and now you have found a new religion in PAT . Like most of the guys who have replied I have followed guys like you where the client only has a list of numbers on what has been tested he has no assset list or cat I or II ,fuse,make,model serial number. I have lost count the ammount of fuses I have had to replace or hoover leads I have had to repair because the "professional PAT engineers" who I have followed never bothered to check.

So I find it breathtaking in my view your pompous statement of how many lives saved are being saved but then again if it was not for individuals like you I would not be getting calls from concerned customers.

To sum up you are basically what we call in the trade as a "Sticker Jockey" who is a risk to himself and others the whole idea of PAT was to test equipment for safety and the only thing is after the HSE review there is only one way this is going ie the test periods are going to increase meaning less work for the sticker jockeys and some will go out of business.

Also if I may be so bold to ask what is your background before PAT ?

 

[Olec]

Don't care what NASA software you think you've got, if you are regularly testing each appliance in less than a minute, you are simply missing issues during inspection, which anyone that has any knowledge of pat testing knows this is where the majority of faults are found.

 

[Olec]

"flick it over and look for signs of burning snapped pins etc plug into your tester and check for case damage on the top WHILE pressing the button to test"


I do hope you are not testing before you have satisfied that the appliance is safe to put to the tester through a visual inspection!

 

[UNG]

Oldtimer well summed up had similar experiences to yours of mopping up after the whirling dervish PAT thing flew through on one occasion only half the appliances had been tested and some of those where sat next to ones that had been "tested"

15 years of PAT testing has addled his brain very sad really and I'm not sure if it is treatable when it gets that bad

May be the Guinness book of records should have a record for the number appliances PROPERLY tested and documented in one 8 hour shift

 

[IQ Electrical]

Interesting thread!
We rarely get involved with PAT because we can't/won't compete on price terms.
It's all very well having the best software, the fastest test instrument and a good routine but that can never offset the problems that seem to be common to every job:

1 Finding the 1 member of staff that knew you were due to do the PAT and explaining procedures and what you need from the rest of the staff
2 The massive tangle of leads/extensions/chargers/ hidden beneath each desk/workstation
3 Uncooperative staff who 'can't shut down yet because.....'
4 Gaining access to different rooms, sorting keys and fobs for swipe locks etc.

Just thinking about those 4 things makes you realise that the 'fully compliant 1 minute per item test' is absolutely impossible.

 

[Grizzly01]

And I have every right to call myself a pat engineer ( though the correct terminology is electrical test engineer )

No, neither term is correct.
Tester. Technician.
Not engineer.

 

[ackbarthestar]

May I first of all congratulate everybody for such an entertaining breakfast time read.

I could have spent my Easter break somewhere exotic or purchased a copy of the 'Sport' but why bother when I have threads like this to feast on

Just to put things into perspective

My little PAT 'empire' consists of several agricultural engineering works plus a local council where I provide a PAT service with reports and an on-site repair and maintenance service for an extra cost, of course.
Much of the stuff tested is fixed equipment, three phase machinery, welders, heavily used hand tools, extension leads by the bucket load plus the standard office equipment.

We charge between £3.00 and £12.50 per item. and I'm never short of this type of work. But then, I suppose we do the job properly.
We rarely do more than 60 items per day, with lunch breaks.

Im sure if you google the major players in the industry they all have the major accreditations,

Read more: http://www.electriciansforums.net/p...neer-vacancy-300-tests-day.html#ixzz2PZYvNjkG
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There is only so much smoke you can blow up each others posteriors before you float off into the stratosphere of incredulity.

 

[UNG]

Gloucester based Epsilon Test Services was formed in 1993. The company specialises in electrical safety test services; portable appliance testing (PAT), periodic fixed installation testing and thermal imaging. The company employs over 140 engineers across the UK, all qualified to City & Guilds 2377 or 2391. Epsilon’s clients include many of the UK’s largest facilities management organisations and blue chip companies. The business invests heavily in technology and has lead innovation in the development of specialist software for electrical testing, leading to advanced reporting plus efficiency savings that create a service/price proposition that Epsilon claim is unbeaten. Epsilon holds Beacon status: an award given to those companies who can demonstrate outstanding achievement across a range of criteria, including significant improvements in productivity and performance, profitability, work culture and innovation. Beacon South West members play an important role in cultivating enterprise excellence in the region.
Though this company was brought out by bog cleaners and would never recommend them to anyone as they now use unqualified staff.

So what is your point with this post no mention here or on their website that they carry out the impossible in fact from the 5 minute research I've done Epsilon Test Services look or looked a little bit dodgy in the past and certainly do not look like a company that could heavily invest in technology and equipment

Apart from the 350 PAT tester none of the test equipment mentioned in scp's other posts even logs tests that could be downloaded so so much for technology that has no actual audit trail

 

[oldtimer]

So what is your point with this post no mention here or on their website that they carry out the impossible in fact from the 5 minute research I've done Epsilon Test Services look or looked a little bit dodgy in the past and certainly do not look like a company that could heavily invest in technology and equipment

Apart from the 350 PAT tester none of the test equipment mentioned in scp's other posts even logs tests that could be downloaded so so much for technology that has no actual audit trail

Well said audit trail is what it is meant to be as I mentioned it should not be item ZX13455 tested it should be item ZX13455 Dell 7734T monitor Class I 5 amp fuse 3rd floor so can only agree here.

Also looks like the OP that started this nonsense has either unsubscribed or is away in the huff . I for one have got no joy proving him wrong but this is what this forum is about ie keeping us and I mean me grounded.

I got into PAT 18 months ago because I do rental repairs and I could no longer say sorry I don't do PAT or ISI&TEE as it should be called because its not worth it. Plus the majority of problems I have come up against is the Urban Myths that perpetuates mostly by PAT companies who have single handed destroyed the very cash cow that was meant to keep them in business. I do wish they would read the COP instead of making it up as they go along also it does not help that the customer is poorly informed and the thing is sticker jockey companies will get a bit less as the test periods get extended why ? Its not rocket science here if you tested every year and its now been changed to bi-yearly then thats half the work.

Me I spent about £800 tooling up and getting a qualification I did not need because the Urban Myth of electrician are not qualified to PAT test unless they have their C&G2377. So the good news was it has paid for itself in the first year but I doubt I will be that lucky in the second year so far have turned over £400 with six months to go opposed to £1500 for the first year. This suits me but I have my documentation set up and I will continue to set up a good audit trail and keep changeing fuses lol

 

[ackbarthestar]

Me I spent about £800 tooling up and getting a qualification I did not need because the Urban Myth of electrician are not qualified to PAT test unless they have their C&G2377. So the good news was it has paid for itself in the first year but I doubt I will be that lucky in the second year so far have turned over £400 with six months to go opposed to £1500 for the first year. This suits me but I have my documentation set up and I will continue to set up a good audit trail and keep changeing fuses lol

Read more: http://www.electriciansforums.net/p...er-vacancy-300-tests-day-4.html#ixzz2PaV6N97W
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I have found that PAT pays for itself, it could keep me a lot busier if I could be bothered to persue new clients but who wants to do PAT all day long.
I have enough work to make it interesting, the fault finding and repair is one part of the job which removes the routine out of the job and gives me something to live for otherwise I'd cover myself in all my spare red labels and switch off permanently .

As far as being qualified goes, you do not need to have 2377 to do PAT. Anybody who has done a recognized electricians certificate and/ or apprenticeship will have covered PAT as part of the course. I'd be surprised if at some point you weren't called upon at work to make a repair and then test it for safety afterwards.

 

[oldtimer]

One of the letting agents I do work for requested a copy of my C&G2377 and the calibration certificate of my tester funny thing is they have not used me . Yep the majority of my work is repair and maintenance and I am not worried about PAT but like I said I need to supply this service so as long as it pays for the yearly £40 calibration then fine

 

[UNG]

One of the letting agents I do work for requested a copy of my C&G2377 and the calibration certificate of my tester funny thing is they have not used me . Yep the majority of my work is repair and maintenance and I am not worried about PAT but like I said I need to supply this service so as long as it pays for the yearly £40 calibration then fine

I'm just curious have they ever asked for proof of your electrical qualifications to work on their properties

 

[oldtimer]

Yep remember I am in Scotland so you can submit test sheets by "Enquiry" this means you need to attached a front and back copy of your SJIB card that shows all of your qualifications and grade on it and also a copy of your testers calibration certificate.

Funny thing is if you are a scheme member all you need to do is put the scheme number on the certs but here's the rub no one checks this but I heard a good story where a letting agent who will not use you unless you are scheme registered asked for a copy of SJIB/qualifications/calibration and found out to their horror he was using his mates registration number could not find the calibrartion cert (aye right) and cannot find is qualifications (aye right) as he has no SJIB card and that is unusall up here.

I think it should be manditory to attach the the quals and cals to the certs as I heard that building control was happier with this but for some reason some are hiding behind the Scheme mebership.

I agree about the C&G2377 but my thinking was if people are being brainwashed by the PAT companies then fine for £195 the cost of going to my local technical college for 6 night classes then fine. Also when I send the customer the PAT documentation I send

1. Equipment register (Asset register)
2. PAT Certificate (Make-Model-Serial-Class-Fuse rating-type P/S/HH/FE
3. Faulty equipment register (register say hoover lead damage)
4. Repaired equipment register (register hoover lead repair) This is an audit trail to show the landlord is being responsable
5. Copy of my C&G 2377
6. Copy of PAT tester calibration certificate