Pat testing business setup

[Eddie866]

Hi i been looking at starting a pat test business, there is a course i can do that follows the iet 4th edition and certificate test at completion , if i want to do tests in places such as care homes and other businesses , will these ask for a qualified electrician or a city of guilds qualified person? Or will i be ok to do the work ? As do not want to outlay on course and equipment only to be refused work
Thanks for replys in advance eddie

 

[Baddegg]

What makes you want to get into that mate?...at a 50p-£1 a go it’s a hard way to make a living.....most of the places I know that require it just get they regular maintenance sparks company to do it in addition to they normal jobs...

 

[Taylortwocities]

I agree. Its peanuts and you have to work when its convenient for the client.

Train to be a plasterer, a bit more messy but plenty of £££

 

[Baddegg]

I agree. Its peanuts and you have to work when its convenient for the client.

Train to be a plasterer, a bit more messy but plenty of £££

Make more money selling the plaster than spreading it at the moment ?

 

[ackbarthestar]

PAT is one of those jobs which in its self appears not to be that inspiring. The temptation is to rush through each 'test' and stick green labels all over. The key, of course, is to inspect and test analytically. The more experience you have the more noticable defects will be upon inspection.

I used to take on anything from PC's to arc welders, commercial ovens, compressors workshop machinery and fridges. An example might be a couple of newish microwave ovens for a comercial enterprise. After IR testing I was able to predict that one was about to fail. Within a week it had.

For this type of work I do not charge 50p/item. I charge by the hour.
I include all types of equipment both single and three phase equipment, plug-in and 'hard wired' but not equipment covered by specailst maintenance regimes such as CNC machines, large motors, generators and alarm systems,

You could make a profit in specialising in problem solving commerical equipment.
But if you do I would suggest that you do not work for somebody else.

 

[pirate]

It's boring, repetitive work, often tricky in office environments...but you do get to crawl under the secretaries desks. Seriously, it's a sideline, and if you do it thoroughly it takes time for not much money...however, I found it led to many other small jobs that were good earners, so don't be too discouraged at first.

 

[Moley]

If you're going to do full time testing then don't buy a basic tester. Buy a unit that's downloadable or you'll end up having to do twice the work writing out your test results and typing out the certificates etc. A 2nd hand Seaward Supernova is a good investment. It's the best unit I've played around with and I've currently got 7 different makes/models of pat tester laying around the house - and no, I don't do it for a living. I would probably hang myself after the first week.
On a side note, anyone got a Megger 6500-2 I can borrow to evaluate??

 

[Moley]

On a side note, anyone got a Megger 6500-2 I can borrow to evaluate??

Hmmm.....that should be a Fluke 6500-2 but it was late at night and I had been watching a load of Slipknot videos so my brain was a bit mashed up!

 

[ohreally]

We do the city councils care homes and schools, good money to be made especially from appliance repairs, 3 phase and fixed appliance tests.

 

[Eddie866]

Hi guys thanks for all the info so far, but my question was can i do this with just the course and no city and guilds as not qualified
Thanks eddie

 

[ackbarthestar]

Hi guys thanks for all the info so far, but my question was can i do this with just the course and no city and guilds as not qualified
Thanks eddie

The wiring regulations and similar health and safety information are guides. They are not legislative. However, domestic installation work comes under the building control regulations which is statutory.
Most adherence to electrical guides is so that you obtain credibility with your customers encouraged by self assessment organisations.
However, don't attempt doing PAT if you have no knowledge of electricity as you will not know how to repair an appliance that is faulty.
May I suggest you get PI and PL insurance in place before you take on this work.....

 

[Paul L]

Competence is the word i believe that is widely used in these matters. I am an electrician so would be deemed competent but my boss wanted me to take the city and guilds course for PA testing so i did.

Two of my colleagues who are classed as handy people also took the course and although one of them passed she says that she wouldn't feel in any way competent to carry out pa testing so passing a 2 day course doesn't necessarily make you competent.

So i suppose the question is do you feel as though you would be competent because its not just about plugging it in to a machine. You need to be able to interpret the test results, know if the fuse and cable size is correct for the rating of the appliance and have a keen eye for visual problems.

If you feel comfortable in taking the responsibility for this then go for it, if not i would leave it alone because there are ramifications to making mistakes with anything electrical.

Its very boring too lol.