PAT Testing ? it looks like they are sending out messages that things are to change

[oldtimer]

Well has anybody read the Issue 24 of the spring edition of the ESC Switch On (page9) Sorry I cannot attach it but the jist is there is to be an overhaul of the PAT testing regime. It has echoed what a lot of us have been saying ie the opening statement is we are still using the term PAT testing when it should be InService Inspection & Testing of Electrical Equipment. So it looks like we will be getting a a refresh and review in guidance to PAT and surprise surprise the Schemies are to be consulted over the next 2 months.

 

[Marnik]

Re: PAT Testing ? it looks like they are sending out messages that things are to chan

Well that's a surprise !!!
Is it not always been " In Service Inspection and Testing Of Electrical Equipment"
The term PAT- testing was only adapted by people who did not know any better !
How kind of the SCAM-Providers to put everybody in the picture (for a very big fee off course!)

 

[oldtimer]

Re: PAT Testing ? it looks like they are sending out messages that things are to chan

Well that's a surprise !!!
Is it not always been " In Service Inspection and Testing Of Electrical Equipment"
The term PAT- testing was only adapted by people who did not know any better !
How kind of the SCAM-Providers to put everybody in the picture (for a very big fee off course!)

Apparantly even the ones in the know are still using the term PAT testing ie when i was serving my time "Its a lamp son not a bl**dy bulb" so when I say a lamp the general public think I am talking about a standard lamp so i have to say bulb and PAT testing is the same.

But if you read my earlier posts about the lecturer at my II&TEE course he said watch this space big changes ahead ie PAT to be relaunched as II&TEE and fixed appliances on the agenda with only an electrician can check out if connected to a FCU

 

[pattest]

Re: PAT Testing ? it looks like they are sending out messages that things are to chan

Pat testing is just a misnoma that has been widely adopted.
However surely fixed appliances should be checked as part of the fixed installation.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Re: PAT Testing ? it looks like they are sending out messages that things are to chan

Well has anybody read the Issue 24 of the spring edition of the ESC Switch On (page9) Sorry I cannot attach it but the jist is there is to be an overhaul of the PAT testing regime. It has echoed what a lot of us have been saying ie the opening statement is we are still using the term PAT testing when it should be InService Inspection & Testing of Electrical Equipment. So it looks like we will be getting a a refresh and review in guidance to PAT and surprise surprise the Schemies are to be consulted over the next 2 months.

so does this mean that pat testers will now be refered to as "in service inspection and testing of electrical equipment engineers"?...lol

 

[Adam W]

Re: PAT Testing ? it looks like they are sending out messages that things are to chan

Pat testing is just a misnoma that has been widely adopted.
However surely fixed appliances should be checked as part of the fixed installation.

Why? They're still appliances.

 

[pattest]

Re: PAT Testing ? it looks like they are sending out messages that things are to chan

hi Adam, yes they are still appliances, but surely it just makes more sense to test them as part of the fixed installation , as they are as much a part of it as the light fittings.

 

[Adam W]

Re: PAT Testing ? it looks like they are sending out messages that things are to chan

What instantly springs to mind is hotels where all the appliances such as TVs and hairdriers are wired into FCUs so the guests can't steal them so easily. In any other situation they would be classed as a portable appliance should fall under the remit of 'PAT', so in my opinion should be tested as such, even if it involves isolating and disconnecting them to test, otherwise they wouldn't get tested at all - under an EICR I would probably switch off the FCU and test up to and from that.
Remember a PAT tester automatically links the line and neutral conductors together to prevent damage to the equipment when testing IR whereas a MFT doesn't.

 

[Adam W]

Re: PAT Testing ? it looks like they are sending out messages that things are to chan

To add to that a light fitting, whether it be a fancy fitting, pendant or just a battenholder would be unlikely to ever be terminated via a plugtop - you could easily test those safely by removing the lamps.

 

[UNG]

Re: PAT Testing ? it looks like they are sending out messages that things are to chan

Pat testing is just a misnoma that has been widely adopted.

PAT testing is a misnoma for a few things like selling a complete service and only doing half a job by leaving fixed appliances / equipment visual inspected or completely unchecked and untested

How can an industry that is offering a safety related service leave a client so in the dark as to what they do regarding what is tested and what is visually checked

But then again there is no actual law that says PAT testing is needed but some of the frightening and scare tactics used by the sales people would have you believe differently but then again it's only following up on what the HSE said and did when the EAWR was introduced

However surely fixed appliances should be checked as part of the fixed installation.

This seems to be buck passing to allow the whirling dervish PAT testing industry to be here one minute and gone the next and anything that takes too long to do is passed by, how many fixed appliances could be properly checked in a day I bet it's well less than 100.

hi Adam, yes they are still appliances, but surely it just makes more sense to test them as part of the fixed installation , as they are as much a part of it as the light fittings.

Light fittings are a functional part of a standard fixed installation and have a different testing schedule / cycle to that of "in service fixed equipment" and portable appliances

So testing of appliances with the fixed installation would necessitate more frequent testing of the fixed installation under your suggestion increasing the clients costs when what is actually required is increasing the competence level within the appliance testing industry this would also increase costs to the end user but would give the industry a bit more credibility