south west area pat testing

[Kate]

really unsure of how to ask this/post about it

was thinking of branching my company into pat testing. Its not to make money, more as a hobby/spending money type of thing.
Trying to decide if its worth it as PAT testing is not a legal requirement.
It wouldnt actually be me doing the PAT testing, but my company name etc, and i can do any repairs.

Any comments/advice would be most helpful

 

[oldtimer]

Kate I spent about £800 tooling up for PAT 18 months ago as I do electrical repairs on rental properties at first I did not want to do it but I started to lose jobs as I was saying it was not worth my while but got the well if you cannot do it you aint doing the rest so I bought the Kewtech KT71 PAT bundle and it has been a boon it paid for itself in the first year and its a nice wee filler when I have nothing better to do

 

[Kate]

could be worth me sounding out some rental places first then. need to see how big local shops etc are with PAT testing i think

 

[trev]

Refugee from the other thread Kate If it's an add on to what you do now then there's a possibility that your existing client base would use you after all, they know you and your quality of work and would probably prefer to stay with the spark they know.
What puts me off it is that people ask if it's a legal requirement and I have to say no although it is a requirement to make sure that electrical equipment is safe to use. They then compare what I'd charge with the sticker and run brigade and, with them not knowing, think I'm ripping them off.
I lost I&Ts on a chain of rental properties just last week because of the drive by brigade but the way I see it is if they want to use cowboys then they deserve everything they get. If you can make it work then go for it mate.

 

[Kate]

the person who would be doing it will be doing so as more of a hobby then a way to pay bills. Im hoping that i can use existing clients and branch that way. possibly do some drop ins and ask.
they are in two minds, me im ready to just do it! but as they are paying for start up its their decision.
it wont be cowboy work it would be official!

 

[oldtimer]

Yep Trev know where you are coming from I dont like doing PAT and your right one of the letting agents that use me has a PAT specific company for it so I thought great but I was getting calls from private landlords who said I want 2 lights put up a smoke detector replaced and some PAT testing and thats how I lost work . So now I have it as a added service to the business and yep it paid for itself in the first year so after that its just a calibration check every year and my tester is a mains unit not battery so no upkeep their documentation is electronic ie Word converted to PDF and must admit I have seen me twiddle my thumbs on a cold rainy day and I get a call.

Just glad I got the bundle as it is all in one carry case and is always left in the house until it is needed

 

[Octopus]

Well.... PAT tesing is really boring but its important to offer services to your client base. I have a fixed set of pricing, minimum charge being £50 for 20 items.

I have a downloadable form on my website with all the details and if people are happy they use me... if not they don't. I don't haggle on pricing, but as with my normal sparky business my reputation and reliability make the difference.

My target market is small businesses with up to 100 items to do - and believe me its the most I can manage.

Also I have a metrel unit which allows me to record the items as they are tested, and then download to the PC when I get home, so producing a listing of items takes a few minutes.

It probably accounts for less than 5% of my turnover.

 

[oldtimer]

Yep I am the same I test about 12 items on average and the biggest job was 50 items

 

[Babs]

Contact a company called SEAWARD via website. They're apparently the "leaders" in all things PAT testing, hold free half day seminars throughout the country and will answer any question you've got about the PAT industry. They also produce publications and regulation info etc.