What is PAT Testing?
Please note that I am on holiday from Friday 21 March 2008, returning to work Monday, 31 March.
The inspection and testing of electrical equipment or 'PAT Testing', as it is usually called, is the procedure whereby electrical equipment is formally visually inspected and instrument-tested for electrical safety. PAT testing is mostly carried out in either the workplace, rented accommodation or in residential care homes, etc. Also, some venues such as concert halls and market stalls are now insisting on seeing evidence of PAT Testing of the electrical equipment used by the performers or those that are renting the stall.
PAT testing is short for 'Portable Appliance Testing', which is unfortunate because this suggests that the inspection and testing procedures only apply to truly portable equipment; this is not the case. With PAT Testing, virtually all* items of electrical equipment that have either a standard 240 volt three-pin plug or a 16 Amp 240 volt (blue) or 110 volt (yellow) round plug/socket attached are formally inspected and tested: portable, movable, hand-held, stationary, fixed, built-in, IT equipment and extension leads. Furthermore, the word 'testing' implies that the equipment or appliance is only checked over with test instruments. However, this too isn't the case, for the procedure also involves the important use of formal visual inspection. In fact, many of the items that I fail are the result of close, visual inspection: plugs with gaping holes, bare copper wires, free-standing electric fires with one foot either missing or hanging off, plugs with paper clips acting as a fuse, filing cabinets placed on top of power cables, etc.
PAT Testing in the workplace, rented accommodation or in residential care homes etc., whilst not a legal requirement in itself (see 'The Law'), is usually carried out on an annual basis (see 'How often should we have PAT Testing done?') to determine whether the electrical equipment in use there is, in simple terms, 'safe, well-maintained and suitable for the purpose for which it is being used', which certainly is a legal requirement. NB. In the case of electrical equipment in rented accommodation or residential care homes, the scope of the legislation only covers equipment that has been supplied by the landlord or care-home company (the 'supplier'); it is not concerned with personal equipment owned by tenants or residents. For more information about the legislation concerning electrical equipment in the workplace, rented accommodation or residential care homes, etc., see (see 'The Law').
*Practical Limitations
In the workplace, I potentially test all items that have either a standard 240 volt three-pin plug or a 16 Amp 240 volt (blue) or 110 volt (yellow) round plug/socket attached. However, in rented property I only test the items (with plugs) that are supplied by the landlord. Similarly, in residential care homes, etc., I test all items (with plugs) that are supplied by the care-home owner either for use by the residents or by the staff. This is because personal equipment owned by tenants or residents is not covered by legislation, and is therefore not tested.
Systems such as file servers, mail servers, network switches/hubs and telecommunications equipment will not be inspected/tested by me without the express permission of the client.
I do not unplug and test telephony equipment such as PABX or ISDN boxes, etc. that are supplied by the telephone company (much of this equipment, once installed, should really never be unplugged or switched off).
Equipment such as video recorders, clocks, central heating system timers, burglar alarms, etc. that loose their programmed memory when disconnected from mains voltage, will (for this reason) only be unplugged and inspected/tested by me with the express permission of the client, and it is the responsibility of the client to arrange for reprogramming of this equipment, if necessary.
Please make sure that the equipment that you want inspected/tested is on site when I arrive! This is particularly pertinent in the case of laptop computer chargers, projectors, power tools, mobile phone chargers, etc. NB. In the case of equipment that is powered by a rechargeable battery, such as battery hand-held power tools, mobile phones, laptop computers, etc., you only need to supply me with the charger; I don't need access to the equipment itself.
The equipment can only be tested if I have easy access to its plug. If the plug is inaccessible, for example, hidden behind heavy, awkward objects, then unfortunately the equipment will not be tested.
I can only test items that have either a standard 240 volt three-pin plug or a 16 Amp 240 volt (blue) or 110 volt (yellow) round plug/socket attached; electric cookers, water heaters, large built-in radiators, electric heaters, etc. that are directly wired into a fused outlet will not be tested as this would necessitate the switching off of the electricity at the mains (something which would inconvenience everyone) and also the dismantling of the fused outlet, something which, like most PAT Testers, I am not qualified, insured or legally allowed to do.