A helpful guide to prepare for your PAT testing appointment

We have been PAT testing electrical equipment for a long time; so long in fact that we are industry leaders in the UK, with a solid reputation both inside and outside the industry. We work alongside specialist electrical firms, facilities management and fire prevention companies.

Experience has helped us put together a package that ensures safety in your workplace. We have the skills and the tools to provide everything that is needed for you to have peace of mind that your electrical equipment is safe to continue using.

You get PAT testing done because you need the assurance that your electrical equipment is safe, your workplace is safe, your staff and other equipment users are safe and that you are complying with the regulations, and protected if something goes wrong.

Did you know, that if there is an accident or incident at your workplace, you need certain measures in place to protect you. Lets imagine there is a fire, it damages the building or god forbid, kills someone, there is going to be an investigation by your insurance company, the fire authority, the Health and Safety Executive etc and they are going to want to know that you have done everything you possibly can to make sure that your electrical equipment was safe.

Lets say a portable heater overheated and the plug caught fire, this led to the carpet catching fire, and the fire spread from there.

The first question they ask is – have you had PAT testing done?

If you have, brilliant. Now they want to see the results – where are they? If they were on paper, did they get destroyed in the fire, or do you keep a digital copy somewhere else? All our certificates are issued by PDF document, so you have it in an old email, or saved on your hard drive.  That’s going to save you a lot of stress.

Next, they want to see results – what tests were carried out? The report needs to show that the appropriate tests were done – visual inspection by the engineer, earth continuity test and insulation resistance (assuming its a class 1 item). This may come as a surprise – some PAT reports have nothing more than a ‘Pass’ result. They don’t list what tests have been carried out. These are not worth the paper they’re written on, and won’t help you.

Most PAT reports list the tests carried out, and whether they passed. This is a big help to the investigator. It tells them that at the time of testing, the appliance passed that part of the inspection. However, it doesn’t tell him/her any more than that, and if they’re deciding whether to pay out thousands of pounds, or whether they’re trying to decide whether you need prosecuting for negligence or even corporate manslaughter, then they want to know more, they want to know what the test result was. They need to see numbers on the page. Those numbers tell them the result of the test, and how much within the parameters of safety, the result was. This is what really helps you.

Why are we telling you all this? If you ever have to compare our prices with a cheaper supplier, check what results they are going to provide you with. We ALWAYS provide test readings, every time, most of our competitors DO NOT provide this information. That’s why prices are different.

Another thing to consider is repair costs – we include repairs in the price, so don’t charge extra to replace a plug or fuse. They do, and often it’ll be in the small print, and they have been known to say they have done repairs when they haven’t.

• In-service Inspection & Testing of Electrical Equipment
• Visual inspections of every appliances
• 110V & 240V appliances covered
• Microwave oven leakage tests
• Qualified and trained engineers
• Thermal Image Surveys for Servers
• Asset ID numbers unique to our database – each new item gets a new number
• Label numbers reference to the PAT Testing Report
• PAT Certificates that comply with CQC, ISO, Ofsted etc requirements
• Free minor repairs including plug and fuse replacement
• Drop in service at our office

When you found us, it was likely from our Google Reviews, we want an equally good 5-star review from you too, so we will provide you with a 5-star service.

• From your first conversation with our office, to the job being done by our engineers, to the ‘after sales’ work, you’ll notice that our standards are high.
• We use proper systems, so you are kept updated at all times.
• We send reminders when our engineers are coming, and on route, all from the same system.
• We believe in managing customer expectations.
• Our engineers where branded uniforms, so you always know it’s us and not a subby, or someone pretending to be us.
• We’re prompt, on time, and if we’re running late, we keep you informed.
• If an appliance needs a repair, we’ll aim to do it immediately. This means less Fails, more passes and less business disruption.
• We’ll work with you to ensure the best retest period for your equipment based on the risks involved.
• We ask you to review our work on Google; that way everyone knows your review is genuine.
• When retests are due, we will remind you – we will have already booked the job in, we just want to make sure the date is still convenient.

Don’t worry about what’s involved, you’re in safe hands. In advance of the job, and on the job, we will work with you to ensure everything that’s needed gets done. Our engineers are highly trained, we believe in keeping things simple, so we do a great job, first time.

If an appliance will fail, but just needs a simple repair like a rewire, new plug or fuse, we will do that, for free automatically, ensuring the item is safe and passes. We don’t charge for this.

Our team provides an efficient, no fuss PAT Testing service from beginning to end. Whether you deal with Chelsea in the office, Richard, or one of our engineers, you’ll see how important you are. Once you approve the quote, we’ll coordinate a convenient time and date to accommodate your schedule.

​On the day of the appointment, our engineer(s) will promptly arrive at your location, fully prepared to conduct the tests – you will have already been reminded of their impending arrival by text or email. To facilitate the process, we kindly request that all items are easily accessible and their locations are clearly identified – the engineer will benefit from a tour of your facility, this is a good time to discuss anything that can’t be turned off, or make them aware of any areas which are not obvious, such as locked cupboards, etc.

If you have equipment stored away that you want testing bring it out, or make the engineer aware. Anything at height, that is not easily accessible, will need to be brought to ground level to test.

If the job is on a building site, please note, our engineers can’t go into hard hat areas for our insurance. Bring any tools etc to the site office or canteen, where we can set up.

If you have home based workers, field engineers or your own mobile engineers make sure their kit is on site for testing. ​

Our engineers typically test between 250 to 300 items per day in an office based environment; less in industrial locations. Each item undergoes a thorough inspection and test before being labelled as a pass or fail, with our own personalised PAT Testing Labels.

When the job is complete, our engineers will talk to you about what has been done, informing you of any fails or major repairs, check you are happy the job is complete. They can talk to you about retest periods, risks, anything else they have spotted.

They’ll also leave you with a review card and branded Pen, and ask you to do a review of their work. You can scan the QR code, to go to Google, to leave the review. We would very much appreciate a review from you.

You will receive immediately a confirmation of completion job report, outlining what has been done.

Within a few hours you should receive the invoice from our office, which should be paid as soon as possible, and once payment is received we will send you your PAT Testing Certificate Report.

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Upon completion, you’ll receive a certificate via email along with a detailed report for each tested item. This certificate serves as evidence that safety measures have been diligently undertaken. The comprehensive report outlines the pass or fail status of each item, providing you with valuable insights into the safety of your electrical appliances.

Socket Testing is NOT a part of PAT testing, but some companies will charge you for it. They don’t actually do anything most of the time, but you still pay for it.

We don’t charge you, not ever, but we do report faults.

If we see a broken socket we will repair it. If it’s just the screw we’ll sort that there and then, if the full plate needs replacing, we will report it. Our electrician may even be available to come fix it.

If we see sockets with ‘do not turn off’ labels, we’ll check before turning them off. If we feel you may benefit from more protection, such as secure socket covers, we can recommend, and fit them.

We do minor repairs automatically, and free. A minor repair is repair of a faulty plug, or full replacement (’13a’ plug type BS1363); replacement of a plug fuse (up to 13a), repair of the existing flexible cable (includes cutting back to safe location and reattaching the plug/supplying new plug). These are repairs that happen the most.

Repairs that require expensive parts, that we don’t do for free

We can’t do all repairs for free, but the ones we have to charge for, we quote for first. We never just do. This could include replacing the full flexible cable on your hoover or replacing a broken commando type plug. Most clients however, never pay for repairs.

Most workplaces have a server, and we are yet to find a client happy for to turn them off! But leaving a server plugged in and running for ever, is not good practice, and increases the chances of a fire, so action must be taken.

We can do what most PAT companies can’t – we can offer you a thermal survey. To do this, we use a thermal image camera, to inspect all parts of the server looking for any ‘hot spots’. If we find any, we will report them to you, so your team can deal with the repair or replacement. More information on our thermal surveys here.