Whether you go for a price per item, per hour or fixed rate there are no hidden extras; the price includes remedial repairs to the existing plug and cable, and replacement (13a) plugs and fuses

Our prices are fair and competitive; they are carefully chosen based on the costs we incur and the ability to do a good job every time. Our PAT testing prices reflect our business, our standards, our ethos and the fact that our staff are paid proper wages – a competitive salary and are paid travel time with fuel allowance so they can concentrate on making sure your equipment is safe, rather than rushing around slapping stickers on anything like some cheaper suppliers may do.

For every job there is an initial fee of £25.00 (+ vat), which covers the travel costs, etc. for up to 30 minutes travel. Additional fees may be applied for longer distances.

On average we expect to be able to test, taking into account repairs and hold ups, around 200-250 items per day when on one site, so the price we charge is based on that. If we are on your site all day, the price per item will be cheaper than if we are only there an hour for example. If we are there more than one day then the per item rate may be lower but we will continue to charge the site fee each day, or you can pay the standard per item rate without the site fee. It’s up to you.

The following prices are for normal working locations such as offices, small businesses, doctors surgeries, cafe’s, shops, home workers, etc. For production areas, anywhere that requires PPE, dirty locations and large sites with lots of walking about between tests the price defaults to £1.50 per item.

VAT at 20% will be added to these prices; all estimates sent include the VAT, as will the invoice. These costs are true and correct; there are no hidden fees. All minor repairs are carried out free of charge, including the supply and fit of replacement 13a plugs, and fuses. The cost also includes labels and the fully comprehensive, itemised, PAT Testing Certificate and Report.

Please note: The price quoted refer to standard electrical equipment on standard 3-pin plugs. All 110v and 230v power tools on industrial type adaptors are charged at £1.50 per item, with a minimum £55.00 initial fee. For 400v equipment contact us for a quote.

We can quote a fixed price for the job; we will need to see the job first so we can arrange to come out for a look, do a survey, have a chat etc from which we will offer you a fixed price. There is no obligation to accept the price; you could even elect to go to the hourly or per item rates, or go elsewhere.

Price per hour is just like if you got an electrician to do an electrical job. We charge £55.00 (£66 incl vat) for the first hour, and £35.00 (£42 incl vat) for each subsequent hour on site. It doesn’t matter how many items we do the price is set at this rate.

Everyone wants a price per item these days, and so we can offer them too. Although it is rarely in your best interests… you’ll say you have 100 items to test, when actually there will be a lot more – rarely do you say the actual number. So if we test 100 items at £1 each that’s £100, but if we test 200 items that’s going to be £200; but it may only take an hour longer depending on the job, so at the hourly rate it would only be £160. You need to consider the options.

We will get back to you asap with an appointment at our next available date.

The price for any job is worked out based on various factors, just like any other job in any other profession. In our cases we consider things like:

• How many appliances need testing
• The working environment – e.g. a clean office or salon, or a dirty factory, or industry frought with danger where extra PPE is required
• How long it will take us to get there
• How long the job will take to do
• What the chances are of there being more appliances to test than expected
• How many repairs we have to do
• and so on

All these factors have to be taken into consideration when pricing for a job, which is why don’t have ‘set prices’.

What we do have however is a target earnings; how much we expect to make in a year, month, week, day and hour, just like any other business, and we will quote your work based on us achieving that.

We expect to be able to achieve 10-50 items per hour depending on the working environment; smaller numbers in factories where there are lots of repairs and we have to walk a lot looking for things, and more items in offices and schools, hence why they get the lowest ‘per item’ rates.

Our hourly rate works out at £35.00 per hour, so we tend to charge based on that. This means that no matter how fast or slow the job is, we still make the same amount of money. In high risk environments it works out around £2.50 per item, whereas in a low risk location it’s more like 75p. But, by pricing for the hour rather than the item we don’t have to rush our work, or feel under pressure in any way, because we know what we are earning, and we’re happy with that.

Give us a try – our PAT testing service is second to none, so what have you got to lose? 

Our engineers are very experienced, and we’ll do most remedial repairs for free, including replacing 13amp plugs and fuses.

We provide every client with a fully itemised PAT testing Certificate Report within a few days of the job being done – if you pay us before we leave we’ll get the report to you that very same day!

PAT testing generally works on a ‘per item‘ price; this means that for every ‘item‘ (electrical appliance) we test you charged once. An electrical appliance is any part of a full appliance that is mains powered (not battery powered) and could be used with the main unit it is attached to now, or a different unit if moved.

As an example: a desktop computer generally consists of a CPU, what most people call a computer, the computers’ power lead which detaches and can be used elsewhere, the monitor screen and its lead. There are other components but they do not work of the power of the mains directly. In total the desktop computer in this case has 4 items. If you have a second monitor, there are now 6 items. You may use a socket extension block for all these plugs, so that is now 7 items. If your phone charger is also plugged in, that’s 8. If you have a lamp on the desk that’s 9. If you have your own printer (2 items), that’s 11. And so on around the office. 

You don’t need to count all these; if you’re unsure, counting the number of computers in your office Is a good start. Say you have 20 computers, multiply 20 by 10 and you get a good approximate of how many appliances there are in the office. If you have a lot and don’t want the hassle, put in the notes that you’re not sure and can we come out to do the quote, we can, that’s fine and we don’t charge for that.

If you prefer we can work on hourly rates (we actually think this is better for you as it nearly always works out cheaper).

We carry out Portable Appliance Testing, and a select few other electrical testing services. On this page you will find our prices, which are based on ‘per item‘, ‘per hour‘ and ‘fixed‘ prices.

Portable Appliance Testing is used to make sure the electrical equipment (that connects to the mains via a plug & socket) is safe to continue using.

Legal Compliance: The process helps you to ensure that you satisfy the requirements of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 as well as a host of other regulatory workplace requirements.

Every time “PAT” is carried out, you are provided with a PAT Test Certificate and log of every appliance tested and the results obtained.

Records of Compliance: When you get PAT carried out, dependent on who you use, you may get a log with the electrical readings; whilst these are not essential they will be required if an investigation was ever launched against your company for (example) negligence, so it’s worth paying a bit extra to get these.

Risk Based Retest Periods: You also, are required to risk assess the equipment and its use to determine how often you should test equipment to make sure it is safe. You may not be competent to do this, but we are, and we do do this as standard when carrying out our inspections and tests. We automatically put this in place and it reflects on the report we provide you with. We then send you reminders when the next phase of inspection / testing is required, so that when that phase is complete you get an updated certificate and report, so you always remain compliant. You can do all this yourself, but you’ll find it very time consuming, which is why we take it away from you, saving you time and money.

In 2011 the Loftsed report claimed that many businesses were wasting money because they were getting PAT done too often; it was a badly understood document but the jist of it was right – businesses were getting everything tested every year, when it wasn’t always necessary, so a risk assessment was recommended. We have operated this way since new guidance in 2012; but very few PAT companies do, and most of our cheaper competitors continue to insist that you get everything tested every year. They may be cheaper now, but in the long run you will pay them a lot more. A recent example shows that even though our initial cost was double our competitor, the client would save 80% over 5 years; this equated to over £10,000!  

Maintaining safe electrical equipment is a legal requirement: Additionally we help you to maintain safe equipment, by carrying out repairs as we inspect equipment we are doing the maintenance for you. If we have to fail something we will guide you on the next steps, which could be to repair and retest, or dispose of the appliance. If we need to supply parts for plugs, repair the existing flex or replace a fuse we do so without passing on a single penny to you – there is no charge for remedial repairs on BS1363 plugs. And if we can do an extended repair which would cost extra we get your permission before doing it.

Society has pushed the industry into offering cheap per item rates for years, which has led to a poor service being received by you, which is why we stay clear of those rates. We still can give you a per item rate but it is a sensible price, that allows us time to carry out the work we need to do, and so we continue to do repairs, without added charges.

The prices we charge includes travel time, fuel and all other costs of running a business. For example, our staff are paid travel time and fuel expenses; our cheaper rivals not only do not pay these, but usually only pass on about 25% of the amount they charge you, to the engineer, which is wrong.

You then get on every job, whether you have 1 appliance or thousands:

1. A thorough visual inspection on every appliance including any necessary remedial repairs
2. Electrical tests as required by the appliance classification and use, and any necessary remedial repairs
3. A risk assessment to determine appropriate period until next test due, recomended
4. Label for the appliance with unique ID number, which refers directly to the report issued.
5. The itemised log for the appliance, recorded with the location it is in, showing the results obtained by the test carried out, and the overall result, with the recommended retest due by date
6. That item is listed on the report with all other items, and presented to you along with a failures log (if applicable), guidance and the PAT Testing Certificate in a PDF document with front cover, issued by email within 5 days of the job being carried out.
7. Recommendations and solutions from the engineer on any other areas of concern that they spot, or can fix
8. Cable management where IT power cables are messy we will tidy them up, and aim to reduce use of extension leads, reducing the fire risk
9. A reminder for retest approx 8 weeks before it’s due, with a suggested date when we would come to do the job
10. A budget planner if required, to show costs and retest programme for next 5 years, with guaranteed prices.

PAT testing prices are based on how long a job is going to take; every job is different of course but there is always a constant – it takes the same amount of time to inspect and test one plug in an office as it does in a hair salon or in a factory, but there are differences in what happens before and after, and those are too long to list. This means that in say an hour we could test 30-40 items in an office or school, possibly even a few more, whilst in a factory where we have to walk around a lot more looking for appliances, or have more repairs we may only get 10 or 20 items tested. This means that in a full day we could test 250-300 items, or 100-150.