davethsparky said:

So is it only things that have 13amp plugs on that need testing? Do things with 15 amp plugs on not need testing? or what about gear with 400amp plugs on? And when did the IET remove the requirement to test appliances connected to the fixed wiring?

To the OP, You are required to maintain all of your electrical equipment in safe working order by the 'electricity at work regulations 1989'. The normally accepted method of achieving this is to comply with the 'Code of Practice for In-Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment' published by the IET.
This will tell you what needs testing and how and also how often it should be tested. It's not necessarily once a year, appliances used in garages/workshops/building sites need to be tested more regularly (possibly 6monthly) than a computer that sits on an office desk for all of its life and never moves (every 3 years or so would be fine) A competent tester should be able to explain all of this.

It is important to remember that PAT testing is only valid for the time it is carried out, much the same as an MOT. So having an 'in date' pat test certificate doesn't in any way guarantee the safety of the appliance or that you have fulfilled your legal responsibilities regarding electrical safety.

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Fook me, the right answer

I see this pretty often on forums and usually see a load of old bollocks posted as the gospel.

A 17th Edition qualified electrician is generally reckoned as competent to test any part of your electrical system, portable or fixed. There are other qualfications, including a 1 day PAT testing course, give careful thought as to who you might want in court as your professional witness if something does go pete tong

Tronicus and davethesparky seem to know what they are up to, if you want some idea of the correct replies to the questions you'll be asking any contractor, after all, it is the employer's duty to ensure contractor competency.

One thing to be aware of is the repeat test requirement. It IS NOT annually!!! As the duty holder you have to risk assess the equipment, is it liable to damage? if so how often? Your repeat testing should be based on the risk assessment, not on a service supplier's bank balance If an item is subject to damage then how do you visually check the item before you use it? Do you document the check? If it's an employee carrying out the check, do you have their training records on file (to show what they are checking for)?

I'm not a spark, I'm a 'elf 'n' safety bod with a B.Eng that has a very strong leccy bias to it

For the record, I work for a large telecoms company, I'm not "PAT test certified" whatever the hell that is, nor am I Part P, but I've done 17th edition, and did the best part of 2 years conduit bashing for a living for said company.

We don't use "standard" labels that you buy from any electrical wholesalers, they're colour coded to indicate the type of appliance and testing periodicity (appreciate that periodicity is probably dictated by the insurance co)

Yearly - Portable items in constant use/movement (laptop chargers and suchlike)
2 yearly - Portable items - i.e. kettle, broadband router, kettle lead to desktop computer, etc
6 yearly - Transportable items - ie. fridge, microwave

Any 'fixed appliances' connected to a fused spur unit are tested on the 5 yearly building electrical test.

Some of our safety reps still think everything should be done annually. For some strange reason....

Tronicus Maximus said:

Well appliances permanently connected should be fitted and comissioned by a certified engineer/electricain. So they'd carry out all the test though the comsumer unit to verify that if a fault occurs the RCD and/or the MCB would trip. So that would be out of a "competent" technicains boundries to test that.

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It shouldn't be out of their boundaries, i'm sure if you check the IET code of practice you'll find that all appliances need to be maintained and tested not just those with a plug on.
I'm sure as a competant person you'll have a copy of it, or at least access to a copy.

Tronicus Maximus said:

I think you can test the 16amp blue commando plugs, but to perform a run test, you'd need a PAT tester that can handle an MAX of 16amp. For office/commercial and domestic supplies, there aren't that many 16Amp plugged devices kicking about. I'd enquire about getting those devices tested.

As far as 400amp plugs are concerned, I think thats the realm of 3-phase, I've never used a 3-phase PAT tester. Some PAT testers can measure phase difference on 3-phase supplies, to see if you're drawing current equally from each phase, but never had to do it.

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Of course you can test equipment with commando plugs on (or any other brand of cee-form for that matter) it's a portable appliance after all. But that wasn't my question, I said 15amp not 16! they're the ones with round pins built to BS546, they were in general use before the BS1363 plug was invented, they're less common now but still in use.

I think you're getting a bit too caught up in the idea of plugging it into the machine and letting the machine tell you if it's safe or not. The vast majority of faults will be identified buy a good visual inspection, not by the test machine. And then the results the test machine gives you might as well just be random numbers if you don't know how to interpret them!

I agree you're unlikely to find many appliances with cee-forms on, but you are increasingly likely to find RCD plugs and adaptors these days, would you just plug then in to your normal machine and see what it says?

You'd be better of with a with a clamp meter than a pat tester for phase balancing methinks. Or maybe even a power quality analyser if you want to be posh about it.

The bottom line is, it's not about plugging it into a magic machine or how many pretty green stickers it's got. It's about providing and maintaining an electrically safe enviroment for you and your employees. Its perfectly possible to do this without the use of a PAT machine! If you keep up a regular inspection and maintainence regime and keep records of this you can keep everyone safe and comply with the law.

days course a monkey could pass and buy a tester- one man and his dog are doing it, like everything else till someone gets seriously hurt or killed **** all happens (yes I have a pat tester and it is a white elephant)