Croydon Pat testing

We are a small family run business, who provide a reliable and quality PAT testing service at the highest level.
We can carry out PAT testing for most industries. From Landlords to Offices, Events to Construction Sites and DJ's to Schools. Please visit our testing requirements page or contact us for more information.

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WHO NEEDS PAT TESTING?

The Health and Safety Executive guidance topics state the requirement that “any electrical equipment that has the potential to cause injury is maintained in a safe condition.” Thus, it is important for any business owner, from a sole proprietorship who works from home, from a large multi-national corporation to ensure compliance with this requirement. The responsibility of safe appliances lies with the person who is the duty holder; this could be a business owner, landlord, equipment user, or manager of a premisis.

Any portable appliance in a working area, from a printer to a kettle, to a microwave to even a vacuum cleaner, should have periodic portable appliance testing, especially via a qualified and certified PAT Testing engineer. A PAT Testing engineer will know exactly what to look for and where to look for it, from plugs and outlets to the casings around any portable appliances.

Another group who need to consider adding PAT Testing to their yearly business practice are landlords. If a person is letting out accommodation in order to make money as a business venture, and this includes such places as flats, boats and holiday rentals, then they fall under the same safety regulations as a standard office building. Flats still have plugs and wiring, as well as portable electronic appliances such as microwaves, kettles, and washing machines and all these portable appliances are under the responsibility of the landlord to ensure they are safe under the 1994 Electrical Equipment Regulations.

Other businesses that should perform frequent PAT Testing include beauty salons, night clubs, hotels, doctors’ offices, and health clubs. PAT Testing does not just apply to standard offices with computers and copiers, but any workplace that has portable electric appliances. It not only a smart business move to have all of the companies appliances checked and up to date, but it also ensures the health and safety of both their employees and their customers for the future

Portable Appliance Equipment

There are many European standards and guidance notes regarding portable appliances and equipment, though they do not establish a common and specific definition of such equipment. Even so, there does seem to be a consensus of opinion that such equipment is either hand held whilst being connected to the supply, or is intended to be moved whilst connected to the supply, or is capable of being moved without undue difficulty whilst connected to the supply.

It is usual for this equipment to be connected to the supply via a plug and socket, however this is not a requirement for electrical equipment to be deemed portable or transportable. It is common to define a portable appliance by saying that it is 'anything with a plug top on the end of it'. This is a mistake as it may mean that there are some appliances in the system that are never tested.
The National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers (napit) define a portable appliance as 'any electrical item which can or is intended, to be moved whilst connected to an electrical supply.'
The IEE Code of Practice gives guidance on the various equipment types:

Portable appliance

An appliance of less than 18kg in mass that is intended to be moved whilst in operation or an appliance which can easily be moved from one place to another, e.g. vacuum cleaner, toaster, food mixer, etc.

Movable equipment (transportable)

This equipment is either:
18 kg or less in mass and not fixed, e.g. electric fire.
or
Equipment with wheels, castors or other means to facilitate movement by the operator as required to perform its intended use, e.g. air conditioning unit.

Hand Held equipment or appliances

This is portable equipment intended to be held in the hand during normal use, e.g. hair dryer.

Stationary equipment or appliances

This equipment has a mass exceeding 18kg and is not provided with a carrying handle, e.g. refrigerator.

Fixed Equipment/appliances

This equipment or an appliance which is fastened to a support or otherwise secured in a specific location, e.g. bathroom heater.

Appliances/equipment for building in

This equipment id intended to be installed in a prepared recess such as a cupboard or similar. In general, equipment for building in does not have exposure on all sides because one or more of the sides, additional protection against electrical shock is provided by the surroundings, e.g. built in electric cooker.

Landlords therefore need to regularly maintain the electrical equipment

Anyone who lets residential accommodation (such as houses, flats and bedsits, holiday homes, caravans and boats) as a business activity is required by law to ensure the equipment they supply as part of the tenancy is safe.The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 requires that all mains electrical equipment (cookers, washing machines, kettles, etc), new or second-hand, supplied with the accommodation must be safe. Landlords therefore need to regularly maintain the electrical equipment they supply to ensure it is safe.The supply of goods occurs at the time of the tenancy contract. It is, therefore, essential that property is checked prior to the tenancy to ensure that all goods supplied are in a safe condition. A record should be made of the goods supplied as part of the tenancy agreement and of checks made on those goods. The record should indicate who carried out the checks and when they did it.It is strongly advisable to have the equipment checked before the start of each let. It would be good practice to have the equipment checked at regular intervals thereafter. You should obtain and retain test reports detailing the equipment, the tests carried out and the results.

Extension leads

Extension Leads

The length of an extension lead should be checked to ensure that it is not so great that the appliance performance may be affected by voltage drop. Additionally, the length should not exceed the following:

core area maximum length

1.25mm2 12 metres

1.5mm2 15 metres

2.5mm2 25 metres

2.5mm2 extension leads are too large for standard 13A plugs, although they may be used with BS EN 60309 industrial plugs. Extension leads exceeding the above lengths should be fitted with a 30mA RCD manufactured to BS 7071.

Users of extension leads must be made aware of the following:

Users of extension leads must be made aware of the following:

• Long extension leads have a higher power rating when un-coiled compared to when they are coiled. If the user intends to use the extension lead to power say a 2kW heater, then it is very important that it is fully uncoiled. If it is not coiled, then there is a risk of a fire breaking out.

• An extension lead wired with normal 13A cable should not be longer than 12 meters.

• An extension lead must not be plugged into another extension lead such that their total length exceeds 12 meters.

• If the extension lead is longer than 12m, then it must be fitted with a Residual Current Device (RCD) with a rated operating current not exceeding 30mA.

The PAT guidance for extension cables

The PAT guidance for extension cables says that they must always be three core (LNE) and should not exceed 12 metres in length for core diameters of 1.25mm2, 15m for 1.5mm2 and 25m for 2.5mm2. Smaller cable core diameters are not specified as far as I know, although where the cable length is longer than those listed above the cable can be used if protected by a 30mA RCD.

The 25m, 2.5mm2 extension cable should be fed via a 60309-2 (16A) plug by the way, rather than the standard BS1363 (13A) plug