In article ,
Andy Dingley writes:
Any ideas on reasonable charges for PAT testing ?

Friend of mine has a market stall. Market rules now require all
electricals to be tested by their visiting PAT testing chap. Prices
are per-item tested, and seem excessive IMHO. What would the team
think was reasonable ?

It's a long time since I looked at this, but the figure I
have at the back of my mind was £6/item, which included minor
repairs (such as making something pass if it just needed the
plug refitting to do so), and included the cost of new plugs
on up to 10% of appliances tested (any more than that and the
plugs were charged for extra). It was a figure for bulk testing
(one-offs would be more) but it would not include the record
keeping, which is not relevant in this case.

I would say that it was unreasonable to insist that one
particular electrician had to carry out the work -- anyone
with C&G 2377/02 certificate should be able to do the work,
and it is specifically intended that this can be done by
non-electricians. If you are being forced to use one
electrician, be bloody minded and insist on seeing his
C&G 2377/02 certificate (Certificate of Competence for the
Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment) - claim
your insurance company requires a photocopy of the
certificate or some such;-). Most electricians do not have
this, and have no clue how to perform PAT testing. If he
starts the test by connecting the appliance to a PAT tester,
then he isn't competent to perform PAT testing -- that's
something you can easily spot.

If your friend sells many electrical goods, is competent
at wiring plugs, and knows the difference between millohms
and megohms (that's the bit which many electricians seem to
have a problem with), he should do the course and exam
himself (takes 2 days and evenings), and then buy a suitable
PAT tester.

--
Andrew Gabriel