PAT testing of brand new appliances?

[LeanneA]

Sorry, me again

If I am buying brand new appliances, do I have to get them PAT tested before use, or am I OK until they are 12 months old?

[Nemo]

No PAT testing is for when they are over 12 months old.

It still gives no guarantee - my kettle blew a fuse three weeks after being tested and fused all the electrics! Guests were at a loss so I had to contact a neighbour who went round, unplugged everything, then plugged each item back in, one by one, until they traced the fault.

[LeanneA]

Thanks, I thought that was the case, but nice to have it confirmed.

I'll put the PAT testing down as a cost for next year then, cheers!

[LaVilleauTady]

Unnecessary electrical safety tests cost office-based businesses an estimated £30 million a year.

It's a myth that every portable electrical appliance in the workplace needs to be tested once a year - and what's more it's a costly one.

Misleading advice and advertising, often by companies who offer the testing, is contributing to low-risk businesses such as offices, shops and hotels paying unnecessarily for over-the-top maintenance regimes.

The law simply requires an employer to ensure that electrical equipment is maintained in order to prevent danger - it does not state that every item has to be tested or how often testing needs to be carried out.

Nick Starling, Director of General Insurance at the Association of British Insurers, said: "Insurers have never required policyholders to undertake unnecessary portable electrical appliance tests which are not proportionate to the risk."

source: Health & Safety Executive.

The H&S Executive have even discontinued PAT testing in their own offices!

You can also fulfil your obligations by undertaking a simple visual check over appliances for such things as frayed cords or cracked plugs.

[greenbarn]

The law simply requires an employer to ensure that electrical equipment is maintained in order to prevent danger - it does not state that every item has to be tested or how often testing needs to be carried out.

And the obvious option for the employer (or owners of premises where electrical appliances are available for use by the public, which is more relevant to us) to demonstrate that the equipment is maintained is to have it PAT tested following the relevant guidelines (which is all they are) laid down by the IEE's current code of practice. Hence the circle of confusion spins merrily on.

I'm not aware of any statement that suggests that new appliances don't need safety checks before being allowed into use, and not until they are 12 months old, although I'm not going to plough through the latest version to see if it's changed! I did a PAT testing course some years ago, and the advice given was that new items should be tested. Backside covering? Possibly. It depends on whether you think that every new electrical item you buy has been checked..... A couple of years ago I bought a dozen brand new extension leads and thought I'd better do the decent thing and test, record and sticker them properly. Three of them failed on my Seaward PAT Tester, and when I opened them up sure enough the Live and Neutral leads were swapped; they hadn't been tested at manufacturing, and they obviously hadn't been inspected either. TBH, I'd struggle to think of the circumstances where they'd be unsafe, but being correctly wired is essential for passing the tests.

So I don't have particular faith that a new appliance is guaranteed safe; but then I don't have faith that an appliance that was passed as safe a week ago is safe this week. Which brings us on to:

You can also fulfil your obligations by undertaking a simple visual check over appliances for such things as frayed cords or cracked plugs.

wherein lies much good advice. The electric iron that passed its (6 monthly, rather than 12 monthly) PAT testing on Friday last week was dropped on the floor by a guest on Monday of this week; it now has a crack in the casing. A quick glance by somebody with a degree of common sense suggests it is potentially unsafe. No special skills, knowledge or equipment needed. You don't need to quantify how unsafe, measure anything or check anything else; it's potentially unsafe, so out it goes.

The visual check is the single most important part of PAT testing; many appliances (Class II, with the square in square symbol, no earth connection) will need nothing more and get their little sticker after a quick eyeballing, maybe combined with running the fingers the length of the flex to feel for any damage in the insulation and a tug to make sure everything's secure. Pretty much any of us can do it.

Or you could just assume that everything's absolutely fine until the next scheduled PAT test reveals otherwise.......

[Nemo]

My electrician suggested that testing before 12 months was not necessary, however he also stated as LVT has that it is not the law to have one.

Am I right in thinking that to gain certain quality ratings, they state you should have a PAT test?

As usual, it's nice muddy water, but I guess for the sake of a few pounds a year, it demonstrates to the guests we are diligent and gives us peace of mind - albeit falsely as in my case!

[Lindisfarne]

PAT testing is only recommended by agencies such as ECC and C4Y etc.

It is NOT a requirement at all and I have never done so at the cottages however some would like you to believe that it is a requirement as they gain additional work

I did get it done once at my office facility which is a network of 15 or so computers and the idiot electrician unplugged a computer at the mains and plugged it back in again and shut our whole system down for most of the day

As I say not required

[greenbarn]

My electrician suggested that testing before 12 months was not necessary, however he also stated as LVT has that it is not the law to have one.

Okay, let's confuse this further! I promise I haven't been searching for it, but it happens to be on the same page in the IEE Code of Practice as something I was looking for:

It is normally not necessary to test new items of equipment as the manufacturer has already tested them.

So that's useful to know.

On the same page are the suggested test intervals for different types of equipment in different environments, which suggests a 6 monthly test interval for e.g. a hand held electric iron used by the public (our guests).

BTW, I'm looking at the 3rd edition of the Code, and I've discovered that the 4th edition has been out for a couple of months, and was re-written in response to the Lofstedt report which was part of the Government's overhaul on H&S legislation. I think there may well be a link with the quote from LVT's useful post. Time for a new copy - maybe this version will tell me not to bother and we can all save time and money!
Your electrician's advice seems pragmatic, and not the line of some of the many enterprises that sprang up using scare tactics to flog unnecessary PAT testing.

Am I right in thinking that to gain certain quality ratings, they state you should have a PAT test?

Can't remember if VE insist on PAT testing - again, it's the most straightforward way to demonstrate observance of your responsibilities.

As usual, it's nice muddy water, but I guess for the sake of a few pounds a year, it demonstrates to the guests we are diligent and gives us peace of mind - albeit falsely as in my case!

Muddy indeed. I'll be interested to see what the revised edition has to say, (I know, I need to get out more, but I've been laid up with flu and the fever's only just receded) as one of the drivers for a re-write seems to be the confusion due to misinterpretation of the previous versions.

It's the false peace of mind that bothers me: in its simplest form the legislation says something along the lines that we should ensure that electrical appliances are safe; that includes noticing that something is amiss and taking action, regardless of scheduled testing. If that process can be demystified and performed by us, then it's arguably more useful than formal PAT testing. BTW, as I don't read the Daily Wail, when was the last reported case of a guest - including hotel B&B etc etc - being injured as a result of a faulty electrical appliance?

Now then - when did you last have the fixed electrical installation tested? You do know it has to be done every five years, don't you......... Or maybe that's changed as there haven't been many recent cases of properties mysteriously re-wiring themselves in the middle of the night.

[greenbarn]

I did get it done once at my office facility which is a network of 15 or so computers and the idiot electrician unplugged a computer at the mains and plugged it back in again and shut our whole system down for most of the day

A wonderful illustration of the ability levels displayed by many employed to perform PAT testing (it is very boring, after all):
Knowing that it's necessary to unplug the equipment to test it
- check
Having sufficient common sense to inform the Customer of this, and to wait for the go-ahead
- oops.........

[Lindisfarne]

Save yourselves some money

Heres the HSE link LaVilleauTady was quoting from

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg236.htm

[greenbarn]

From the description on Amazon (my bolding):

Having undergone an extensive re-write The IET s new Code of Practice for In-service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment, fourth edition, has been ratified by its peer group review panel and is currently undergoing final production stages prior to publication in early November 2012. On The 28th November 2011 The Lofstedt report was published which highlighted a significant legislative over compliance by industry. From this, PAT testing was highlighted as a misunderstood requirement to carry out inspection and testing annually, regardless of equipment type, usage or environment. Inspecting or testing annually has never been a requirement and the new Code of Practice has been up dated to emphasise and expand on this. The fourth edition of the Code of Practice has been written to emphasise the need to risk assess the requirement for any inspections and tests. Risk assessments are vital to understanding the key influences that can affect the state of any electrical equipment in use and subsequently its continued safe use. Any risk assessment process must be carried out by the duty holder, as the duty holder or responsible person, is solely responsible for the safety and maintenance of equipment in their care. A duty holder may use an outside consultant to advise them of the type and frequency of any inspections or tests; however the duty holder is responsible in all cases regardless of any consultant s advice.

The notion of the risk assessment is interesting, and very sensible (in theory, anyway.....). The suggested testing intervals have always been accompanied by the advice that they should be reviewed based on ongoing test results, but the risk assessment idea makes more sense by effectively "reviewing" up front. Taking as an example a TV, it's plugged in, it never gets unplugged, it never gets moved, its switches never get touched as it has a remote, the mains lead doesn't dangle on the floor where it might get damaged, and it's double insulated. What fault is likely to develop that could compromise its safety?
Compare with an iron - long flex that gets coiled around the iron when finished, probably before the iron has cooled, plug that gets dropped on the floor, with or without the iron, flex gets stretched to its limit because it's just that teensy bit too far from the wall socket to the end of the ironing board, heat affects the insulation material and casing, the iron is subjected to violent movement during use, and it's got a nice big exposed metal bit. How long is it going to be before it's no longer safe?

No idea if that will be what the new Code of Practice suggests, but it would make sense. I won't be finding out in a hurry anyway, as it costs about fifty quid to buy.

I think I should go and lie down now until I can find something more interesting to think about. (Why do I get the feeling that I'm talking to myself? )

[greenbarn]

Save yourselves some money

Heres the HSE link LaVilleauTady was quoting from

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg236.htm

Oooh, you're a star!

[Happylady]

PAT testing is only recommended by agencies such as ECC and C4Y etc.

It is NOT a requirement at all and I have never done so at the cottages however some would like you to believe that it is a requirement as they gain additional work

I did get it done once at my office facility which is a network of 15 or so computers and the idiot electrician unplugged a computer at the mains and plugged it back in again and shut our whole system down for most of the day

As I say not required

Thanks Lindisfarne, was about starting to think about getting ours tested but no need. Many thanks for this info

[ianh100]

Glad to have seen this post, I did get items tested last year. I found it very difficult to get sensible information about a lot of things relating to running a holiday rental. I think most have been discussed on this site (shame I did not see it a year ago).

Things like fire safety assesments, PAT testing, all very confusing. We managed to apply for business rates and get a 100% discount so far as we only have the one property.

The one I am not looking forward to is our tax return. We are a very long way from making any profit but I do want to make sure I carry forward losses with the assumption we will make a profit in the future. can anyone here recommend an accountant with FHL experience?

[falbayview]

yes, many thanks to Lindisfarne and all, very informative and saved me £70'ish to boot, did the PAT thing last year around this time and thought i needed to this year too... my electrician intimated that i needed to, but then he would wouldn't he

he'll get no pint from me when i see him down the pub