This is the million dollar question between pat test; You’ll hear many different answers depending on who’s asking the question, who’s answering it, and whether the answer is being given to a customer or another business.

I have heard some companies say “if you can’t PAT 500 items in one day, then it’s not good for us” when looking for contractors to PAT test them, and I’ve heard company managers say “If my staff tests 200+ items in a day, I’d be asking them what they missed”

With PAT tests it is common to have aPrice per item’ making the job almost “peace rate” this shouldn’t make any difference but with some companies charging so little this can mean rushing the job and taking shortcuts to make as much money as possible.

How long is a work day? Usually 8 hours, with breaks… many clients expect a PAT tester to work much longer than that and sometimes the PAT tester will do a job in 1 day instead of 2. Many times I have worked 10 to 12 hours. day to avoid returning to a site on a second day.

But how many items should be tested in a day? That depends on what is being tested and the location… 110v tools on a construction site, for example, take much longer to test than computers in a call center or spare cords in a repair room. IT storage.

Let’s keep things simple for this investigation;

We have an 8-hour day, of which we will take a 30-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks, which leaves us with 7 hours of work.

We are working in an office environment with banks of computers. There are 50 people working in the office, each with a computer. Every 5 computers feed a printer. So with a 4-item computer (PC hard drive, monitor, and 2 detachable cables) and the 2-item printer (printer unit and detachable cable), then we have 10 printers.

So, there are 50 computers, which are 200 articles, 10 printers, which are 20 articles, that is, 220 articles.

To perform the tests, we must first disconnect the cables, then we must verify that the correct fuse is in place, verify that the cable is in good condition and that the connection points are not damaged. A good experienced PAT tester should be able to check the cable in about 30 seconds (most IT items these days have sealed plugs, if we were to open the plug to check the inside this process would take 1-2 seconds). minutes).

In addition to the wires, the unit must be checked, then electrical tests must be carried out on all elements. When connecting and disconnecting, it takes approximately 30 seconds to test each wire, and the same for each appliance. In total, it should take a couple of minutes to test each device.

No matter how good or experienced the PAT Tester is, they shouldn’t be able to test more than 20-30 items per hour, in an office environment. This is a good level to work at: 220 articles at 30 articles per hour is about 7 hours.

There will be times when more can be done and times when less can be done, but the point to consider here is this:

If we just calculated that in a 7 hour day (approximately) we should be able to test 220 items, how can some companies promise their customers that they will test 500 items at the same time?

A national PAT testing company was hiring local contractors, I had no intention of working for them, but applied anyway to learn more about their operating methods. They called me to discuss my application and I made a big mistake when I answered their question:

“How many items can PAT test in one day?”

My answer, “Honestly, around 2-250 in an ideal environment”

Your answer “that’s not enough for us, you must do a minimum of 500”

I explained to them that this was not possible and they told me “No matter what is possible, just do what you have to do to complete at least 500 PAT tests per day”

I let them continue, thinking I was still interested and the pay rate increased, they would pay me 20p for each item I tested for them.

If you tested 500 items in one day you would earn £100.00. For someone who is self-employed, that’s not a very good rate of pay. That’s why these guys have to sell 500 items a day, minimum to make a living. Remember that out of that £100 they have to pay for your fuel costs, daily expenses, insurance, equipment, holiday pay etc. Testing 500 items in a day, or 70 items an hour is impossible if done correctly, which is why mistakes are made and why most will never complete a full visual inspection and are also unlikely to complete electrical testing as well, such as at this rate they hardly have time to stick a label.

Be very careful who you choose for your PAT tests, don’t get caught up, use someone honest, like DRA Electricals.

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