• Portable Appliance Testing

  • plug

    PAT or Portal Appliance Testing is a safety test of your electrical devices. A thorough test of each device is made. If it fails, where we can, we will repair the item for you free of charge.

    We can provide tests for office equipment at very reasonable rates. We can carry them out after hours, at the weekend or even the middle of the night - just ask.

    During the test, the following items are checked:

    • Formal Visual check
      This is where we look over the device and plug for signs of wear and tear. Exposed wires, insulation peeled off or the wrong fuse rating, the cable can't be used.
    • Earth Continuity Check
      We've all heard of 'Earth' in electrical items but what is it? It's where any exposed metal of the devices is wired up to the Earth pin. If the device has a fault and becomes 'live', the electricity will flow to Earth and should kill the power via an RCD. This test makes sure that those metal parts are still connected.
    • Earth Resistance Check
      Like the above but checks to ensure that the resistance isn't too high to ensure that if a fault was to become live, the electricity would use the Earth route. Electricity always takes the easiest route (path of least resistance), this is to ensure your body doesn't become a 'shortcut'!
    • Insulation Test
      This test is to check that the insulation around the cable is intact. A high voltage is run down the cable to ensure no leaks are shown thus indicating the cable is safe.
    • Polarity Test
      This ensures that the power running to the device is wired correctly and in the right order. The is a Live and Neutral (as well as Earth) in any plug - if these wires are swapped round it can cause huge problems and make the device unsafe to use.