Looking at taking the C & G PAT course at the local college ( just to add to my engineering CV )
are there any sparks in the house that can tell me how long the qualification lasts before you have to redo the course ?
Have Heard its 3 years from somebody, but wanted to check with you lads
Thanks
Perksy
As it is a City & Guilds qualification, I don't think it 'expires' as such, but may need a topup if new modules are introduced. You can do the course in a single day now anyway.
Too be honest its not a requirement to have the qualification and is mostly for non-electricians
quote:
Originally posted by nitram38
Too be honest its not a requirement to have the qualification and is mostly for non-electricians
The company I work for has just sent a bloke to do the PAT course. He's not 'skilled' in any discipline but found the course easy. He
can now plug things into the PAT test box and put a sticker on it. He can squint at it to see if the cables, casing etc are damaged but that's
about it really!
However, the course does not absolve anyone from liability. If some blokey (or blokess) takes the course, tests a piece of equipment which kills
someone a few minutes later, the company directors are still liable. If you happen to be the company director, sending yourself on the course would
only make things worse as you should know how to test stuff! It's then the directors job to justify to the courts why they employed a peanut to
do a skilled persons job. PAT ticket or no PAT ticket!
"Competent" is the requirement for electrical work and is defined as someone with Knowledge, Experience & regular training.
THE HSE Guidelines on PAT testing say that anyone can do PAT testing with sufficient training. It doesnt need to have an electrical test, only a
visual and functional test.
INDG236 has all the information you need, available Here
PAT testing is a complete load of crap, wastes time, and does not prove an item is safe (or even if it works). It must cost our company thousands of pounds, even though we test in house, and does nothing to improve the safety of the men using the equipment. Rant over.
On the other hand, in some environments PAT testing can be the only time some electrical equipment ever gets looked at until it actually catches fire.
I'm thinking offices full of non techie types who won't give a second glance to a cable with quite badly damaged mechanical protection,
buried in a rats nest of daisy chained extension leads.
Don't get me wrong, I hate having to PAT test all of the kit I look after, it's soul-destroyingly boring and mostly redundant given that
it's generally only ever touched by engineers who will recognise any defects in the course of their work. But, it does at least formalise a
process of making sure that everything does get a look once in a while, and leaves an ass-covering paper trail.
What really annoys me is the H&S nazi on most of the sites that we work on swearing blind that everything needs testing annually, which is
just wrong, and gives me a couple of weeks of unneccesary work a year.