Stupid british tax (PAT Testing)
i just got an email this morning.. from my college.. in order to comply with certain HSE laws, they need to have all electrical appliances in the college PAT tested/certified.. and to do that, they're charging the students GBP2 per
item... with cables being charged separately.. wth!!! the list of items to be tested includes anything that's plugged into the mains.. this includes phone chargers, ipod chargers, shavers and every other little thing..
this got me all riled up.. considering the fact that i've got a lot of equipment with me.. it would easily cost me a small fortune to get it ALL tested... and the cables were charged separately.. so, kettle - GBP2, kettle cable - GBP2.. so, i did a little investigation..
with 500 students in the college.. and assuming that everyone has 10 items (with associated cables), that comes to GBP20,000 for virtually no work!! this is free money man!! even ibankers don't make as much!! at first i thought that the college was being fleeced by some unscrupulous contractor.. but a quick google showed that the price is quite standard..
then, i went to the lab to speak to the lab technician.. i wanted to find out if i could certify my own stuff.. i am a fully qualified electrical engineer for goodness sakes.. it seems that i would need to attend a 1/2 day course to get a certification before i can do pat testing.. further googling showed that to get someone certified as a PAT tester, only costs GBP235.. for the 1/2 day course inclusive of handbook and free lunch!! and to own a PAT tester
device costs about GBP 1,000...
my lab technicians were quite shocked at the price... it was exorbitant... they were quite surprised... tell me about it... this must be the easiest way for an electrical engineer to make money in the UK.. heck, at least i'm probably going to be better qualified than the actual PAT tester that the college will get to come to test the equipment.. plug the device into a
tester, and hit a few buttons, get a result.. stick a small sticker on the device and off i go...
further research shows that it is not necessary to have equipment tested annually.. in fact, there is no hard spec that says how often items need to be tested.. the IEE has only come up with guidelines... computers for example, only need to be tested once in 4 yrs... and it varies from device to device... for that reason, i believe that most electrical appliances DO NOT need to be PAT tested... as long as they've been tested and certified at manufacture...
maybe i should charge the college the GBP 20,000, spend GBP 2000 on the startup costs (including stickers and pens and paper), and do all the PAT testing for the college... that'll net me a cool GBP18,000 (3 yrs maintenance) for a couple of weeks of work... seriously.. stupid british taxes..
UPDATE: i'm having my appliances certified for free... it pays to be nice to your lab technicians..
7 comments:
update: IEE charges GBP288 for the course (including VAT)
haha, i was reading the email and giving thanks that i no longer live in college! and i just knew you would definitely blog about it =P
and i agree, everyone has at least 10 appliances - laptop, radio, hairdryer/shaver, electric heater, rice cooker/toaster, handphone charger, ipod charger, pda charger, and etc...
crazy....
ps. is the same happening in other colleges?
Haha..at least Trinity doesn't charge us for PAT Testing :)
Good idea, being a certified PAT inspector. Such good money! After that you can supply me with stickers and I can stick the stickers on the equipments I have which haven't been tested. Hahaha.
haha who said everyone has 10 electrical items? :D am planning to hide my chargers, who cares man.
anw, the jcr pres emailed us abt it saying that she might look into the costs involved, hope she can bring it down to 1 quid or sth.
haih, whatever the case, still got $ fly away..
still, 1 quid is highway robbery. even if you charge 1 quid per capita, you'll make about 500 quid over a week (assuming you're working really really slowly) for just sticking a megaohmmeter to terminals of an appliance.
heck, you can train a monkey to do that and you'll get money for nothing...
Hi Shawn, I work for a Portable Appliance Testing company so obviously I'm biased but PAT testing does have a valuable purpose. We test loads of companies, schools and universities every year and we find an incredible amount of dangerous equipment. Burnt out plugs and incorrectly rated fuses are a common problem.
It's not just a matter of slapping stickers onto your stuff, a good company with qualified staff will do a thorough visual check and then test with computerised PAT testing equipment (not a megaohmmeter as someone said in the comments!).
Just my 2 pence!
Wesley
www.londonpattesting.co.uk
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