Yes fixed wire testing is mandatory under the electricity at work act 1989, frequency is 5 yearly. Dont get this confused with PAT,. In laymans terms the fixed wire test covers the infrastructure from the Mains incomer to the socket outlet. PAT tests equipment plugged into the socket.

Yes it is compulsory - 5 yrs for offices - but there are differing time scales - for some establishments this can be as little as one yr. If you Google 'fixed wire testing frequency' you should be able to find the list; I would post a link but don't want to upset the mods ref advertising etc (although I am not associated with any such company).

BS7671, although not law would be used as evidence against you should someone be electrocuted, or if a fire were to occur. The enforcement authority would use the recommedations as guidance to decide whether everything was done as far as is reasonably practicable.

ron, by your description of "earth leakage", I have to assume you mean power supplies that exhibit "earth leakage", these are also known as supplies with high protective conductor currents, they have special requirements in BS7671. You are correct that the "electrician" or more probably for a large commercial install an electrical engineer will specify the period from the install to the first inspection. I often do this and specify the period to the next required inspection. Very often this does not tie in with published IET guidance however, the reasons for this can be many. For more than 20 years now it has been a requirement that any new circuits, new installations, modifications to existing installations and periodic inspections have their inspection & test results formally recorded with a copy being provided to the client as far as BS7671/IEE regs are concerned. Whist these have no legal standing officially, it is almost certain that a copy of 7671 would be under the arm of the HSE inspector, the barrister or the expert witness in the event of a case.

OK Paul, I am wrong, But let there be an incident on a site where there are no test records or evidence of routine maintenance and we will se how wrong my statement is. (God Forbid)

quote=paul.skyrme]Kim, Also, having your equipment PAT'd every 18 months is a little over zealous IMHO.

Our PA tester had no electrical experience but passed the course, and now completes all our PA testing.

Thanks Gents. I think the advice given to us is purely to discourage us from doing it ourselves, and the frequency of testing is another way of making money. Andy

quote=ron hunter] As for PAT testing, you seem to have a fair range of kit, from benign office equipment to hand-held power tools. The frequency of PAT is very much established by risk here and you'd be well-advised to follow HSE Guidance tables - see HSG 107.

I'd agree with Claire there. Read your insurance policy, though be prepared to argue the case - ours said every three years even though the 'competent engineer said 5. We've been on site 7 years with the installed boards dated (by the engineer) 2008 for the inspection. I've been banging my head for the last 3 try to get the testing done - 1 year warning, 1 year overdue, 2 years overdue!! Best excuse? Why do we need to do? Our other site has never been done (20 years or so), its not a legal requirement! I finally got hold of an insurance document (MD wanted me to review for an unrelated matter) and it's there in black and white) - Ok we'll do it! Ron, while I'd normally agree with using approved organisations our experience of these is not too good. We've used four approved electrical contractors including the originally installers and had significant problems with the work of three of them, from faulty installations to shoddy documentation. In my experience there is no guarantee of good work, however you do have the back up of the complaints procedure. We now use a small local firm and have seen a much higher quality of work. I'd also ask is there a case for using an testing engineer independant from the installer?

I'm not sure if the 3 ways do but ours have been for several years now but only last year did a number fail as they did not have a fuse built in! I thinks that's been the case for some years, so why didn't the PAT techncians pick it up?

Motorhead, you should put any 13A 3-way adaptors you find straight in the bin, not PAT test them. These things are a dangerous menace. Prohibited in my workplace.

if Ron means one of these: http://www.letsbuyit.co....-amp-3-way-adaptor-fused we don't allow them either. They are heavy. They tend to cause mechanical damage and the electrical connections are often impaired.

But they are fused. Aren't most fires due to the non-fused variety and / or poor maintenece etc. Yes I know fuses aren't 100% accurate but they do work with overloading generally. And poor maintenece (or DIY'ing blowing fuses) is down to issues other than the use of these. Obviously everyone has to make decisons according to their own situatiuons and I respect anyone's decison to do so. I'm just never a fan of outright bans of anything like this - when there may have been a reason for their introduction in the first place. It leads to people doing things on the sly. I'm also dubious about anyone saying something like they are a 'dangerous menace'. Anything is dangerous if misued. But that doesn't make them inherently dangerous. I've used them for years, I even have one sat beneath my desk as we speak.....and I still sleep at night!!