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Information on New University Term Contract for Portable Electrical Appliance Testing
A new Term Contract for Portable Electrical Appliance Testing (PA Testing) has been awarded to specialist contractor Electrical Installation and Appliance Testing UK Ltd. (EIAT). They have undergone a fully competitive tendering process administered by the University Procurement Department and have demonstrated their competence to undertake the work in full compliance with statutory and University requirements. The contract will run with immediate effect until April 2012.
University Schools and Departments are now able to place orders for their PATesting directly with EIAT at the very competitive rate of 83p plus VAT per test. There is no requirement for Facilities Management Directorate (FMD) to be involved because EIAT will publish each School or Department’s test report as a secure file accessible from their website. Schools/Departments will be able to access this by use of an individual password that will be issued with the order. Accordingly there is no longer a requirement for Schools or Departments to pay an FMD administration fee.
Under the terms of their contract, if EIAT Engineers find any minor faults whilst they are on site; blown fuses or loose plug connections for instance, they will carry out repairs there and then at no additional cost. However if they find any equipment with serious electrical faults they will advise you accordingly and affix labels indicating that the equipment must not be used.
In order to initiate the testing procedure, Schools or Departments should contact Debbie Tennent at EIAT telephone: 01953 885000 or e-mail . They should advise her that the work is to be undertaken in accordance with the University of Reading Term Contract. Debbie will require the following information to book the work:-
1) An official University Order (if booking by telephone, the order number should be quoted and then issued by post).
2) An approximate number of appliances to be tested.
3) The full address of the School or Department to be tested.
4) A contact name to whom the EIAT engineers should report.
5) The access days and times when the work can be done (i.e. between 9 and 5 Monday to Friday).
6) Information about any special risks or restrictions that may apply.
7) How soon the appliances will be ‘out-of-date’ and due for re-testing.
8) It will also be useful if the EIAT engineers can be provided with copies of previous years test reports if available although they will draw up their own inventories.
Normal University practice is that PATesting contractors should not have access to higher hazard areas where access is restricted to authorised personnel only. Examples are Category 2 and 3 laboratories, the Bioresource Unit, radiation laboratories and plant rooms. If it is proposed to have PATesting in these and similar areas undertaken by contractors, it is the School’s responsibility to ensure that EIAT and their staff who are doing the work are adequately instructed about any risks and safe systems of work, and that they are appropriately supervised. High risk areas to be entered must be identified in writing to the contractors, with a written declaration that these areas are safe for them to conduct testing in.
Some General Information on PA Testing
The rules governing PA Testing are contained in University Safety Guide 12 – Testing Portable Electrical Equipment. This may be found on the Health & Safety website at:
http://www.fmd.rdg.ac.uk/safety/documents/SafetyGuides/sg12pat05.doc
Please note that the sections in this Guide on the administration of PAT testing, and specifically how to place an order with the external contractor, are now out-of-date and are superseded by this memo. Safety Guide 12 will be reviewed and re-issued as soon as possible to reflect these changes.
Appliances are defined within the Guide as either High or Low Risk, based upon the likelihood that their power leads or plugs may become damaged during normal use. High Risk Appliances are those that are held in the hand when used and / or are frequently moved around such as hand tools; kettles; extension leads; portable heaters etc. Low Risk Appliances are those that are not normally moved around such as fridges and PCs.
High Risk Appliances should be tested annually and Low Risk Appliances should be tested every three years.
Further details on the test and labelling protocols to be followed by EIAT are given in the attached method statement from EIAT.