PAT lift off for South West electrical contractor with Seaward’s Apollo 600+

Investment in advanced technology is helping an electrical contracting business to complete rapid PAT (portable appliance testing) protocols as part of an intensive professional customer focused service.

Plymouth-based Plym PAT Testing provides specialist PAT testing services for landlords, caravan park owners and operators, letting agencies, hotels, guest houses, B&Bs, retail stores, schools and colleges across south west England, completing inspection and safety checks on tens of thousands of appliances such as electrical kettles, dishwashers, cookers, microwaves, office equipment and PCs within domestic and commercial properties.

As part of its ongoing investment in improving operations, Plym has equipped its team of field test engineers and sub-contractors with eight Apollo 600+ Elite test kits from Seaward. This is part of a strategy to ensure that customers can comply with their electrical safety responsibilities as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.

The Apollo 600+ undertakes all of the electrical safety tests required by the 5^th Edition of the IET Code of Practice, with the instrument automatically sequencing through the required tests. This can include earth continuity, insulation resistance, protective conductor current, touch current, IEC lead polarity and RCD trip times.

Test results are recorded in the instrument’s internal memory and the .GAR data files downloaded via the PATGuard 3 PC software program to produce test and inspection confirmation certificates and reports ‘flawlessly’, according to Plym’s owner, Mark Bramwell, who has been using Seaward testers for almost a decade.

After completing their test schedules, engineers can send the test results back to the office remotely for inclusion in client databases and create personalise documents with the company’s branding and additional information. This approach enables PAT test specialists such as Plym to establish professional working practices and standards across their customer networks, delivering a fully automatic and integrated time-saving electrical safety testing system.

Mark Bramwell said the flexibility, ease and speed of the Apollo 600+ testers, which are also used for occasional FATs (factory acceptance testing) and risk assessment work, overcomes time pressures and minimises disruption to customers daily activities.

“As a business, we work across a diverse range of sectors, environments and locations carrying out all types of electrical work including appliance testing upwards of 100,000 items each year. The Apollo is a robust, capable and easy-to-carry tester - I wouldn’t use any other machine. It has a range of excellent features and produces pass/fail results immediately with the ability to add on-the-spot remedial comments and recommendations.”

Plym’s responsibility to customers across the south west region means that it must carry out all testing as efficiently as possible, but without compromising the validity or integrity of the safety testing process.

“Consistency and reliability are essential in meeting this challenge,” Mark Bramwell said. “The use of the Apollo 600+ Elite kits ensure that we can provide a totally trustworthy and traceable record keeping and documentation system. In this respect, our ability to develop professional and highly organised working practices, with advanced test technology at its centre, is contributing directly to the successful growth and reputation of our business.”

Plym PAT Testing has worked with Seaward over a number of years, ensuring that the PAT testers and accessories continue to meet its needs. For example, it has upgraded its test instruments with the latest firmware to meet the 5^th Edition of the IET Code of Practice requirements and uses customised QR code labels for automatic appliance identification and test specification set up.

Mark Bramwell added: “We value our relationship with Seaward and our feedback is always helpful in ensuring that test technology continues to evolve to meet the needs of specialist electrical contractors like us and is used to its full potential.”

The Apollo 600+ tester and PATGuard 3 test results management software forms part of a comprehensive range of Seaward PAT instruments, accessories and software that have been specifically designed to meet the needs of electrical safety duty-holders in all workplaces.