Give it a PAT and you’re good to go.

For DJs, and other musicians, the PAT test can be a bit of a pain. Many venues require you now to make sure that all of your equipment has been thoroughly PAT tested before they let you even remotely near the area with it, let alone let you actually perform!

To begin with, you need to understand what PAT testing is. PAT stands for portable appliance testing, and is a requirement under several regulatory bodies to ensure that equipment is suitable for use, and also ensures the safety of others around the equipment.

As a musician/DJ, having your own equipment tested in this manner ensures that everywhere you take your equipment you’ll be able to show that it’s been thoroughly tested, and avoid any legal ramifications/missed revenue should something amiss occur.

Who Carries out PAT Testing?

If you’ve looked into it before, you’ve probably heard whispers of contractors and all kinds of PAT testing experts being the people who handle your PAT testing.

But what if we told you that PAT testing can be carried out by absolutely anyone?

That’s provided you’ve got the necessary qualification of course, but yeah, anybody, whether they’re an electrician or not, can become legally certified to carry out the work themselves.

But what does this mean for you, as a DJ/musician? Well, quite simply, it means you can become a certified PAT tester, test all your own equipment yourself, give it a safe rating (if it is safe) and then avoid the annoying costs of outsourcing the work to a contractor!

How Do You Become Certified?

In order to learn how to PAT test, it is most useful to attend a course where a trained instructor will walk you through the actual PAT testing process and teach you how it works.

At PASS we offer a competitively priced PAT testing course taught by industry experts. On the course candidates can learn everything from the theory behind PAT testing to how to actually carry out the work themselves by carrying out physical testing on a wide variety of appliances.

Once the course is done, you’ll then be given a certificate saying you’re a fully certified PAT tester! You will, however, then need your own PAT tester as well to carry out the tests, but once both of these are done you’re fully qualified to carry out any portable appliance testing on your own equipment (and others, should they need you to)!

Written by Barry Atkins at www.tester.co.uk