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PAT: inspect before you testWhat's the fuse in the plug actually protecting?
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Plug, flex, body, and anything else that matters — feet, wheels, guards. A tick, a cross or N/A for each.
- Moulded plug (shredder, hot plate): you can open the fuse carrier and nothing else. Check the pins, the body, the fuse rating.
- Rewireable plug (extension lead): open it. Cord grip on the sheath, no stray strands, terminals tight, no heat marks round the fuse.
- The flex: its whole length, and especially where it enters the plug and the body. On anything that gets hot, look for where it’s touched or been trapped.
- The body: cracks, damage, a switch that isn’t secure. On the shredder, the bin as well: if the head can’t sit on it properly, it isn’t safe.
The fuse protects the flex, not the user. It’s the weak link, so the flex never overheats. Read the flex size printed on its sheath (0.75 mm² on both the shredder and the hot plate, 1.25 mm² on the lead) and check the fuse against Table 10.6: 0.75 mm² can take a 13 A fuse in a moulded plug, though not on a portable socket-outlet, and 1.25 mm² takes 13 A. And check the fuse fitted is the one the manufacturer recommends (Code of Practice p.79) — here a 3 A in the shredder and a 13 A in the hot plate, both within what 0.75 mm² allows. You don’t pick a fuse from the wattage.
Form 4.1 has a socket-outlet row under Condition. The socket itself is fixed wiring, not part of the equipment. If it’s damaged, the item comes out of use there and the duty holder gets an electrician for the socket.
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- 18th Edition
- Building Regs
- PAT
- Fundamental Inspection & Testing
- Initial Verification
- Periodic Inspection & Testing