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Touch currentWhat's the limit for touch current?

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✋This is a live test. The appliance must be running. Many dedicated PAT testers can't do it at all — they only do dead tests.

Touch current measures the current that would flow through a person touching the equipment, to Earth. It's an alternative where insulation resistance isn't appropriate.
Maximum5 mA for AC equipment
Settling timeTake the reading after it has been stable for at least 2 seconds
Applies toThe protective conductor current test is only for class I and class II with functional earth — not ordinary class II
For scale: around 50 mA is enough to stop a heart. 5 mA is a tenth of that, which is why the limit sits where it does.
!If your tester can't do a test that's needed, you don't skip it. You bring in someone competent in inspection and testing — including live testing — to do it.

Section 10 · 10.7 · protective conductor current and touch current · 5 mA for AC equipment · p.74

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