Guide To 3-Phase Portable Appliance Testing For Hire Companies & Engineering Workshops
If you’re a hire company or engineering workshop, you already know the pain of getting someone in to test your 3-phase gear. The call-out fees, the per-item charges, the scheduling around your workflow — and then doing it all again in 6 months. For businesses running welders, compressors, 3-phase extension leads, and heavy plant, outsourcing 3-phase testing is one of those costs that quietly bleeds money year after year.
The good news is you don’t have to keep paying it.
Bringing your 3-phase testing in-house is more straightforward than most people think, and the right PAT tester will cover your entire fleet — single-phase and 3-phase — in one unit. Here’s what to consider:
- Getting a tester that handles both single-phase and 3-phase out of the box.
- Making sure it tests for safety, not just compliance — 10A earth bond is critical for equipment that takes a hiding.
- Tags that survive workshop and site conditions.
- Understanding how quickly you’ll recoup the cost vs. paying a provider.
The cost comparison
Most external providers charge a premium per item for 3-phase testing. If you’ve got 20–30 pieces of 3-phase equipment tested twice a year, you could easily be spending $2,000–$4,000+ annually on 3-phase testing alone — on top of what you’re already paying for single-phase. The METRO EasiPAT10 Pro Kit 3 Phase comes in at $4,818.50 incl GST with the 3-phase adapters included. For many hire and engineering operations, it pays for itself within the first year, and from that point on, your testing costs are just tags and time.
METRO EasiPAT10 Pro Kit 3 Phase
The kit that covers everything — single-phase and 3-phase testing with 200mA and 10Amp earthbond, PRCD testing, and the 3-phase adapters included. Simple one-button operation means anyone deemed competent can test confidently.
Portable Appliance Tester Heavy Duty Carry Case
Hire yards and workshops are not kind to equipment, and your PAT tester needs to survive the same environment as everything else. Our heavy-duty carry case keeps your EasiPAT 10 protected among the tools, welders, and gear — whether it’s stored in the workshop or riding in the back of a van between sites.
Custom Printed Test and Tag Labels
When your 3-phase equipment is going out on hire or being used across a busy workshop, your tags need to last. Custom printed tough tags with your company logo show clients and inspectors that the item has been tested and who tested it. For equipment in welding bays, grinding areas, or outdoor hire — where oil, sparks, grime, and weather destroy standard labels — clear overlays will keep your tags legible through the full testing cycle.
Metro iPAT 2 SupaPAT
If you’re a larger hire operation or multi-site engineering company with a big fleet of 3-phase and single-phase assets, the iPAT 2 SupaPAT gives you full audit trail capability — barcode scanning, commercial tag printing, detailed registers, and the ability to switch between client logos. When you’re managing hundreds of items across multiple sites or customer accounts, this level of record-keeping makes compliance straightforward and keeps everything auditable.
Enquire
Stop paying someone else to test your 3-phase gear — talk to the Metrotest team now:
0800 638 768 Metrotest@metrotest.co.nz
8:00 am – 5:30 pm Mon – Fri
