The problem
Heaters, festoon lighting, distribution boards and extension leads go out every weekend and come back wet. Customers, venues and insurers can ask for test records, and a heater that missed its test going out to a wedding is a real risk. A firm with about 150 electrical items, keeping test dates on a spreadsheet, spends about 45 minutes a week checking it against the jobs going out: about 193 minutes, over 3 hours a month.
What the AI does
Current RMS's testing and maintenance features let you set up your own inspections, choose which kit needs testing and how often, and record results, including PAT, Test & Tag and LOLER, as pass or fail, with a full history per asset and printable test documents. You can filter upcoming tests by due date, and its site says it warns you when an asset due a test is allocated to a job and can stop it being allocated at all. Damaged or lost items go into quarantine and come out of available stock. Your electrician or competent person still does the tests; the software keeps the record and the warnings.
A worked example
A marquee hire firm in Lincolnshire has about 150 heaters, lights, leads and distribution boards, each with a barcode label. The office manager sets up PAT and visual inspections in Current RMS and logs results when the electrician tests each batch.
Before
Test dates on a spreadsheet, about 45 minutes a week cross-checking jobs: about 193 minutes a month
After
Warnings when kit due a test is allocated, and about 10 minutes a week checking upcoming tests: about 43 minutes a month
What it's worth
The value here is a safety record rather than money, so the monthly value is set at nil: every test is logged against the item and kit due a test is flagged before it goes out. It also saves about 2.5 hours a month (193 minus 43 = 150 minutes), which isn't priced. Current RMS is $83.13£62.50€74.38A$120C$117.50 a month for the first user, plus VAT, so it pays back as part of the system you use for stock and quotes, not on testing alone.
How to set it up
- Label each electrical item with a barcode or QR code made in Current RMS, so tests are recorded against the right asset.
- Set up inspection types, such as PAT and a visual check on return, and how often each kind of kit needs them, as your electrician or competent person advises.
- Turn on the warning, or the block, for assets due a test being allocated to a job.
- Record each result as pass or fail, and quarantine anything that fails or comes back damaged.
- Each week, filter upcoming tests by due date and book the tester before the busy weekends.
What goes wrong
- Software records tests; it doesn't make kit safe. Testing is done by a competent person, and failed items stay off hire until repaired and retested.
- If returns aren't checked and quarantined straight away, damaged kit can show as available for the next job.
- How often to test is your decision with your electrician and insurer, not a default in the software.
- It only warns about items with an inspection set up. Anything without a label and a test schedule is invisible to it.