ELECTRICAL SAFETY
How to undertake fixed wire testing effectively
Michael Joubert, the ‘architect behind’, and head of operations for, EDIS (Electrical Distribution Information System), a system used by organisations to manage their electrical compliance, takes a look – based on his many years’ experience in the field – at the priorities and requirements when undertaking fixed wire testing and reporting, and at some of the pitfalls if best practice is not followed.
We have been tracking, recording, and managing fixed wire electrical inspection condition reporting for over 10 years, and during this time thousands of electrical certificates have been issued. In this article I will be describe our observations over this period, and the lessons we have
learned while observing how fixed wire testing is planned, completed, and reported. Figure 1 illustrates the EDIS system that has been developed over the past 10 years, and supports the observations described in this article. My experience is that, in general, electricians
ELECTRICAL SUPERVISORS
PROJECT MANAGERS
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
ELECTRICAL COMPLIANCE REPORTS
Actions required Certificate Status Last Test date Next Test date
PLANNERS
New installations Condition reports Minor Works Board schedules Inspection schedule
ELECTRICAL RECORDS
HEALTH AND SAFETY
ELECTRICAL CERTIFICATES
Distribution boards Documents
Supplies Test data
CONTRACTORS
BUILDING OWNERS
complete their work to a good standard, that adheres to the various regulations. However, electrical risks often remain unresolved and unknown. It is, of course, the responsible person’s duty to ensure that all electrical risks are identified, quantified, and addressed. In order to meet this requirement, fixed wire testing programmes need to provide three key deliverables: n A completed and certified electrical inspection condition report. Without a completed certificate there is no record of the inspection, testing, and recommendations.
n If the condition report is 'unsatisfactory', the remedial work identified in the report needs to be completed. If the issues identified during inspection and testing are not addressed, the electrical infrastructure will remain non-compliant.
Schematics Thermo images
QUALITY ASSURANCE
Figure 1: The EDIS electrical compliance management system provides the process and automation to manage electrical compliance reporting – it supports stakeholders in creating electrical certificates, and managing, and reporting comprehensively on, electrical compliance.
n An acceptable level of inspection and testing coverage needs to be achieved. If a reasonable sample of the installation is not tested, the risk cannot be fully assessed.
These deliverables are easy for a small building. However, where an estates manager, in say, a large acute hospital, is responsible for hundreds of electrical
June 2020 Health Estate Journal 29
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