How safe is your building’s wiring? How compatible is it with your buildings power wattage? For protection against any mishap you need to get your facility insured and for that you need to have a report carried out on your buildings installation. Faulty and old wirings are one of the major causes of electrical fire, domestic as well as industrial. To evade this it is a must to get your wirings and your installations checked at a regular interval, say 10 years.
After the inspection the electrical installation condition report is filed. You will find a horde of companies who would prepare the report for you at a certain price. But it is what you do after the report has been prepared that matters. If safety precautions are not undertaken following the report you might end up facing charge brought down upon you by the HSE or the Health Survey of England.
Why do you need an electrical installation condition report?
No matter how old your installations are they are always under the risk of suffering wear and tear. So it is only wise to get an electrician to go through your installations, report the damages if any, every 10 years or each time you move into a new property. Though the period between consecutive inspections depend upon the function and use of the building. Having an up-to-date electrical installation condition report also proves to be beneficial in case you are planning on selling a property.
The condition report makes sure that the installation is safe for continued use until the next inspection, with any newly discovered faults eliminated. It checks for damages, wear and tear; helps locate anything that may cause electric shocks and high temperatures and reports it. It also helps to locate any part of the electrical installation which does not satisfy the IEE Wiring Regulations. Last but not the least, the report helps maintain a record of installation at the time of inspection which can be used for future references when the next inspection takes place.
Types of electrical installation condition report
In case your installations were recently tested a Visual condition report would suffice, which as the name suggests, does not involve any testing. But it is recommended to go with the Periodic Inspection reports as it tests the installation thoroughly and finds any hidden damage.
Electrical installation condition report- what it is not?
Most of the reports after being filed gathers a pile of dust in some office drawer and the instruction are never executed leaving the people residing or working in the building at a great risk. Production of the report along with its contents and pursuing subsequent actions are often more important than the electrical installation condition report itself. Failure to address these issues would lead you to prosecution.
The electrical installation condition report does not certify the installation to be safe for continued use. It merely highlights the fault in your electrical system and it is only the first step of a series of precautionary measures and maintenance that follows to ensure safety.
It is impractical and unrealistic to carry out 100% inspection and testing in installations. So the first step of troubleshooting involves a test engineer familiar with setting sample sizes examining a percentage of your installation and chalking out the faults that he may find during the test. Based upon the prepared report he would make certain recommendations but this is just half of it. The next step involves you being a responsible citizen and following the recommendations made by the engineer. Apart from ensuring a safe working environment, this also keeps you square with the HSE as you prove to be a Good Samaritan and a rational member of the society.
