All About Our Fixed Wire Testing

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 places the responsibility of ensuring the wellbeing of all personnel on a site squarely at the door of the company in charge of that site. It is the duty of that organization to monitor the activities and infrastructure on the premises, and verify that all of it conforms to established standards.

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 places the responsibility of ensuring the wellbeing of all personnel on a site squarely at the door of the company in charge of that site. It is the duty of that organization to monitor the activities and infrastructure on the premises, and verify that all of it conforms to established standards. In some cases, such as working at height, the rules and measures necessary to satisfy them may be relatively straightforward; others, such as the requirements of the 1989 Electricity at Work Regulations, are highly technical and will usually warrant the involvement of professional tradespeople in the monitoring and maintenance of the systems and processes with which they are concerned.

In order to comply with these regulations, employers must have in place a schedule for the periodic inspection and testing of all electrical fixtures within their premises. Fixed wire testing, also commonly known as periodic electrical testing, is the process of inspecting and testing the electrical systems within a building to identify any faults or potential hazards which may endanger employees, the public, or property.  For obvious reasons, fixed wire testing services should always be carried out by qualified electrical engineers.

Such tests are also sometimes referred to as ‘5 year electric inspections’, however this can be misleading; BS 7671:2008 Wiring Regulations from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) specify several different inspection intervals for different types of premises, many of which are substantially shorter than five years. If you are at all unsure of which inspection category your building falls into, getting in touch with a certified fixed wire testing service provider such as Exist A Test is the wise thing to do.

We appreciate that however necessary, periodic electrical testing is bound to represent a certain amount of inconvenience for your company. For our own safety and yours, it will be necessary for us to shut down part or all of your electrical system during the electrical inspection, and to have full access to all wiring and installations throughout the site. At Exist A Test, we are sensitive to the need to minimize disruption to your business – talk to our team to find out how we can work around you and conduct periodic inspection and testing without impacting your operations.

What is involved in the fixed wire testing electrical inspection process? Measures include: visual inspections of all accessible wiring and components; testing of systems including layout, earthing and polarity; checking component labelling and identification; individual component tests; reviews of record keeping and documentation. Techniques such as power measurement and thermal imaging can be used to identify faults. Components covered by the electrical inspection include main panels, distribution boards and switchboards, fuses, circuit breakers and residual current devices, power and light sockets, air conditioning systems and other fixed plant, and all the wiring in between.

Once fixed wire testing is concluded, an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) will be issued containing results and recommendations. This is an important document to demonstrate compliance to government bodies and insurance companies. To find out more, contact Exist A Test today.