Fixed Wire Testing in London

WHAT

 

Fixed wire testing covers all the hard wiring in your premises, including your fuse board, Conduits, cabling, seals, sockets and switches which are all susceptible to damage from wear and tear.  

 

Fixed Wire Testing may also be referred to as - 

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EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) Formally PIR

Hard Wire Testing

Fuse board Testing

Fixed Testing

 

WHY

 

The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 states that an employer has a ‘duty of care’ to ensure that their employees (and others affected by their work) are safe.

 

​Over time unless an electrical installation is well looked after and maintained in a safe condition, it will deteriorate. This can lead to fires, injury or even death through electric shock or burns

 

The Health & Safety Executive state that, “The best way to find out if your electrical installation is safe is to have it inspected and tested by a person who is competent to do so”

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What are the regulations surrounding fixed wire testing in commercial properties?

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Fixed Wire testing, which involves testing the safety of the circuits around your building or buildings, is required in order to demonstrate compliance with laws including the Electricity at Work Regulations and the Health & Safety at Work Act.

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What the Regulations Say

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The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 is statutory legislation placing responsibility on employers to ensure the health, safety and welfare of everyone in the workplace, including visitors, contractors, members of the public and employees)

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 state that “all systems shall be maintained so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, such danger.”

This explicitly places a requirement on the employer to maintain electrical systems adequately in order to protect employees, visitors and other users of the space.

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Compliance Requirements

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Both of these laws are enforced by the UK Government – in particular the HSE (Health & Safety Executive)

The latest definitions of acceptable safety standards of electrical installations is defined by the British Standard BS7671 and published as the IET Wiring

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Regulations

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The latest version of these regulations first published in 2018 are known as the 18th Edition Wiring Regulations and came into effect on 1st January 2019.

This means that all electrical installations must be installed and maintained in accordance with BS7671:2018. Failure to do so means employers are not compliant with the Health & Safety at Work Act nor the Electricity at Work Regulations, which leaves employers exposed to legal action in the event of an incident or accident.

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Many commercial insurers now require evidence of compliance in the form of an up to date Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR)

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WHEN 

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As a guide, certain installations need testing at different times.  For full details see the frequency table

 

Max 5 years: Commercial premises such as schools, offices, shops, restaurants,

hotels, public houses

 

Max 3 years: Industrial locations, leisure complexes, theatres

 

Max 1 year: Caravan parks, marinas, swimming pools, launderettes

 

 

HOW

 

The inspection and test is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the latest edition of BS7671, often referred to as “The Wiring Regulations”

 

Office Compliance Management is approved with the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NIC EIC)

 

There are essentially three elements to the work:

 

• Inspection

• Test

• Report

 

The inspection comprises of a comprehensive visual inspection of the electrical fixed wiring installation.

 

The test would normally comprise of earth continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth

fault loop impedance, functional tests of RCDs and operation of overcurrent circuit breakers, isolators and switching devices.

 

A report will be produced using industry-leading software identifying the installation details, the inspection and test schedule, any observations regarding the condition of the installation and the results of all tests carried out.

 

Any faults will be flagged up on page 2 of the report and listed with a priority rating C1-C3 or FI (Further Investigation required) These figures refer to the following status:

 

C1 – Danger present: Risk of injury- immediate remedial action required

C2 – Potentially dangerous-urgent remedial action required

C3 – Improvement required.

FI - Further investigation required

 

A quotation for any remedial works highlighted from the testing will be provided with the report.