What is Electrical Testing? And what does it mean for your business?

What Does Electrical Inspection & Testing For Commercial/Industrial Premises Mean?

It is recommended that all commercial/industrial premises undertake an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) to minimise risk in the workplace and ensure ongoing safety. However, we are aware that confusion can arise around what this means, what it entails and how often it should take place. As a proactive and independant Electrical Inspection company who specialise in commercial/industrial premises, we’re here to advise.

Here we have put together some frequently asked questions about electrical inspection & testing for commercial and industrial premises.

Q1. Why Do I Need An EICR (Electrical installation condition report) For My Business?

An electrical inspection will indicate whether your electrical installations are safe and compliant at the time of testing. EICR’s are carried out in accordance with BS:7671 18th Edition. Although this is a non statuatory document, adhearance to it will fulfil a business owners duty of care to comply with the Electricity at Work Regulations which is Law. Here are 4 key reasons why your inspection is vital to the safety of your staff, and your business:

1. Electrical Installation Compliance

Electrical installations and wiring can deteriorate over time, or be poorly maintained between inspections. Often these changes go undetected until either an EICR is carried out or a problem arises. It is important to identify whether your electrical installations are satisfactory and safe for continued use. Note that business owners can be prosecuted under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 for failing to comply with the Electricity at Work Regulation.

2. Health & Safety

An EICR for commercial/industrial premises helps to mitigate any risk of injury. It is designed to prevent related injuries such as electric shock or burns. Not only does it promote health and safety, it also minimises the risk of potential damage and downtime for your business too.

3. Liability & Insurance

It is important that you hold the correct documents to ensure validity of business insurance.

This ensures that if there is a suspected electrical fault that causes injury or property damage in the future, you can provide evidence that your commercial/industrial premises carried out the correct electrical testing procedure. This includes any remedial work you choose to undertake.

If you do not hold a current and valid EICR for your commercial/industrial premises, it can invalidate your insurance certificates.

4. It Will Save you Money

Carrying out an EICR is classed as preventative maintenance rather than reactive maintenance. It makes sense to identify and then rectify electrical issues BEFORE they cause disruption and downtime for your commercial/industrial business. Reactive call outs and maintenance regimes always cost a premium to the client. A thourough PPM (Planned Preventative Maintenace) regime will save you money in the long run.

Q2. How Do I Get An Electrical Inspection?

Many electricians and electrical companies offer these services. Possibly your current electrical providor will already offer this service. However, as an EICR is a safety inspection, we would advise that this is carred out by an independant electrical inspection company who specialise in these services.

The reason for this being it may not be in the current incumbents best interests to raise any issues, faults or defects arising from their own work.

Q3. What Does It Involve?

Your qualified & competent electrical test engineer will:

• Discuss and agree the extent and limitation of the EICR before starting.
• Walk through the installation with staff to identify areas of interest.
• Carry out a visual inspection of the installation
• Test and inspect any circuits available
• Highlight any faulty electrical installations (Photographs are taken and added to our cloud based workflow management system)
• Check for outdated installations
• Any C1 defects (immediate dangers) will be reported and fixed as a priority (following client approval)
• Complete the detailed and thourough EICR report on our cloud based system.

Once you approve any remedial work, you will be issued with an electrical safety certificate also known as an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR).

Q4. What Is An EICR?

An EICR is also known as a Fixed Wiring Testing, Periodic inspection or an electrical safety certificate. It gives you an accurate overview of the condition of your electrical installations at the time of review.

Your EICR identifies potential danger and outlines recommended remedial work, classified by urgency C1 = Danger present. Risk of injury. Immediate remedial action required. C2 = Potentially dangerous. Urgent remedial action required. C3 = Improvement recommended. FI = Further investigation required without delay.

For your EICR to be deemed ‘SATISFACTORY’ all C1, C2 and FI defects must be completed. C3 defects are recommendation only.

Q5. How Often Should My Business Undertake An Electrical Inspection?

In order to stay compliant with UK law and regulation, it is important that you renew your EICR for your commercial/industrial premises in accordance with the interval set out on your previous report.

A competent electrician should carry out your inspection to ensure that your premises and staff are as safe as they can be by identifying potential danger and minimising risk of injury or damage. It is up to this engineers judgement to determine the frequency between inspections, however the engineer will base this on frequencies set out in Guidance Note 3 of BS;7671 2018.

For your reference see below some of the typical frequencies between inspections:

Domestic premises (owned) – 10 Years

Domestic premises (rented) – 5 Years or change of tenancy

Commercial premises – 5 Years

Industrial premises – 3 Years

Q6. Why choose FCS Services Ltd?

We understand that keeping on top of compliance can be hard, thats why we position ourselves as trusted advisors to our clients. We aim to take the compliance burden off your shoulders and make electrical safety simple for your business.

We have a proven track record in the commercial, industrial and pharmaceutical sectors.

Our aim is to build long term and mutually beneficial relationships with businesses. We are here to help.

Get In Touch Today

We are so passionate about electrical safety and compliance.

To book a free site survey (During Covid-19 lockdown previous reports can be reviewed via email), give us a call on 02825 871287, or email to [email protected]