Facilities and Electrical Companies - Hawkesworth can help!

Employers are required to ensure that all of the electrical equipment that employees use is safe and in good condition. This one comes under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 which simply tells you that you must ensure that the electrical equipment – basically anything that has a plug attached to it – is safe.  

The net result is that more businesses are calling for PAT testing, which is putting some strain on Facilities Management Companies and Electrical Contractors who are quoting for their primary services are now also being asked to undertake PAT testing as a bolt on as well.

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How Often Should You Have An EICR?

An EICR is an Electrical Installation Condition Report and is a formal document that is produced when an inspection of the electrical wiring in a building has been carried out.

 Commercial premises should have a report provided every five years or every three years, depending on the type of environment. Industrial installations such as factories and warehouses should be checked every three years, whereas offices and shops, hotels, restaurants, schools, care homes, and so on, only need to be tested every five years. Certain buildings need to be checked annually, or certain parts within a building. For instance, a sauna should be checked once a year, as should a heated swimming pool.

In domestic premises it is recommended that an EICR is carried out every ten years, in order to check on the condition of the wiring as, although many people are not aware of this, electrical wiring does deteriorate over the years. An EICR should also be carried out every time the premises change hands: if you are a landlord you may have a change of tenants, or if you are considering the purchase of a property you may want to request a report so that you know the property is safe before completion.

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The Need For Fixed Wire Testing In A Business

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require your electrical appliances to be in safe working order and unless you have them tested how will you know for certain that they are safe? Certainly, a visual inspection will show up a number of faults but there are other things which can go wrong which are not apparent unless they are tested.

However, even if you are familiar with PAT testing, did you know that you should also have all your wiring checked on a routine basis as well? That is all of the electrical wiring in the walls, ceilings, and under floors. This is known as an EICR – Electrical Inspection Condition Report – but is also known by a number of other names such as fixed wire testing, fixed wiretesting, hard wire testing, and so on.

Most standard workplace environments should have an EICR carried out every five years, and these include places like offices, shops, restaurants, pubs, care homes, community centres, schools, colleges, laboratories, and so on.

However, some buildings require testing more often. These are places that are exposed to moisture, extreme temperatures, or dust, and include agricultural and horticultural buildings such as garden centres, spa hotels and leisure centres, theatres, industrial units, and caravans, although the latter is not a building per se. Petrol stations, laundrettes, fish farms, marinas, swimming pools, saunas, hospitals, and clinics should be tested annually.

Some buildings have areas with different testing intervals such as domestic homes with a pool. Domestic homes only need testing every ten year, but the pool should be checked annually. A manufacturing plant should be tested every three years, but the offices only need a check every five.