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.