Electrical safety and compliance is an essential responsibility for any facilities manager in a commercial or industrial business. Electrical faults can cause harm to people, can damage equipment and can cause fires. Testing for electrical safety involves every electrical connection that exists within the building, and these can be fixed connections and portable connections. There are therefore two different types of electrical testing in a commercial or industrial facility, and these are known as electrical inspection and PAT Testing.
What is electrical inspection?
A programme of electrical inspection is the assessment of the fixed wiring installations in a building. So these are the fixed and permanent electrical systems and equipment that are powered through and connected to the building’s mains electrical supply. In most cases this will include sockets, lights, fuse boxes and circuit breakers. But can also include ventilation systems, air conditioning, alarm and security systems, power to any machinery, ie. through electrical panels, and any fixed and permanently connected appliances, such as tools used in a production line.
This inspection and testing programme will include a series of tests to confirm the safe and compliant operation of wiring installations, with a pass/fail criteria based on legislative standards, but will also include a series of visual inspections. This will seek to identify defects, damage and deterioration in the physical condition of the wiring installations, and combined with the testing can identify where faults may exist and originate from. The inspection and testing programme will confirm everything is safe and will also highlight where any risks exist and where remedial actions are required in a building’s electrical infrastructure.
Electrical inspection is required when a building is newly constructed and at periodical intervals thereafter, with the frequency dependent on the nature and risk of operations, but should not be longer than every five years. The inspection programme should result in the production of an Electrical Inspection Condition Report (EICR), which confirms the current status of the building’s electrical safety.
What is PAT Testing?
PAT stands for Portable Appliance Testing, and therefore involves the inspection and testing of all portable electrical appliances used in a commercial or industrial building. The general definition of a ‘portable appliance’ is any item that is powered by a regular three-pin plug. This can include office equipment such as photocopiers and printers, personal work equipment such as laptops, phone chargers and power tools, and can also include welfare equipment provided for employees, such as fridges, kettles and toasters in communal kitchens.
In addition to the generalisation above, equipment that could need to be tested are items connected to the supply via a fused spur, extension leads, 110, 230 & 415 Volt equipment.
A PAT testing programme will identify all the portable appliances on site and will create an itinerary where these are all uniquely identified, a schedule of inspection and testing of every item can then be undertaken. This will involve visual inspection of the appliance’s condition and also a test of how the appliance is performing in terms of electrical safety. This is carried out using specialist PAT testing equipment, such as the TIS 700 Portable Appliance tester supplied by Test Instrument Solutions. PAT Testing produces a pass/fail result and ensures devices are safe to use and are identified as such, or condemns an item as being unsafe to use, and isolates it from possible use. PAT testing should be carried out at regular intervals, again dependent on the work environment and the risk factor attached to the various appliances.
Defining the difference between electrical inspection and PAT Testing
So the key difference between electrical inspection and PAT Testing is in the scope of the testing. Electrical inspection is concerned with the overall safety of a building’s new and existing fixed electrical installations and infrastructure, while PAT testing is more specifically focussing on the portable/transportable electrical appliances used by a business.
Each type of testing has to be carried out by a competent and qualified person. And each type of testing is critical in an organisation establishing compliance in electrical safety and in maintaining a safe working environment across different elements of a commercial or industrial business.
Video Demonstration
Below is a product demonstration video of the TIS700 PAT tester:
Please note that this section is for information purposes only. Anyone using equipment referred to in this section must be suitably qualified and/or experienced within the respective field. If in doubt before use, please consult a qualified electrician or engineer & thoroughly read all instruction booklets.