049 4333913 info@ceti.ie

Electrical Installation Testing

When testing is required

 

  • New installations.
  • Reconnections
  • Insurance purposes
  • Health and safety

Type of installation and environment this testing is required

 

  • Domestic
  • Industrial
  • Commercial

Ceti are experts in electrical testing. We specialise in keeping your electrical installations, appliances and other electrical equipment tested and maintained to the highest standards. Ensuring you, the client peace of mind knowing that your electrical installations and equipment have been fully tested and approved. Therefore providing long term cost savings of having well maintained equipment and premises.

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (the 2005 Act) states that employers must ‘ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of his or her employees’. Section 8 of the 2005 Act also requires employers to obtain, where necessary, the services of a competent person. A competent person should possess sufficient training, experience and knowledge having regard to the task and the size or hazards (or both) of the undertaking.\

Insurance companies may require proof of periodic inspection and testing. In accordance with the law records must be kept for at least five years and maybe subject to random checks.

New electrical installations and extensions to existing installations must be inspected and tested. This is done to ensure that all electrical equipment has been correctly selected, installed and interconnected in accordance with the ETCI National Rules for Electrical Installations. The rules state that two categories of tests must be carried out on an installation. One test is carried out prior to the installation being made live for the first time, and the other when the installation is live. Both tests must be carried out by competent persons using prescribed test equipment. They also must be carried out in a particular sequence. The results of the tests are recorded and a copy given to the installation owner.

Requirements for this type of testing:

The ETCI requirements for the design, erection and proper functioning of electrical installations are to ensure safety of persons, livestock and property against dangers and damage that may arise in the reasonable use of electrical installations.

The fundamental principles or safety of electrical installations are intended to protect persons, livestock and property against risks arising from the reasonable use of electrical installations, particularly against shock currents and excessive temperatures likely to cause fires, burns and other injurious effects, including risks of physical injury from electrically-driven mechanical equipment.

These Rules apply to electrical circuits supplied at nominal voltages up to and including 1000V a.c. or 1500V d.c. which form part of installations in residential, commercial, industrial or public premises, or of installations contained in prefabricated buildings, caravans and halting sites, as well as installations for specialised purposes, such as those in agricultural and horticultural holdings.

The ETCI format of the rules are the same as that adopted by most European countries which comprise of the following:

Part 1: Scope, Object and Fundamental Principles.
Part 2: Definitions.
Part 3: General Characteristics.
Part 4: Protection for Safety.
Part 5: Selection and Erection of Equipment.
Part 6: Verification and Certification.
Part 7: Requirements for Special Installations or Locations.

Part 4 contains the fundamentals of safety for installations. These include measures for protection against shock, earthing, thermal effects generated by installations, short-circuits, overloads, fire and earth faults.

Part 5 contains the practical requirements for design and construction of installations. These include comprehensive rules for wiring systems and a substantial set of tables giving current ratings for various types of cables in differing situations. Earthing and bonding are covered.

Part 6 specifies the tests that must be carried out on the completed installation in order to verify compliance.
As per Health & Safety Regulations, Regulation 76: Suitability of electrical equipment and installations

76. An employer shall ensure that—

(a) all electrical equipment and electrical installations are—

  • (i) designed,
  • (ii) constructed,
  • (iii) installed,
  • (iv) maintained,
  • (v) protected, and
  • (vi) used so as to prevent danger, and

(b) all electrical equipment and electrical installations, including distribution boards, sockets, transformers and connections, are suitably protected from ingress of moisture or of particles and foreseeable impacts, as appropriate to the location, without prejudice to Regulation 77.