Identify specialist equipment and alternative power sources during planning. Generators, uninterruptible power supplies and solar installations create isolation interfaces that the team must understand. A general inspection of the building should not be taken to include all specialist systems or the internal components of connected machinery.
Keep portable appliance testing separate in the maintenance programme. Appliance testing does not assess the full fixed installation, while the fixed-installation report cannot substitute for maintaining appliances.
Why access and shutdown planning matter
Access planning must reach beyond booking a visit with reception. Arrange entry to the relevant electrical equipment and rooms, and make circuit information available. Where inspection or testing requires isolation, prepare the building operation for the resulting loss of supply.
Prepare the site team by completing these arrangements:
- Collate earlier inspection reports, circuit schedules and alteration certificates.
- List equipment requiring a managed shutdown and subsequent restart.
- Arrange keys, escorts and authority to enter occupied spaces.
- Brief affected users and agree the order of supply interruptions.
- Identify an authorised contact for urgent findings.
Coordinate office IT shutdowns with the relevant teams. Retail premises also need trading and security arrangements considered. In buildings with tenants, resolve access to their accommodation separately from arrangements for common areas.
What should the result tell you?
Expect the report to define the installation assessed, observations, test details, overall judgement and limitations. Circuit descriptions should allow an estate team to locate a finding; an unexplained circuit number makes subsequent investigation and repairs harder to manage.
Obtain an explanation of each finding and its urgency. Separate remedial work, further investigation and recommended improvements within the action plan, and attach completion evidence to the originating report so the audit trail remains usable.
Follow up any work prevented by access restrictions. A recorded limitation marks what the assessment did not cover; it provides no assurance about the safety of an unexamined area.
Frequently asked questions
Are fixed wire testing and an EICR the same thing?
The expressions are commonly used together, but describe different things. Fixed-wire testing is the inspection and testing activity; an EICR is the condition report produced where that assessment was commissioned. Specify both scope and deliverable in the quotation.
Can testing take place while the business stays open?
Build the sequence around operational needs. Staging may be possible, but isolation still requires an agreed interruption. Establish which equipment and areas will be affected before committing to working hours.
Does testing find every concealed defect?
Assessment is bounded by the extent and limitations recorded in the report. Check these particularly where access was unavailable, and commission suitable further assessment for concerns beyond the agreed instruction.
Further reading and support
HSE explains competent inspection and testing in its electrical safety FAQs. For the report itself, read what an EICR is.
Use electrical testing, electrical installations, compliance remedial works and managing agent support to identify relevant support. The wider directories cover services, maintenance, projects, sectors and locations; contact us to discuss the site requirement.
