Powerbrite Electricial LTD

Testing & Certificates

PERIODIC INSPECTION REPORTS: start from: £110 ( max 10 circuits )
DOMESTIC VISUAL CONDITION REPORT: start from : £40 (max 10 ccts)
ELECTRICAL CONDITION REPORT : start from: £100

Periodic inspection reports

Our charges start from: £75 ( max 10 circuits )

At Powerbrite Electrical ltd we can offer a same day service to assist with urgent inspections, and to assist with the process of moving into a new home / moving new clients. All our engineers have the latest 17th Edition 2008 wiring regulations test and inspection certification, they also carry a fully calibrated test and tool kit. We can also contact any tenants or letting agents for access, collect keys from estate agents or arrange a suitable time at your convenience.

Our periodic test inspections include a full inspection and testing of the fixed wiring of a property including:

Earth bonding to gas and water
Correct consumer unit
Damage to cables, sockets, switches etc
Full instrument test of the circuits
A full 4 page written report

Any faults will be flagged up on page 2 of the report and listed with a priority rating between 1 and 4. These figures refer to the following status:

Requires urgent attention
Require improvement
Requires further investigation
Does not comply with BS7671: 2008 (as amended)

A quotation for any remedial works will be provided with the report along with the invoice for the inspection. Reports can be e-mailed to multiple precipitants if required to assist the process of moving home or new tenants.

Fees for periodic inspections

We also provide special rates for landlords and letting agents of multiple properties.

Fact File for Periodic Testing

The 17th Edition Wiring Regulations BS7671 – 2008 is the latest edition of the IEE British Standard publications. Every electrician we employ has trained to the IEE regulations and attended refresher courses to bring their expertise up to the latest 2008 edition.

Our team of engineers have also a minimum of 10 years on-site experience.

2391 – To carry out Periodic Electrical Inspections in the UK, the engineers require, alongside the BS7671, to have also passed a City and Guilds Level 3 certificate in inspection, testing and certification of electrical installations (2391). This training provides the engineer with the relevant information and procedures regarding an initial visual inspection, verification and certification. This includes collecting data of correct types of cable, fuses – MCBs etc, the presence and correct operation of an RCD trip switch to prevent harm to property and lives from fire and electric shock. The presence and correct size of earthing conductors into the property; to the mains gas and water supply; to any exposed metal parts that may need earth bonding.

The test includes an instrumental verification test using the following instruments:

Voltage tester to measure Volts
Continuity tester to measure ohms
Insulation resistance to measure M ohms
Earth loop impendence tester to measure ohms
RCD tester to measure mS

A full test on the supply of your home/business to BS7671 IEE Wiring Regulations including fuse board, earthing arrangements, wiring, fixtures and fittings (i.e. lights, sockets, switches). Installation methods, loose connections etc.

The following tests are carried out:

Continuity of earth conductors
Continuity of ring final conductors

DOMESTIC VISUAL CONDITION REPORT

Our charges start from : £40 (max 10 circuits)

The purpose of a visual-only inspection of a domestic electrical installation is to determine, so far as is reasonably practicable, whether the installation has any visually-evident defects or has suffered any damage or deterioration which may affect safety. This domestic visual condition report provides an assessment of the condition of the electrical installation identified overleaf at the time it was inspected, taking into account the limitations of a visual-only inspection.

Whilst a visual inspection may reveal defects, damage or deterioration which may present electrical safety hazards, such an inspection alone cannot fully determine whether an installation is safe for continued use.

Furthermore, due to the significant limitations, it is not appropriate to report that an installation is in a satisfactory condition on the basis of visual inspection only.

Visual inspections do not include items that can only be checked with test instruments, such as the adequacy of earthing arrangements.

NICEIC* Approved Contractor performing the visual inspection will recommend that a full inspection and testing be performed if it is suspected that the installation is in an unsafe condition.

Also for safety reasons, the electrical installation will need to be re-inspected at appropriate intervals by a competent person. The recommended maximum time interval to the next inspection and the type of inspection is stated overleaf in the section: Next inspection. The recommendation for the interval to the next inspection is conditional on all items which have attracted a Recommendation Code 1 and Code 2 in the section Observations and recommendations for actions to be taken being remedied without delay and as soon as practical respectively. Additionally, the recommendation given for the interval to the next inspection and the type of inspection is also to be conditional on all items which have attracted a Recommendation Code 3 being remedied as soon as practicable. NICEIC recommends that you engage the services of an Approved Contractor for this purpose. There should be a notice at or near the consumer unit indicating the latest date by which a full periodic inspection and test of the installation is due.

Where the installation incorporates a residual current device (RCD), there should be a notice at or near the consumer unit stating that the device should be tested at quarterly intervals. For safety reasons, it is important that you carry out the test regularly.

Note that consumer units fitted with cartridge or rewirable fuse may be suitable for continued use provided the consumer unit is in a satisfactory condition and each fuse is correctly rated.

GUIDANCE FOR RECIPIENTS ON THE RECOMMENDATION CODES

Only one Recommendation Code should have been given for each recorded observation.

Recommendation Code 1

Where an observation has been given a Recommendation Code 1 (requires urgent attention), the safety of those using the installation may be at risk.

The person responsible for the maintenance of the installation is advised to take action without delay to remedy the observed deficiency in the installation, or to take other appropriate action (such as switching off and isolating the affected part(s) of the installation)to remove the potential danger. The NICEIC Approved Contractor issuing this report will be able to provide further advice. NICEIC make available ‘dangerous condition’ notification forms to enable inspectors to record, and then to communicate to the person ordering the report, any dangerous condition discovered.

Recommendation Code 2

Recommendation Code 2 (requires improvement) indicates that, whilst the safety of those using the installation may not be at immediate risk, remedial action should be taken as soon as possible to improve the safety of the installation. The NICEIC Approved Contractor issuing this report will be able to provide further advice.

Items which have been attributed Recommendation Code 2 should be remedied as soon as possible.

Recommendation Code 3

Where an observation has been given a Recommendation Code 3 (requires further investigation), the inspection has revealed an apparent deficiency which could not, due to the extent or limitations of this inspection, be fully identified. Items which have been attributed Recommendation Code 3 should be investigated by a competent person as soon as possible.

The person responsible for the maintenance of the installation is advised to arrange for the NICEIC Approved Contractor issuing this report (or other competent person) to undertake further inspection and/or testing of the installation to determine the nature and extent of the apparent deficiency.

Recommendation Code 4

Recommendation Code 4 [does not comply with BS 7671 (as amended)] will have been given to observed non-compliance(s) with the current safety standard which do not warrant one of the other Recommendation Codes. It is not intended to imply that the electrical installation inspected is unsafe, but careful consideration should be given to the benefits of improving these aspects of the installation. The NICEIC Approved Contractor issuing this report will be able to provide further advice.

It is important to note that the recommendation given at Next Inspection of this report for the maximum interval until the next inspection is conditional upon all items which have been given a Recommendation Code 1 and Code 2 being remedied without delay and as soon as possible respectively.

It would not be reasonable to indicate a ‘visually not unsatisfactory’ assessment if any observation in the report had been given a Code 1 or Code 2 recommendation.

The visual-only inspection report

This report is intended to be issued only for the purpose of reporting on the condition of an existing electrical installation. The report should identify, so far as is reasonably practicable, any damage, deterioration and visually-evident defects which:

• may give rise to danger,

• require improvement, require further investigation or do not comply with the latest edition of the national standard for electrical safety BS 7671: Requirements for Electrical Installations

The report consists of at least two numbered pages. Additional numbered pages may have been provided to permit further relevant information concerning the installation to be reported. The report is invalid if any of the identified pages are missing. The report form has a printed seven- digit serial number, which is traceable to the Approved Contractor to which it was supplied by NICEIC.

The report should not have been issued to certify a new electrical installation. A ‘Domestic Electrical Installation Certificate’ or ‘Electrical Installation Certificate’ (where appropriate) should be issued for the certification of new installation work.

Only an NICEIC Approved Contractor or Conforming Body is authorised to issue this NICEIC Domestic Visual Condition Report. You should have received the report marked ‘Original’ and the Approved Contractor should have retained the report marked ‘Duplicate’.

If you were the person ordering the work, but not the user of the installation, you should pass this report, or a full copy of it including these notes and additional pages (if any), immediately to the user.

The ‘Original’ report form should be retained in a safe place and shown to any person inspecting or undertaking further work on the electrical installation in the future. If you later vacate the property, this report will provide the new user with an assessment of the condition of the electrical installation at the time the inspection was carried out.

Understanding the report

Page 1

In the Summary of the conditions of the installation box, the inspector should have put a brief summary of the overall condition of the installation, taking into account the specific observations made.

In the Declaration box the inspector should have ticked one of the two boxes, namely:

Visually not unsatisfactory, or Unsatisfactory, significant damage, deterioration and/or defects being evident.

The declaration should reflect the observations and recommendations made. A list of observations and recommendations for urgent remedial work and corrective action(s) necessary to restore the installation to a satisfactory condition should be given in the box at the bottom of page 1. But, given the limitations of a visual inspection, these recommendations may be incomplete and a full periodic inspection report may be necessary to determine the full extent of the required remedial action.

For further guidance on the recommendations, please see the reverse of page 1.

In the box entitled Next Inspection the inspector should have made a recommendation as to the time interval to the next inspection and the type of inspection, such as a visual inspection or a full periodic inspection. This recommendation will depend on circumstances such as the age of the installation or if it is subject to more rapid deterioration.

Page 2, Schedules:

All un-shaded boxes should have been completed either by insertion of the relevant details or by entering:

A "tick‘ meaning a particular inspection has been carried out and the result, as far as can be ascertained from a visual-only inspection, is not unsatisfactory

A ‘x’ meaning a particular inspection has been carried out and the result is unsatisfactory

‘N/A’ meaning ‘ Not Applicable’, where appropriate.

Note that for every ‘)(‘ meaning ‘unsatisfactory’, an observation should have been made in the Section Observations and recommendations for actions to be taken.

Should the person ordering the domestic visual condition inspection (eg the client, as identified on Page 1 of this report), have reason to believe that the report issued by the Approved Contractor does not reasonably reflect the condition of the electrical installation reported on given the limitations of a visual only inspection, the person should in the first instance raise the specific concerns in writing with the Approved Contractor. If the concerns remain unresolved, the client may make a formal complaint to NICEIC, for which purpose a standard complaint form is available on request.

The complaints procedure offered by NICEIC is subject to certain terms and conditions, full details of which are available upon application (or visit www.niceicgroup.com). NICEIC does not investigate complaints relating to the operational performance of electrical installations (such as lighting levels), or to contractual or commercial issues (such as time or cost).

Powerbrite Electrical LTD. (est. 1986) are NICEIC and BSI registered.