Surveys Electrical

Down to the wire

Building surveyors are often exposed to electrical installations, but they need to be wary of the advice they give in survey reports. Spencer Carroll and Eamonn Nestor explain why
he surveying and study of buildings (and the resultant design and project management of alteration work) will often start and finish with expert advice from a chartered building surveyor. This is because the BS is considered a good all rounder when appraising existing buildings. The surveyors experience from survey and design, through to contract administration across most property sectors and styles of construction is invaluable to any client at the inception of any project or in advance of any property transaction. Why? Because all property transactions and projects carry a degree of risk. In an attempt to de-risk a project at its inception, the client needs to carefully balance survey/consultants cost and risk. Clients will often look for a single point of responsibility, such as the BS, who can provide good quality strategic advice at a competitive rate and, when appropriate, call in help from other experts. As such, the BSs day to day overlap with structural engineers, planning consultants, lawyers and M&E consultants etc, inevitably leads them to comment and advise on such disciplines before experts are involved in a project. There is nothing wrong with this, and its precisely why the client will engage the BS to provide initial advice based on their experience of an array of specialist disciplines. Residential property Any survey of a residential property to aid a purchase or support a construction project will require the BS to inspect/design/project manage works to the electrical installation. The supply to most domestic and small commercial buildings is a relatively simple single phase, 230V arrangement. All electrical equipment within the property is powered by this phase. Other properties of a similar size in the immediate area are also likely to have a single-phase supply, but not necessarily the same phase. The BSs advice will usually be from a visual inspection only and will predominantly comment on age, materials, condition/quality of workmanship, indicative costs where the installation is deficient, and any other significant omission (statutory or otherwise). The following points should not be considered as a definitive list of items to check, but are indicative of the things a homeowner would most likely want to know as part of their survey report and will show the general condition of the electrical installation. More importantly, a thorough review using these points will enable you to make a more overarching condition review of the full installation and assess the need for further specialist inspection and testing by an electrical engineer. Residential Internal Smoke, heat and carbon monoxide detection Mains connected, battery backup, appropriate positions/locations of fittings. Socket outlets Sufficient/insufficient number, charring from overloading, worn contacts, excessive use of socket adaptors/extension leads, proximity to sink, damaged face plates, old round-pin sockets or Bakelite switches, flush or surface-mounted accessories. Cooker controls Separate cooker circuit and isolating switch.

The NICEIC recommend that an electrical engineer inspects and tests whenever a property is sold. However, the client will not want a BS to hide behind this
Consumer unit/fuse board Enclosure/protection, location, fuse type, miniature circuit breakers (push or switch), rewireable fuses, labelled circuits, asbestos-containing components, gaps in the covers that would allow conductive parts to be touched, availability of spare ways, rating of MCB/fuses (low/high). Residual current device (RCD) protection against electric shock BS 7671:2008 17th edition imposes a requirement for 30mA RCD additional protection against electric shock. 30mA RCD protection is now required for: socket outlets not exceeding 20A that are for use by ordinary persons and are intended for general use mobile kit with a current rating not exceeding 32A for use outdoors. This regulation is intended to be applied to socket outlet circuits and concealed cables in domestic and similar installations, which means that RCDs are required for almost all circuits in these premises. Meter Location, age, type (e.g. Economy 7). Main earth bonding (bonding to gas and water mains) It is a requirement of the IET Wiring Regulations to protect against the risk of electric shock from indirect contact, and that the exposed conductive parts associated with the electrical installation are earthed. Under certain fault conditions, the electrical potential between service pipes (e.g. incoming gas and water and the systems to which they are connected) will not be at the same potential as the earthing system within the building. This situation could result in an electric shock if a part of the earthed system is touched at the same time as another extraneous conductive part. Therefore, extraneous conductive parts are linked by bonding conductors connected to the buildings main earthing terminal. This is the common point where all protective earth conductors throughout the building are connected to earth. Wiring/flex Rubber insulation, fabric covers, surface mounted, mini-trunking, conduits, wiring in roof space (clipped/supported adequately), damaged flex, cracked plugs. Lighting Bathroom pull cord, steam-proof fittings, charring, heat damage to lamp holders, low-voltage lighting, transformer/heat damage, penetration of fire-resisting construction.

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Building Surveying Journal

October-November 2012

Surveys Electrical

Shaver socket The only type of shaver socket allowed to be installed in a bathroom must be a shaver supply unit with safety isolating transformer. Fixed appliances Fans with fused connection units. Residential External (including outbuildings) Lighting Flood, PIR, dawn to dusk, external quality. External power RCD protection, outdoor quality sockets, armoured cables, conduits, garden sprinkler systems. In the above residential inspection, the BS should be able to give a general overview and condition assessment of the installation and perhaps the need for a full rewire, which is often a key question when buying and selling residential property. Note that as a matter of good practice the NICEIC recommend that an electrical engineer inspects and tests whenever a property is sold. However, the client will not want a BS to hide behind this and fail to give initial meaningful advice, leading to the client incurring additional survey costs only to be told the electrical installation has been completely condemned. Non-residential property To some extent much of the above comment and guidance applies to larger/non residential buildings. However, the confidence and ability of the BS to inspect and appraise a larger/commercial electrical installation will depend on their experience and expertise; nonetheless, most would agree it is generally at this stage that more specialist electrical consultant advice is required.

For larger commercial buildings, the electricity supply is likely to be a three-phase 400V supply, as the loading on a single-phase supply would be too high. A typical arrangement is that the building is divided into three zones, each of which has approximately the same load. Each zone is served by one of the three phases (L1, L2 and L3) but the BS should be aware that in most existing buildings these are coloured red, yellow and blue, such that a red zone is served by the red phase, etc. Building distribution systems should be arranged in order to achieve equal loading on each phase. It is possible at this stage that the BS would usefully perform a document survey in relation to the electrical installation to get some understanding and appreciation for its age and condition. Example documents and records might include: 5-Year Fixed Wire Electrical Test Certificate PAT Certificate (Portable electrical appliance testing this type of equipment would generally not be considered part of the building fixed equipment and therefore of secondary interest to the BS) Fire Alarm Inspection Certificate (this would give information on whether the system is functional as well as its condition) Emergency Lighting Inspection Certificate Passenger Lift Insurance Inspection Certificate. It is important to emphasise that the BS is trying to establish compliance by the existence of current documents and not the compliance of the condition of the equipment or system. This, in itself, is a useful indicator of the commitment to the care of the assets. When the documents listed above are issued they will normally be accompanied by a report that may contain categorised recommendations, ranging from optional non-urgent to health and safety risks. This part of the document survey will depend on the experience and skill of the BS as to how far they will examine the report and interpret if recommendations have been appropriately executed.

Charred backboard to incoming main service head indicative of overloading/overheating

Socket adaptors are a good indication of an insufficient installation with the potential for overload and risk of fire

Vermin damage to insulated cables

October-November 2012

Building Surveying Journal

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All images Spencer Carroll

Surveys - Electrical

Health and safety file Health and Safety Executive notifiable building projects should have a health and safety file that must be produced in compliance with the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations. There is normally a requirement within the health and safety file for the provision of detailed operating and maintenance manuals (O&Ms) and record drawings. The information in the O&Ms can help the BS assess the quality of maintenance, as it should define maintenance requirements. Under current health and safety legislation, there is a requirement to provide information about a building, supported by a record-keeping system with an audit trail. These documents can be cross-checked by the BS to establish the quality of maintenance. The type of information likely to be included in the O&M manuals include: emergency information and associated contacts and addresses systems descriptions and intended modes of operation manufacturers relevant technical literature health and safety documentation asset list/equipment schedules parts identification and recommended spares spares policy commissioning data maintenance instructions fault-finding advice lubrication details modification information disposal instructions names and addresses of manufacturers index of plans and drawings. As built drawings The drawings normally show the building and services installations as at the date of practical completion. The most sensible approach is to use electrical consultants for large portfolio surveys because they are experienced in the design and alteration (and associated costs) of the buildings they are inspecting. Project work The BS will need to exercise caution when involved in anything perceived as electrical design as it is unlikely that they can demonstrate any tangible qualifications in this field, let alone professional indemnity insurance. In a residential situation, it may be tempting to write a performance specification/list of employers requirements, e.g. supply and install new fuseboard with RCD. While in principal this may appear straightforward, the BS must remember that this is only a valid route for design if it is procured correctly, e.g. with a JCT contract using a contract design supplement, and ensuring that the contractor: is genuinely experienced and qualified to design the fuseboard and fuse rating, etc has professional indemnity insurance for undertaking this design. However, on larger projects an electrical consultant must be engaged to carry out a traditional design, or develop a robust set of employers requirements for tendering under a design and build contract. Another easy mistake for a BS is failing to establish whether the existing electrical infrastructure to a site is sufficient, for example,

Another easy mistake for a BS is failing to establish whether the existing electrical infrastructure to a site is sufficient
to support a new Portakabin-style school classroom fitted out with lighting, electric heating and air conditioning. While it would be well within the BSs ability to project manage the procurement of a Portakabin classroom, it would be somewhat embarrassing to find that at the point of electrical connection, the sites power supply did not adequately support the increased load demand. If the required capacity is not available locally (which can be timeconsuming and expensive to remedy), it is likely that the connection will need to be taken from a significant distance or reinforcement works added to the network supply at the expense of the client. Even without the need for reinforcement works, the process for a low voltage connection can, for example, take 40 weeks from the receipt of full design information to commissioning. An experienced electrical consultant engineer would request an assessment of the current service and confirmation of the scope to increase capacity. On large and often critical sites, there is usually a need to undertake high voltage design studies to infrastructure extensions. Additionally, in recent years it has been an increasing practice (due to the high demand on the existing low voltage networks in areas such as city centres) to provide high voltage solutions to large increase capacity applications. In this last scenario, the process can take two years if reinforcement is needed. Jack of all trades? The electrical services in a building are an asset with a finite value that will depreciate with time and usage. This depreciation will be accelerated by misuse, neglect or inadequate maintenance. Poor maintenance will therefore reduce the value of the installed equipment and increase the risk of faults and fire. It is therefore crucial that any survey of an electrical installation is performed by an expert with the appropriate skills and experience. As with all professional advice, the key is know your limitations, and this is especially true for electrical work. It is what the client is paying for: the highest standard of building surveying, nothing more; what they are not paying for is a Jack of all trades, but a master of none.

Spencer Carroll is a Director of Lighthouse Chartered Building Surveyors spencer@lighthousesurveyors.com Eamonn Nestor is an Executive Engineer with Hoare Lea Property Services eamonnnestor@hoarelea.com

Related competencies include: T013, T021, T051

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Building Surveying Journal

October-November 2012