Commercial Maintenance

Maintaining electrical fixed wiring and appliances in a commercial environment is paramount for the smooth running of businesses as well as the safey of their staff and visitors to the premises. Laws and rules surrounding businesses can be confusing enough as it is, so the last thing you want to do is break one that is easy to implement. Electrical safety in the workplace is one criterion that can be readily met, regardless of whether you’re a new business owner or the manager of an established organisation with new equipment.

Your electrical system or portable appliances may contain flaws or weaknesses that go unnoticed. The chance of a serious fire could increase if another problem develops, leading to fire, injury or even death. The law (1989 Electricity at Work Regulations) requires employers to take precautions in the workplace to reduce the risk of injury from electricity and electrical systems, including both electrical installations and electrical equipment. The majority of electrical equipment—consumer, commercial, and industrial—operating between 50 and 1,000 volts AC or 75 and 1,500 volts DC is subject to these standards.

The only way to guarantee that every effort is taken to create a safe workplace – and that you can stand behind your efforts if something goes wrong – is to routinely conduct electrical testing and maintenance on all the electrical equipment at your place of business. This will precisely pinpoint defects, their locations, and typically the suggested fix.

More often, insurance companies are requiring inspection and testing to be performed at regular intervals. In the UK, the law considers you to have committed a crime if you have an accident that could have been prevented. Insurance companies won’t cover fines or losses brought on by criminal activity. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure – so having your installations and appliances evaluated is less trouble and expensive than waiting for a problem to arise.

The IEE advises testing electrical installations every ten years (for residential), five years (for commercial), or three years (for industrial). Every 3 to 24 months – depending on the risk-rating for a specific item – portable appliance testing should be conducted.

Site and workshop equipment are high risk products because they frequently handle significant workloads under difficult conditions and are far more likely to malfunction quickly than office equipment.

For advice on maintaining your commercial electrical installations, please get in touch with us.