Purpose

The procedure inspection serves the purpose to investigte whether installations comply with the safety provisions set in rules and regulations in order to proof installation-integrity. The inspection must result in a compliance plan where deviations are structurally resolved and measures taken to provent repetition of the same non-conformities. 

The initial inspection serves the dertermination of the installation status as starting point for transfer of installation responsibility. 

The follow inspection servies the status of measures for corrective actions and preventive actions. 

Executioner of the procedure

The procedure is meant for the inspector to provide trustworthy evidence of installation-status where independently from the executioner the result of the inspection is uniform. The inspection results are shared with the installation responsible.  The installation responsible shares the outcome of the results with the site focal point with the accociated measures.  

Background

Compliance of installations depends on many critical control points and should be referred to the life cycle of  the installation. 
Following the life cycle of an installation we distiquish the following critical control points: 

• Design of the installation
  The quality of the design is the basis for installation integrity. Costs for corrective actions excellerate further down the life cycle,
  Some critical points are:
  • the quality of the design itself
    Here is the engineer the critical factor. The question is whether an independent design review has taken place. 
  • reputation
    Reputation of the engineering company concerns the experience in the field of electrical engineering. Is the design contract based on price only? Information on the choice for the engineering company is mostly not existing.
  • the time frame of engineering
    The planning for engineering is important to prevent starting of a project with engineering not fisished. During the installation many revision may follow which makes control difficult.   
  • the selection of installlation parts
    When a budget is not sufficient or purchasing is seeking the best (cheapest) price, the availability and reliability of the installation may be at stake. Malfunctioning and modification will be the result. 
  • participation of the installation responsible in the design
    In fact we must consider the installation responsible as the client for safety and compliance! For existing installations the designation of an installation responsible person is mostly not applicable. This is a potential risk for compliance to the standard of acceptance of installation responsibility.   
• Installation
  Experience, budgetting and availability of contractors form the basis of installation integrity. A thorough preparation is essential.
  Some critical points are:
  • tendering
    The choice of the building contractor must not be made on the basis of price only. Is the contractor well experienced and capable. SUb-contracting requires additional control. 
  • availability of instructions
    Insight of the way the contractor is organising the project is essential to have trust in the course of the project. Does the contractor have a management system to cover the execution of the project.  
  • verification planning
    Starting the installation a verification plan with acceptance criteria is important. A project starting with no verification plan requires continuous supervision and control.  
  • supervision
    How is the project organised. Is a project lump sum / turn key, direct under supervision of the client or is an independent commissioning team present.   
  • commissioning
    Commissioning is the documented proof of compliance. How is this arranged? Are commissioning engineers qualified? 
• Operation
  The way that operations treats the installation is the basis for malfunctioning and aging. 
  Some critical points are:
  • competency op operating personnel
    Operating personnel differs from installation to installation and from organisation to organisation. Important is to decide the positions in an organisation that are to be considered as operator. All operating personnel is either competent or instructed. These persons must have a valid designation for electrical work.
  • availability and impementation of procedures and instructions
    For high risk electrical work procedures must be in place with if necessary instruction. (lock-out/tag-out)
  • mentality
    Mentality of operating personnel is important to guarentee safety. Procedures are there to be followed. Short cuts and ignoring instructions are not acceptable. It is therefore important to limit instructions, training and information to what is relevant. (too much is ballast; too little risky)
• Maintenance
  Maintenance has a broad spectrum of activities. The breakdown of the installation is important to allocate work and executing party. Maintenance is to maintain the functioning and the integrity. Under the same denominator modifications and extensions are executed. 
  Some critical points are:
  • outsourcing of work 
    When outsourcing work the responsibility for the safety lays with the contracting party. The site must ensure that execution and delivery complies with the specification and requirments of the client. 
  • hiring of personnel
    When hiring personnel we must be aware that this personnel is to be treated as client's personnel. We need to be sure that this personnel is competent and suit for the job. 
  • malfunctioning
    Malfunctioning often results in alteration of the installation. Solving a problem (malfunction) means restoring the original state. If the installation is back functioning again and the status has changed we must consider this as change for which a separate procedure applies. Un-authorised changes are at all times forbidden! 
  • changes
    For changes we have to initiate a change request. This is arranged in the procedure "Management of Change".
    If the original status of the installation is false then a correction has to take place. This needs to be analysed and reported to the installation responsible. 
  • as built
    As-built reflects the actual situation of the installation. As built has to be assessed against the installation, the design and the event for change. 

Considering these critical control points the inspector must make his assessment on the installation-integrity. 

Field of application

Inspections are carried out as an initial or a follow up inspection of existing electrical installatons. The initial inspection serves to determine the status of integrity of the installation; the follow up inspection serves as an assessment whether corrective action have taken place and improvement measures are initiated. 

Execution

Initial inspection
The initial inspection takes place after the introduction of the electrical safety system to the stakeholders of the electrical installation. 

The initial inspection contains the following steps:

1. Gathering information on
   - organisation
   - electrical policy
   - management
   - inspection reports
   - technical details (drawings)
2. Assessment of the information
   The installation responsible together with the inspector(s) study the information on the criteria set in the "procedure information management".  Additional information may be requested from the site focal point. Based on the information a provisional plan is sketched.  
3. Determination of the domain
   Based on the available information the scope of responsibility is determined. Be aware of shared reponsibility for the power supply, operation and maintenance contract by third parties or separate provisions for installation parts. 
4. Installation breakdown
   Based on the available information a provisional breakdown of the installation is made.  
5. Setting up an inspection plan
   The inspection will be prepared by setting up and inspection database and entering data in the system.  
6. consult with the site electrical focal point
   The inspection plan will be consuted with the site electrical focal point for planning, support and permitting. 
7. inspection
   The inspectors will work in close cooperation with the designated site representative. For issues and weekly reporting they deal with the installation responsible person. 
8. findings
   All findings will be categorised according to the breakdown, the management, functions, the non-conformity and the risks.  
9. Reporting
   The inspector(s) will make a report of all findings and report to the installation responsible person. The reporting finds place on line. 
10. evaluation of findings
    Together wth the installaton responsible person the inspector(s) will evaluate their findings. A sistinction will be made between structural shortcomings, incidental shortcomings and risk classification. Based on the findings the installation responsible person sets up in consultation with the inspector(s) a plan for improvement.
11. consult with the asset focal point
    The improvement plan is discussed with the site electrical focal point on SMART realisation.. 
12. starting improvement plan
    The extend of the inspection results will determine whether assistance and/or advice is required from the installation responsible person or a delegate. 

Follow up inspection

An inspection is only of value when action for correction and improvement is taken.

A follow up inspection will measure:

1. corrective actions
   It is important that corrective actions are executed in a professional manner. Only when corrective actions are to the satisfaction of the inspector the non-conformity is raised. 
2. Preventive measures
   The inspector will judge the way measures are taken to prevent non-conformities from happening again. 

Evaluation and certification

The inspector(s) will evaluate the results of the follow up inspection with the installation responsible.
Both inspector and installation responsible will categorise the results based on the following basic elements:

1. Status installation
2. Status information
3. Status management
4. Status personnel competency
5. Progress on improvement measures
6. Active participation in the electrical safety board

For each element the site score is maximal 100% based on the non conformities, its gravety, the improvement process and the ambition.

The taxonomy is minimum 70% per element. Per element a minimum score is required of 70% to eligable certification. 

Subsequently the installation responsible will evaluate the outcome of the evaluation with the site focal point. 

If the site is eligable for certification a certificate will be issued.  If not a plan is set up for action to become certifiied. 

Reference

• Directive Electrical Safety Management
• Checklist for inspection compliance