"John" wrote in message
...
In article , ARWadworth
writes

"Ed Sirett" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:36:53 +0100, John wrote:

Our insurers require us to have an inspection of the fixed electrical
equipment.

Whilst I know that some of it is old, I don't think any of it is
unsafe.

Before I get someone in, I would like to do a once over myself to have
the opportunity to rectify any obvious items before they do their
worst!

Does anyone have a checklist or guidance on what to look for?


There are so many little things that can be picked up that I would be
very
surprised if any installation is totally 100% passable. See how much is
wrong then decide the bets way forward.

This advice is worth what you paid for it.


If you want to save costs on such a job my recommendation would be to
already have provided the correct equipment to allow the tester to reach
those high up places. The cost of him assembling and disassembling tower
scafold is quite expensive. Ditto for the cupboard that the CU is in. He
does not want to spend 20 minutes clearing buckets, flags and bibles out
of
the way to put a pair of stepladders in there! (I have been there)

I would say correct labeling of the CU/fusebox is the main starter. Anyone
looking at a 20 way CU with no labels will soon start to upset.

I do know know if your time spent there is volunteered time or paid for.
If
it is paid for then it will still save your church money if you follow
those
tips.

Two other tips. If the church has been tested before do you have the old
test sheets?
Ask the guy when he quotes how you can help him. He will not bite
(probably).

Adam

Many thanks - labelling the CUs is something that I had meant ot do.

I (as are most people in churches) a volunteer and hence just do my best
(with safety top of the list)

As I expected. Churches (and many other places) would have died out years
ago without such good people.

The church lighting is accessible by ladder, how much would you expect
the tester to want to go up and look at - are we talking sample lights
or every one?

An agreed sample. Say 20-25%. If for example you have 8 identical lights
that are mounted at very high positions and 2 of them are tested, then the
tester should be able to conclude satisfactory or unsatisfactory using this
sample. The sampling is not a guarantee that the one of the 8 lights is not
dodgy.

Adam