C1 electrical defect-Blanks Missing From a Fuse Board

On the face of it, as a defect,  blanks missing from fuse board, appears as a fairly innocuous fault, however due to the nature of the defect and the fact that direct contact with live parts could be possible, the inspecting engineer would afford the defect a C1 Fail Code*.

C1 electrical defect-Blanks Missing From a Fuse Board – Many reports would have this defect recorded as it is very commonplace. When a new fuse board is installed, often the unit is specified for future extra capacity. Therefore the board would have extra ‘space’ for additional circuits. To avoid the unnecessary expense of fitting Miniature Circuit Breakers (MCB’s) blanking pieces would be fitted instead. Unfortunately over time these ‘blanks’ get lost or broken and lead to the unwanted C1 defect being reported on within the EICR.

Rectification of this defect is usually quite simple with most electrical wholesalers selling either original blank plates or universal items that would fit most boards. As part of any maintenance it is recommended that a competent person replaces these items as and when they are noticed.

Our mission is to provide every single customer with an outstanding service that is fit for purpose and delivered by experts to reduce risk. As you can see from our other faults of the week, regular visits from a professional can cut down the risk of electrical faults, fire and disrupted security, to you and your workplace.

So if you know you are due a service, or have some concerns about your premises, please call 01543 225306, or fill out one of our contact forms to arrange a free assessment of your premises, with one of our fully trained engineers.

Information for Reference
*C1 Fail Code- Danger Present. Risk of injury. Immediate remedial action required.
EICR- Electrical Installation Condition Report.

Regulations
Electricity at Work Regulations 1989-Reg 4(2) “The need for maintenance to be done to ensure safety”
IET Wiring Regulations BS7671:2008 (Amd 3 2015) Reg 416.2.1 Live parts within enclosures providing a degree of protection at least to IP2X (12.5mm dia finger)

 

Thermographic Inspection – Fault of the Week at Veriserv

In this example of our Veriserv fault of the week a thermographic inspection detects latent defect which could cause failure and/or fire.
A small rise in temperature at an electrical terminal was found while undertaking a thermographic inspection. Not visible to the naked eye, if left unchecked, the termination could undergo a progressive failure that would lead to very high temperatures and could be a likely cause of fire.

A number of causes can give rise to increased heat either at electrical switchgear, terminations or electrical circuits.

In this instance the engineer inspected the electrical connection more closely and noted that the wiring is becoming discoloured due to the heat. This would suggest that even higher temperatures were possibly reached at this point under load conditions.

Identifying ‘hot spots’ in electrical equipment is just the starting point for Veriserv engineers when undertaking thermographic inspections. These ‘hot spots’ or points of interest require careful consideration to identify the root cause. As all inspections are undertaken by electrical engineers, investigating the likely cause of the failure is immediate and speedy rectification is often made.

More information on Thermographic Inspection

Our mission is to provide every single customer with an outstanding service that is fit for purpose and delivered by experts to reduce risk. As you can see from our other faults of the week, regular visits from a professional can cut down the risk of electrical faults, fire and disrupted security, to you and your workplace.

So if you know you are due a service, or have some concerns about your premises, please call 01543 225306, or fill out one of our contact forms to arrange a free assessment of your premises, with one of our fully trained engineers.

Relevant Regulations
Electricity at Work Regulations 1989-Reg 4(2) ‘maintenance to prevent danger’. Reg 10 ‘Connections’
IET Wiring Regulations 2008 (amd 2015): 134.1.4

GEM Award ‘Going the Extra Mile’

Four times per year, Veriserv present an engineer and staff member with the quarterly GEM ‘Going the Extra Mile’ Award. This is in recognition of employees who have done something extra in their job role to help our clients or the company. Each winner receives £200 and has a framed certificate on our reception wall.

The staff award is based upon nominations by other staff members and the engineer award is drawn out of a hat, which includes all positive customer feedback that has been received in the three month period.

For the past few weeks Veriserv staff have been voting and giving their reasons why they think a certain member of staff  should be presented with the GEM award, and this week was the big reveal.

Veriserv’s Contracts Manager, Phil Minshall MIET received the GEM Award for the 1st quarter of 2015. Phil has gone above and beyond his job role as a Contacts Manager,  he has been working closely with the Fire & Security Contracts Manager by supporting  and successfully project managing a large multi disciplined Authority contact.

Veriserv believe Phil deserves the GEM Award as he has ‘Gone the Extra Mile’

Phil GEM

Veriserv’s Qualifying Supervisor, Michael Briggs was presented with the engineer GEM Award. Kings College London have expressed their appreciation of Micheal’s hard work and competence throughout the contact. The Compliance and contracts Manager from KCL stated;

“All in all no probs this end and the guys have been a credit to your company, if only all company’s I deal with were half as good as you lot things would be a lot better this end”

Michael was the one who supervises this particular job and his name was drawn out of the hat to win the GEM. So credit also goes to all our engineers who worked on this job.

This positive feedback from KCL is another boost to Veriserv and our engineers, reinforcing the great work that our Contract supervisor Justin Livermore has done to make the contract such a success.

Mike Briggs GEM

All engineers do a brilliant job and Veriserv receive numerous emails from clients communicating their gratitude towards Engineers and their hard work. Here are a few examples

“everything went well with the people who tested the equipment being very pleasant and supportive”

“What a fantastic job Leighton Sims did and a credit to the company”

“spoke to Miles Jenner for a rebook and he said that it would be a pleasure to have Tony O’Sullivan back he was the best engineer they had ever seen “a very professional gentleman” ”

“we were very happy with the work undertaken and the engineer was very accommodating of our needs around when we required power”

“just to say a big thank you for a great development and for your efforts in giving us a clean handover. It is appreciated”

Veriserv are extremely proud of all their Staff and Engineers. They work extremely hard and always express enthusiasm and show industrious workmanship throughout all tasks and works. This follows through to providing an excellent service to all our clients.