Maintenance for Safety & Regulatory Compliance 

The safety of electrical systems is the primary objective for electrical services maintenance. Regular and properly structured maintenance, carried out by qualified personnel, is required under the relevant State or Territory
“Electrical Safety Act” and its associated regulations for compliance and to help ensure electrical systems safety.

It is also important to note that there are compliance maintenance requirements associated with electrical systems which relate to Essential Safety measures. These include:

• Emergency and Exit Lighting is required to remain operational for a minimum of 90 minutes during a power failure scenario. Typically
  6 and 12 monthly mandatory testing is required to verify the battery operation and performance, as well as visual checks on the integrity of the luminaires. The recording of test results and maintenance of records are important for compliance audit purposes.
• Residual Current Devices (RCDs) typically require 6 and 12 monthly functional testing to satisfy requirements.

Preventative Maintenance for System Reliability, Asset Protection, Increased Equipment Life and Reduced Energy Usage and Cost

Any disruption to a building’s power supply systems will directly affect businesses and occupants.

A structured preventative maintenance regime will help minimise unscheduled and possibly prolonged outages.

In particular, switchboards are often “under-serviced” and this can result in outages, and unplanned upgrades with associated downtime.

Regular service and maintenance, in line with relevant Australian Standards and manufacturer requirements, will increase the anticipated plant / equipment life. (For more information see A.G. Coombs Advisory Note about “Changes to Wiring and Switchboard Standards for Buildings.”

Typical maintenance activities include:

• General Switchboard Maintenance to manufacturer maintenance requirements including: Checking tightness of switchboard fasteners; cleaning out of accumulated dust and dirt; verification of circuit breaker operations and recommended maintenance of Air Circuit Breakers (ACB); and Automatic Transfer Switches (ATS).
• Thermographic scans and reporting associated reporting for main switchboards and distribution boards highlighting any higher than normal temperatures in components or equipment which may cause
  premature failure.
• Emergency back-up power systems that may include stand-by diesel generators, Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) and automatic transfer and load shedding programs. Systems should be regularly tested under load to assure that they will work when needed. System components should be maintained based on manufacturer recommendations.
• Testing and tagging of portable electrical equipment and extension power cords is an important regulatory requirement to eliminate the risk of persons coming into contact with faulty appliances and leads. Commonly a tag is attached following the test to confirm the safety of the device and this may be carried out on a schedule exceeding regulatory requirements to address operational risks, which increase wear.
  
• Lighting control systems reviewed regularly to verify operation is aligned with business operational requirements. This may include a review of time scheduling and/or implementation of additional controls such as motion or photo-electric sensors to reduce operation to improve
  energy usage.
• Electronic access control systems and security camera systems reviewed regularly to ensure that systems are fully operational and effective. Include visual checks of components and functional checks of the associated software, programming and reporting of the system. Ideally these systems should include battery back up or connection
  to a UPS and this function should be checked.
• Electricity management systems, including power quality and power factor control systems installed to protect electrical equipment and increase power usage efficiencies should be reviewed
  and tested regularly to ensure correct operation. This may include visual reviews and testing of the system functionality and general operation.
• Energy management systems and their components installed to minimise energy usage and connected load require regular review to ensure correct operation and that functions align with business operational requirements.
• Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems to be inspected annually in order to verify safe operation and efficient output.
• Electric Vehicle (EV) charging systems are increasingly common and require testing and maintenance in accordance with regulations and manufacturers recommendations. (For more information see
  A.G. Coombs Advisory Note about “EV Charging in Buildings.”)