How long does an electrical safety check take?⏱️

1) When asking how long does an electrical safety check take, an electrical safety check can take anywhere from 2.5 hours to 6 hours or even more in larger electrical installations.

The time taken depends on several factors such as:

2) Amount Of Circuits🔢

The more electrical circuits and fuse boards / consumer units that a property has, the longer the electrical check is going to take. This is because each circuit needs to have a variety of electrical testing carried out on it to ensure its safety and the more circuits there are the longer that this will take the inspector to carry out. 

3) Obstacles and Access🚪

The more obstacles that are in the way of sockets, switches, light fittings, and other electrical points, the longer the test may take and the poorer the test results may be. If the inspector cannot safely and easily access each electrical point in the electrical installation then the inspection is likely to be hindered by this and as a result produce poorer or more inaccurate results. Its best to ensure that there is clear working access to the consumer unit / fuse box, switches, and sockets in the property such that the inspection can be carried out thoroughly. 

4) The thoroughness of the test📋

As with all things, corners can be cut and works can be done more cheaply. This does not mean the same service for less money. In fact, there is currently no legal minimum amount of testing that must be carried out in order to complete an electrical inspection and EICR document. It is entirely possible to find an electrical inspection for almost any budget but in many cases, this may mean a much quicker, less thorough inspection is carried out and the results produced may be inaccurate or insufficient to gain an understanding of the condition of the electrical installation. 

5) What is carried out on an electrical safety check?🤔

When an electrical safety check is carried out, there are many items that are checked such as:

6) Bonding and Earthing✔️

The pipework in your home is often a source of introduced danger when it comes to electrical faults. It is important that, if required, the pipework in your home is correctly connected to your earthing system such that in the event of a fault, it is difficult to receive an electric shock. This earthing connection to the pipework is normally known as “Bonding”. The earthing type and quality will also be checked to ensure that there is a good low resistance fault path available for electrical faults to the outside. The internal earthing will be checked to make sure that each circuit has its own earth and to ensure that in the event of an electrical fault, the circuit will correctly disconnect. 

7) Quality of cable insulation / insulation resistance✔️

Tests will be carried out to ensure that the cabling, so far as is practicable, is in good condition. This is done by checking there is no connections between each of the wires such as live and earth wires. The higher the figure we obtain the better the quality of insulation in the system. Low values can indicate faults, aging cables, and system deterioration. 

8) Visual inspection✔️

Your electrician will carry out a visual inspection of the electrical accessories and any visible wiring to ascertain the condition of everything, whether the electrical accessories are suitable for the place in which they are installed and if anything is showing signs of damage or distress. 

9) Checking ring circuits✔️

Ring circuits need to be checked to ensure that they have not been broken and are still continuous. Breaks on ring circuits are serious as they will go unnoticed until tested by the electrician and if broken could cause fire, overheating or electric shock risk. 

10) Electric Shock Protection✔️

Your electrician will check the electric shock protection in the consumer unit and for the system as a whole. If sufficient electric shock protection is not in place, then this could mean a potentially dangerous situation should an electrical fault develop in the house. There are many other checks that are carried out as part of an electrical safety check so when asking how long does an electrical safety check take? It is important to take these things into consideration. Click here for some more information on all things EICR's. At V&A Burgess Ltd – Electrical Faults Fixed, we do not undertake cheap, quick electrical safety checks that compromise safety and potentially waste money. We only undertake the most thorough testing that we can as each installation allows. 

11) How much does a proper safety check cost?💷

Every company will carry out electrical safety checks slightly differently and charge different amounts for this. If you would like to see our costs for this then check out our information page for safety checks and EICR reports. When purchasing a home, unless the home is brand new, it can be incredibly important to instruct a trustworthy company to carry out an electrical check for you. It’s important to know before you make a large investment that the investment is sound. It’s important to know before you spend time and money decorating that the wiring system underneath is sound. 

12) Can I carry out an electrical safety check myself?🛠️

Unfortunately, not. This is a specialised job that requires a great understanding of the wiring regulations, testing, inspecting, test equipment and the ability to interpret test results. With very old electrical systems it may be easier to see that a very old fuse box or consumer unit may need replacing. This may give you an indication that some electrical work needs to be carried out in order to improve the electrical installation and bring it up to modern safety standards. A visual inspection alone is often not sufficient to determine the condition of a wiring system. We are able to offer visual-only electrical safety checks on very old systems to confirm if a possible rewire is needed. 😊 

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