Electrical Compliance
Here at MeKo Electrical, we complete a number of different compliance tasks, providing expert and qualified PAT testing, alongside a number of electrical and fire alarm servicing.
We ensure safety and protection of your home or business premises with every visit, with our reliable electricians having a plethora of knowledge and understanding surrounding all appliances. We are equipped to attend industrial, commercial and domestic jobs, as we are more than happy to complete work for a variety of different business sectors.
Our Specialist Electrical division can provide your business with a bespoke compliance package to keep your electrical services and systems compliant and running efficiently, reducing the likelihood of unexpected breakdowns and associated costs.
As well as PAT testing, we have been able to expand our service to offer our customers a full range of quality assurance and safety services for your business. With multi skilled and qualified engineers, we are on hand to complete various services on each visit, meaning you can cut down how many different companies you have to deal with each and every year when it comes to testing your appliances.
It is a legality for businesses and premises to check their fire alarms weekly (1/2 times a week), to ensure the safety of those within and staff, whereas for PAT testing, handheld and more frequently used and transported equipment should be tested every 12 months due to the increased risk of damage. Emergency lighting must also be tested monthly with a short functional test and an annual test for the full duration of the system in place, alongside thermal imaging for your building’s switchboards.
PAT Testing
Portable Appliance Testing is the process of periodically testing your electrical appliances for safety against both fire and electrocution. Making sure your appliances are safe for use and are maintained correctly is a legal act of which you should follow. This is a statutory requirement in law and insurance companies require the insured to comply with all current regulations and manufacturer specifications. We carry out:
Visual Inspection – check the appliance for signs of any visible damage like cracked plugs of split cables
Earth Continuity – tested to make sure it has a satisfactory earth connection
Insulation Resistance – checked to ensure the insulation of the appliance is satisfactory
Leakage – make sure that the leakage back to earth is minimal
The facts are that poorly maintained or faulty electrical appliances can cause fires, burns or even electrocution to anyone in the workplace or home. Under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, it is the employer’s duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all employees and customers within their business premises. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 also places the legal responsibility on the employer (or duty holder) to ensure electrical equipment does not pose any risk to users.
Our fully qualified PAT testing engineers will comprehensively test every appliance with approved calibrated test equipment, with each piece labelled with a unique NICEIC approved sticker. With this NICEIC approved asset register and certificate, we are certified approved contractors and domestic installers who are qualified to complete this PAT testing service.
EICR Certificate
An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) is the process that you need to regularly test your entire electrical distribution system to ensure full safety and compliance, not only to stay within current regulations, but to keep your staff and visitors safe. This inspection is done to existing electrical installations, with the objective to identify (in order of priority) any deficiencies against the national safety standard for electrical installations.
In accordance to the Electricity at Work Regulations, 1989, any electrical equipment that has the potential to cause injury or harm must be maintained and kept in a safe condition. Once we have completed your testing, you will receive an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report), supplying you with a free no obligation remedial quote for anything that we feel needs fixing. We will then provide you with an EICR Certificate which is valid for 1-5 years (dependent on your business type).
Key benefits of our EICR Certificate include:
- Fully Accredited – Accreditation with NICEIC and more
- Free Remedial Quote – We can offer a free remedial quote for your system faults and errors
- EICR Certificate – You’ll receive your EICR certificate with every inspection – the same day if needed
- Expert Engineers – Our fully qualified engineers are experts in identifying any potential problems
Fire Alarm Testing
When it comes to fire alarm services, ourselves at Meko offer professional installations and repairs on all types of fire alarms. Ranging from conventional stand-alone analogue systems to large scale open protocol addressable systems covering several buildings, we are on hand to help through our compliance service.
As we all should know by now, Fire Safety Law must be taken very seriously in order to protect life within business and home premises. Everyone depends on this system functioning properly in the event of a fire, acting as an early warning system and enabling safe and timely evacuation. At your business, the responsible person named in your risk assessment for Fire Safety must make arrangements for the maintenance of your Fire Alarm & Emergency Lighting Systems.
Fire Alarms must be inspected and tested by a competent Fire Alarm servicing organisation over a 12-month period, but normal checks done by staff members should be completed weekly. Maintenance visits should be no more than six months apart (requiring a minimum of 2 x visits per annum).
Through our internal logs, this allows us to automatically update you on when your next visit should be booked in for in order to follow guidelines and laws. Our team of fully certified engineers will take the time to properly inspect your system, alongside providing you with all the relevant legal documentation and paperwork you need to show that your fire alarm system has been serviced in accordance with British standards. Give you and your staff the peace of mind knowing your fire alarm system will correctly detect an emergency within the building by contacting us today.
Emergency Lighting Services
Emergency lights are designed to illuminate exits or exit routes in the vent of power outages, accidents, fires, and failures of a lighting system. Emergency lighting can be pivotal to those who are not used to the layout of your premises, as this lighting system will safely direct those to a safe and secure space in the event of an emergency.
It is law that all commercial buildings, HMOs, factories & warehouses must be fitted with emergency lighting.
In order to adhere to BS5266-1 standards, you must have your emergency lights tested annually. UK Fire Safety Legislation states that emergency lighting must be fully tested at least once per year for commercial and industrial buildings, ensuring safe passages are being shown in case of an unexpected event. Here at MeKo, we will test and ensure the correct working of all emergency lighting systems for any business types, completing full services and checks of your system in place.
Whether you are in need of a one-off compliance check, or perhaps you want to have this done as an ongoing programme of testing and certification, we can help you out. As emergency light certificates are a requirement for the majority of businesses and a lot of building types, including HMO properties, we will provide this once the job is finished. This should be kept to demonstrate compliance and can be used in legal challenges if ever required. This can also be used to help you track your annual tests and help you to ensure you’re on top of your checks.
Depending on your requirements and building type, we can also work with a designated member of your team to ensure the compliance of your space, including performing monthly tick-box quick checks to avoid surprises and breakdowns.
Thermal Imaging Surveying
Thermal imaging surveys detect electrical and equipment faults before it’s too late. Electrical equipment that is absolutely essential to run your business or used in crucial care or emergency situations must never let you down. By identifying potential issues before they happen, you are able to fix the problem before it is escalated to a stage where it could hinder the way your business operates. At the end of the day, prevention is always preferential to cure.
We can complete these surveys as a standalone, recurring or as part of our full testing services to help secure your business and make sure it operates as normal. Our team of fully trained electrical engineers will survey your equipment with detailed analysis, identifying any root cause of any issues. Thermal imaging surveys will also include any preventative recommendations and repair suggestions to avoid failures and faults in the future.
Thermal imaging surveys not only protect your most valuable items from potential hazards, but this also helps to prevent fire hazards, electrical damage and risks to personnel, by quickly identifying these ‘hot spots’. ‘Hot spots’ are the name given to areas that are the source of any issues found.
Not only are these surveys non-invasive and non-disruptive to your business, but regular checks of your most important equipment can help to reduce breakdowns, maintenance costs and any prevent any associated production losses. Thermal imaging surveys can be added to your scheduled or regular PAT testing service, scheduled in at regular intervals or as a one-off review.
FIRE EXTINGUISHER SERVICE & MAINTENANCE
Fire extinguisher maintenance is essential to ensure they will function as required in the event of a potential fire. We offer affordable extinguisher servicing and maintenance for residential and commercial customers across Gloucestershire.
When a fire breaks out, it is essential that the extinguisher works as expected, as a faulty extinguisher can cause a fire to spread, causing further damage and possible threat to life.
You may think that because an extinguisher has not been used, that it won’t need a service. This is not true. Corrosion, damage and a drop in pressure can cause an extinguisher to fail when you need it the most. Don’t take the risk, get your extinguishers serviced for total peace of mind with MeKo. Our engineers are fully qualified and certified engineers with many years of experience in maintaining and servicing fire safety equipment with British Standard 5306.
We offer annual servicing contracts to suit your specific needs, checking your fire extinguisher weight, cleanliness, signage and that they are correctly mounted. We will also provide you with an asset register and service report. Regular maintenance will ensure you do not fall foul of the British Standard Code of Practice BS 5306.
The standard states that all fire extinguishers in commercial settings, including businesses and tenanted properties, must be serviced no less than once per year to ensure they function as expected in the event of an emergency. Our servicing contracts ensure these obligations are met. Be sure to contact us today for more information or to arrange your fire extinguisher maintenance with us.
Contact us on 01453 764531 or 07970 976365