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The electrical installations encompass all electrical equipment used for the production, conversion, distribution, or consumption of electrical energy. The Labor Code [1] stipulates that the employer must inspect these installations.
We provide an overview of these obligations: initial inspections, periodic inspections, and emergency lighting inspections.
1. Initial inspection of electrical installations
The electrical installations must be inspected upon commissioning and after any structural modifications (*).
This initial inspection must be carried out by an accredited body. Its scope is defined in Annex I of the Order of December 26, 2011 [2]. The report must be submitted to the head of the establishment within 5 weeks of the inspection.
(*) Structural modifications include:
- changes to the earthing system;
- changes to the short-circuit power of the source;
- modifying or adding distribution circuits;
- creating or reconfiguring a portion of an installation.
2. Periodic inspections of electrical installations
Permanent electrical installations must be inspected annually, starting from the date of the initial inspection. Inspections may be performed every two years if the previous report contains no observations, or under more specific conditions (compliance work completed and reported to the labor inspectorate via registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt, and with the opinion of the Social and Economic Committee).
Periodic inspections are carried out:
- either by an accredited body,
- or by a qualified person within the company. The competence of this person is assessed by the employer based on the criteria established by the decree of December 22, 2011 [3] : technical and legal knowledge, experience, regular practice, etc.
The head of the establishment must provide the person performing the inspections with the information specified in Annex III of the decree of December 26, 2011.
They must also ensure that the personnel required to carry out the inspections are present.
The scope of the inspection is specified in Annex I of the decree of December 26, 2011. If the inspection is performed by an accredited body, the report must be sent to the head of the establishment within 5 weeks of the inspection.
The results of the inspections, as well as documentation of any work or modifications carried out to remedy identified defects, must be recorded in a register. When inspections are performed by an accredited body, the inspection reports must be attached to this register.
Note: specific provisions apply to initial and periodic inspections of temporary electrical installations, such as those for construction sites, ship or boat building or repair sites, exhibition stands, shows, etc.
3. Inspections of emergency lighting installations
As part of electrical installation maintenance, the employer must inspect emergency lighting installations:
FrequencyInspection ObjectOnce a month- Switching to operating mode in the event of a normal power supply failure and ensuring all lamps light up - Effectiveness of the remote rest mode control and automatic reset to standby mode upon restoration of the normal power supplyOnce every 6 monthsAutonomy of at least one hour
In facilities with periods of closure, these checks must be carried out in such a way that the lighting system has regained its required autonomy by the start of each opening period.
When emergency lighting consists of self-contained units (BAES), these checks can be performed automatically using units equipped with an integrated automatic test system (compliant with the NF C 71-820 standard). The Integrated Automatic Test System (SATI) automatically performs the tests required to verify the operation of the BAES.
Note: In this case, remember to regularly check the SATI indicator lights (for example, during security rounds or by including it in your maintenance plan) to detect any faulty units.
The results of these checks must be recorded in the electrical inspection log.
In conclusion, we recommend that you:
- review the inspection/monitoring plans for your electrical installations to ensure that checks are carried out at the correct intervals;
- properly address any observations and non-conformities resulting from these inspections and record the actions taken to resolve the discrepancies.
[1] Labor Code - Articles R. 4226-1 to R. 4226-21 Electrical installations (employer obligations for the use of workplaces) (Regulatory part, Part Four, Book II, Title II, Chapter VI)
[2] Order of December 26, 2011, regarding the inspection or inspection processes for electrical installations as well as the content of the corresponding reports
[3] Order of December 22, 2011, regarding the competence criteria for persons responsible for carrying out periodic inspections of electrical installations and implementing inspection processes for temporary electrical installations