How do Professional Electrical Installation Services Work

Correct electrical installation is essential to ensure your business avoids costly or dangerous faults. Discover the vital requirements, guidelines, processes and stages involved in a professional electrical installation.

Regardless of your industry sector or business, it’s almost certain that the daily running of your operations depends on electricity.

So, ensuring the necessary electrical power is reliable, safe, and performing to optimal standards relies on a suitable and professional installation.

But where do you start? Read on to discover everything you need to know about the requirements of a safe and high-performing electrical installation, including our proven processes.

An electrical installation combines and permanently connects multiple items of electrical equipment from a local electricity supply to safely and effectively produce and control the necessary power.

What defines an electrical installation from other electrical systems is the permanence of its structure, operationally and functionally.

Each item of fixed electrical equipment, such as cables, wires, sockets, and switches is powered through the main generating source before being divided through various circuits.

There are multiple types of installations to serve specific electrical purposes and electricity requirements within residential, commercial, and industrial properties.

The requirements for electrical installations will be specific to the amount of power and complexities for appliances required within the system. For example, if your business operates machinery, it will require large cable requirements compared to residential homes.

Warehouse and manufacturing machinery such as control panels and conveyor belts will need a powerful and potentially complex installation from accredited expert contractors.

Requirements for an Electrical Installation:

Regardless of commercial, industrial or residential purposes, here is a list of the general components and how they function within an electrical installation:

Electricity Meter (Load Centre)
Any installation must begin with a local source with your electricity meter. Electrical meters distribute electricity supply across the system to feed all the branch circuits.

Also known as “load centres”, “electric meters”, “electrical meters”, and “energy meters” supply and measure the amount of electricity passing through the overall installation.

Electrical Line
Commonly seen in public areas, stretched across electricity pylons and poles, electrical wiring is also prevalent underground, especially in built-up urban areas. Electrical lines are essential to run power through the meter to supply your installation.

Circuit Breakers
Circuit breakers help divide the electrical power across your installation into separate circuits for specific purposes.

Electrical Wiring
Wires, cables, and circuits make up the electrical wiring that carries the power throughout the system.

Accessories
Finally, we have any fixtures, lights and appliances that receive the power and perform functions within the system of your installation.

So, the basic items for your general electrical installation will involve the meter, breaker panel, circuits and wires. The design for each component should consider the purpose and electrical power requirements involved in your overall system.

For the process behind your electrical installation, all the above-listed components will work in the following ways:

• Electricity runs through the load centre from a transmission or local power source.
• The meter begins to track the amount of power used by your system.
• Once electricity enters, it will go through the circuit breaker box.
• The circuit breaker will then divide the power into separate circuits before directing the electricity to different appliances connected to your installation system.

Essentially, the role of your electrical installation is to combine the necessary items within your requirements and power each item safely and effectively from a transmission source supplied to the electrical meter.

While we’ve so far considered an electrical installation as a noun “in the assembly of associated electrical equipment”, we shouldn’t forget that electrical installation is also a verb to mean the physical work involved to install the necessary components that define an electrical installation.

Now, we’ve discussed the assembly and contents of the electrical equipment involved in the process, it’s time to focus on the process of putting these into place.

For most jobs, our electricians break the installation process into seven stages:

1. Prepare the system for the provision of fixings and supports known in the trade as “first fix activities”.
2. Install the electrical wire systems within the area.
3. Test wiring systems to check for faults or damage.
4. Install and connect the necessary equipment and appliances.
5. Test the equipment and compliances in line with BS 7671.
6. Issue an official electrical installation test certificate and other documentation, such as operation and maintenance guidelines.
7. Finish the installation with necessary sealing and protective covers.

Testing is essential to ensure the installation is working correctly. All details must be recorded for the official certification and supporting documentation.

Electrical contractors and personnel must follow compulsory UK Health and Safety guidelines to perform electrical installations correctly.

Some of these guidelines include the following standards:

• BS 7671 -2008 – 2011: Requirements for electrical installations with IEE Wiring Regulations.
• BS EN 50110 (Parts 1 and 2) – 2004 – 2010: Operation of electrical installations.

For optimal safety and performance from your electrical installation, we recommend you include the following processes:

• Ensure you select the correct types of cables to support your appliances and protect your circuit breaker.
• Install necessary covers to prevent contact with live electrical components.
• Apply protective bonding to minimise electrical shocks if any faults occur.
• Establish a Residual Current Device (RCD) for protection against electric shocks.
• Position earthing components for fuses and the circuit breaker to avoid electrical faults causing further damage.
• Supply sufficient circuits to avoid any danger and inconvenience caused by potential faults.

It’s always important to choose electrical contractors who are NICEIC-approved.

At Hills Electrical, we specialise in all types of electrical installation across energy industries, public utilities, and commercial establishments.

From brand-new mains installation to full electric refurbishments and small power services, our expert team of electricians are all NICEIC-approved with years of experience. We offer innovative and flexible electrical installation solutions across design, supply, and installation.

Our team can work collaboratively to help your business complete small and bigger-scale installation projects for your clients. Or we can work directly for your business to ensure you stay fully functional and minimise downtime.

So, if you’d like to see how our electrical installation solutions can enhance your business operations and improve your overall workplace safety, get in touch today.

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