Niceic Electrical danger notification forms

NICEIC Electrical Danger Notification forms are, accountable documents. Unused forms should be kept secure by the Qualified Supervisor. A record of each form used should be made on the record sheet provided. Unused sets of obsolete forms must be destroyed to prevent their misuse.

The purpose of the Electrical Danger Notification form is to permit an Approved Contractor to:

(i) Advise in writing a person responsible for the safety of an existing electrical installation of the location and nature of a dangerous condition discovered in that installation, and

(ii) Provide a record of the immediate action taken to remove or minimize the danger, thereby assisting the Approved Contractor to discharge the duty imposed on competent persons by Regulations 4(1) and 4(2) of the Electricity at Work Regulations, and

(iii) Provide a record of the advice given to remedy the deficiency as a matter of urgency.

The Electrical Danger Notification form is not intended to be used to notify danger arising from equipment not forming part of a fixed electrical installation, such as portable and transportable appliances. The removal of danger arising from such equipment should not warrant the formal notification procedure.

The Notification should identify only damage, deterioration, defects, dangerous conditions and any none-compliances with the requirements of the current issue national standard for the safety of electrical installations which give rise to real and immediate danger.

An Electrical Danger Notification should not be issued unless the competent person considers that real and immediate danger actually exists — Notifications are subject to challenge by duty holders, and NICEIC will investigate any complaint that the issue of a Notification was not justified.

The information given in the Notification must be clear, factual, and fair and reasonable in all the circumstances.

Where a real and immediate danger exists, with the agreement of a person having responsibility for the safety of the electrical installation, appropriate action should be taken to remove or minimize the danger immediately (such as switching off and isolating the affected part(s) of the installation). The action taken should be noted on the form in the box provided for this purpose.

Approved Contractors have no legal right to isolate or disconnect any part of an electrical installation without the owner’s permission. If permission cannot be obtained to remove danger immediately, Approved Contractors should act without delay to minimise the danger so far as is reasonably practicable, such as by providing temporary barriers or enclosures for exposed live parts, posting danger notices etc.

In electrical installations, risk of injury may result from:

(i) Electric shock

(ii) Fire

(iii) Burns from hot surfaces

(iv) Burns from the passage of electric current

(v) Mechanical movement of electrically-actuated equipment, in so far as such injury is intended to be prevented by electrical emergency switching or by electrical switching for mechanical maintenance of non-electrical parts of such equipment

(vi) Explosion

(vii) Arcing or burning, excessive pressure and/or toxic gases

(viii) Power supply interruptions and/or safety services.

It is considered that real and immediate danger would arise from conditions such as:

• Live parts exposed to touch

• Connections or equipment showing evidence of arcing or overheating

• Safety devices removed or bypassed

• Overheating cables

• Inadequate switching arrangements for emergency or mechanical maintenance purposes

• Incorrectly selected, damaged or poorly maintained equipment in potentially explosive atmospheres (hazardous areas).

Note that not all conditions that would warrant a Code 1 recommendation (‘requires urgent attention’) in a Periodic Inspection Report necessarily constitute real and immediate danger, and therefore the issue of an Electrical Danger Notification. If necessary to determine the full extent and nature of any dangerous conditions, a full periodic inspection and test of the installation should be recommended to a person having responsibility for the safety of the electrical installation.

The Electrical Danger Notification form marked ‘Original’ is to be given to a person having responsibility for the safety of the electrical installation. The form marked ‘Duplicate’ is to be retained by the Approved Contractor and made available for review by NICEIC.

Completing the Electrical Danger Notification form The first box entitled Details of the Dangerous Condition should explain clearly the details of the dangerous condition, with reference to the regulations in the national standard for electrical safety, BS 7671: Requirements for Electrical Installations, and the Electricity at Work Regulations.

The second box Organization and/or Person Responsible provides space for recording details of the Client, the responsible person and the installation. The boxes Address and Specific Location of the Dangerous Condition and Details of the Approved Contractor Notifying the Dangerous Condition are self-explanatory.

In the box immediate Action Taken, the Approved Contractor must record the immediate action (such as switching off and isolating the affected part(s) of the installation) taken to remove the danger.

The box Further Urgent Action Recommended by the Approved Contractor is self-explanatory.

The final box Receipt enables the recipient to acknowledge receipt of the Notification and, if appropriate, that the Notification will be passed without delay to a person having responsibility for the safety of the electrical installation.

If the space available on the form is insufficient, additional numbered pages are to be provided as necessary. Any additional pages are to be given the same unique serial number as the Notification

The NICEIC* Approved Contractor issuing this Notification has found that a part or parts of the electrical installation identified are in a potentially dangerous condition. The safety of those using the installation may be at risk.

Appropriate action needs to be taken immediately to remove the danger. The action taken (such as switching off and isolating the affected part(s) until remedied) should be recorded.

Urgent remedial work is necessary to bring the installation up to the standard required by the current issue of the national standard for the safety of electrical installations, British Standard 7671 - Requirements for Electrical Installations, and the Electricity at Work Regulations. The Approved Contractor issuing this Notification will be able to provide further advice.

Regulation 4(1) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 requires that all systems shall at all times be of such construction as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, danger. Regulation 4(2) requires all systems to be maintained so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, such danger. In places where work activities are undertaken, failure to comply with the Electricity at Work Regulations could result in prosecution.

This Notification is intended to be issued only for the purpose of reporting a dangerous condition in an existing electrical installation. The Notification records only damage, deterioration, defects, dangerous conditions and any non-compliances with the requirements of the national standard for the safety of electrical installations which give rise to real and immediate danger. It is not a detailed or comprehensive report on the condition of the installation or equipment concerned. A periodic inspection of the installation may be necessary to determine the full extent of any deficiencies.

Only an NICEIC Approved Contractor or Conforming Body is authorised to issue this Electrical Danger Notification. A person having responsibility for the safety of the electrical installation should have received the copy marked ‘Original’ and the Approved Contractor should have retained the report marked ‘Duplicate’. The Notification has a printed seven-digit serial number which is traceable to the Approved Contractor to which it was supplied by NICEIC. Should a person having responsibility for the safety of the electrical installation have reason to believe that the issue of this Notification is unjustified, they should in the first instance raise the specific concerns in writing with the Approved Contractor. If the concerns remain unresolved, they may make a formal complaint to NICEIC, for which purpose a standard complaint form may be downloaded from the NICEIC website (www.niceicgroup.com), or is available from NICEIC on request.