Statutory Inspection
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At OCA Global, we rely on our professional team, the best in the sector, and we organise our services and resources to meet your demands. As a highly qualified independent inspection body with a global presence, we guarantee the quality and efficiency of all our inspection services anywhere in the world.
Inspection is necessary in most projects and products to guarantee the highest standards of quality and safety in each stage of the process. Through our regulatory inspection services, we help our clients to reduce risks and to comply with the necessary regulatory requirements in the different regions and existing markets.
Electricity
By public premises we refer to places considered to be of public concurrence – this includes all kinds of entertainment and recreational activities venues, as well as meeting, work or sanitary facilities. Among these places we can find hospitals, restaurants, city councils, hotels, pubs and clubs, cinemas, theatres, etc.
The Low Voltage Directive, approved by Royal Decree 842/2002, of August 2, which regulates the electrical installations of public premises, establishes the mandatory nature of the inspections in this type of premises. These are divided into:
- Initial inspections: before their commissioning. They are valid for 5 years.
- Periodic inspections: with a periodicity of 5 years.
Installations prior to the date of entry into force of the Low Voltage Directive must also comply with the inspection and validity periods, although they will be inspected in accordance with the regulations under which they were executed.
Applicable regulations
- Royal Decree 842/2002
- ITC-BT-05
- ITC-BT-28
Electrical installations in buildings where operating theatres are located must have an electrical project designed and revised for their legalisation, and they are obliged to undergo the necessary periodic inspections since the entry into force of the Low Voltage Directive.
The inspections that must be carried our are divided into:
- Initial inspections: those established before the installation starts functioning. They are valid for 5 years.
- Periodic inspections: To be able to maintain the level of security already approved, these inspections should be carried our every 5 years.
In the case of installations prior to the entry into force of the Low Voltage Directive, the inspection will be carried out according to the regulations under which it was approved, applying the stipulated inspection and validity periods.
Applicable regulations
- Royal Decree 842/2002
- ITC-BT-05
- ITC-BT-38
Since 1881, the year in which the first electric street light was installed in Spain, and after the entry into force of the Low Voltage Directive in 2003, exterior lighting – that found in roadways, circulation areas and spaces between buildings that, due to their characteristics, should remain illuminated permanently or circumstantially, whether or not in the public domain such as parks, roads, etc. –, must undergo a series of inspections for their legalisation.
The initial inspection is mandatory when the power is greater than 5kW, and it is valid for 5 years.
Periodic inspections will be carried out on outdoor lighting installations that have been subject to an initial inspection, since their power is greater than 5kW, and they should be carried out every 5 years.
Any installation prior to the date of entry into force of the Low Voltage Directive must also comply with the terms and validity of the inspection, but it will be performed in accordance with the regulation under which it was approved.
As a complement to low voltage inspections, energy efficiency inspections are carried out in outdoor lighting installations with more than 1 kW of installed power. These inspections may coincide with the initial or periodic inspections defined above.
Applicable regulations
- Royal Decree 842/2002
- ITC-BT-05
- ITC-BT-09
- ITC-BT-44
- Royal Decree 1890/2008
When we talk about low voltage safety in damp, humid premises, in swimming pools or in ornamental fountains, we refer to electrical inspections in sewage-treatment plants, changing rooms, and all those locations that can be reached by water, as well as in premises on which environmental conditions are momentarily or permanently manifested in the form of condensation (saline or mould spots) on the ceiling and/or walls – as long as they are not impregnated with water or with drops of water.
Whether it is for public or private use, these inspections must be carried out in order to prevent possible accidents among maintenance personnel or users of the installation.
The initial inspection is mandatory when the power is greater than 10 kW and it is valid for 5 years, with the exception of humid premises, whose power must be greater than 25 kW.
Periodic inspections of installations that have been subject to an initial inspection because their power exceeds 5 kW in pools, or 25kW in wet rooms, will be carried out every 5 years.
Installations prior to the entry into force of the Low Voltage Directive must also comply with the set terms, but will be inspected following the regulations under which they were approved.
Applicable regulations
- Royal Decree 842/2002 [2.AGO]
- ITC-BT-05
- ITC-BT-30
- ITC-BT-31
Industrial premises
Industrial premises can be defined as spaces with a low voltage electrical installation where activities aimed at obtaining, repairing, maintaining, transforming or creating industrial products are carried out.
Industrial premises must be inspected as required and indicated in the Low Voltage Directive – equipment such as the general protection box, the meter box, the general power line, the grounding, the networks and circuits, transformer, etc.
Premises with risk of fire and explosion
The purpose of our interventions is to establish inspections – both initial and service station (MI-IP04) inspections – in electrical installations to achieve an adequate level of security in those establishments where the risk of explosion or fire due to the presence of flammable substances is high.
Locations with risk of fire and explosion are those where substances that may ignite or explode – whether solid, liquid or gaseous – are manufactured, processed, treated, handled, stored or used, as for example in garages and repair workshops, interior of paint booths, laundries, etc.
Applicable regulations
- Royal Decree 842/2002
- ITC-BT-29 TC-BT-05
- ITC-BT-05
High voltage electrical installations, understanding as such those with a three-phase alternating current with a nominal voltage higher than 1 kW, should undergo initial and periodic inspections.
Power and transformer stations and substations, as well as all their electrical components, are obliged to carry out an initial inspection and their corresponding periodic inspections, as established by the Regulation on technical conditions and safety guarantees in power and transformer stations and substations (Reglamento sobre condiciones técnicas y garantías de seguridad en centrales eléctricas, subestaciones y centros de transformación), according to the Royal Decree.
These inspections are mandatory since the entry into force of said regulation and are valid for 3 years.
Applicable regulations
- Royal Decree 337/2014
High voltage overhead power lines are those that carry three-phase alternating current at 50 Hz whose rated effective voltage between phases is equal to or greater than 1 kW.
These overhead power lines need an initial inspection to be legalised. Afterwards, a periodic inspection must be carried out every 3 years.
Due to the high demand for the creation of high voltage overhead power lines, in OCA Global we have a large expert team in these inspections, following current regulations.
Applicable regulations
- Decree 3151/1968
- Royal Decree 223/2008
Spain is one of the leading countries in the generation of electricity by means of solar energy. The generation of this type of energy is produced in renewable energy plants that may suffer uncontrollable “tension dips”. A tension dip is an event that causes a temporary loss of voltage, which can lead to a power failure in the network, so it is advisable to ensure that the installations are prepared to withstand these so they do not endanger power supply.
Due to these tension dips, there is an industrial safety regulation at state level to periodically inspect generation plants. The infringement of the obligations in relation to the initial and periodic certification of the behaviour against tension dips automatically means the suspension of the specific remuneration regime for the production of electrical energy using renewable sources.
The inspections are applicable in plants that meet the following requirements:
- Photovoltaic plants with a power exceeding 2 MW.
- Parks connected to points of distribution or transport networks in which the sum of the powers of the parks exceeds 2 MW.
The periodicity of the inspections is:
- Initial inspections: in its commissioning.
- Periodic inspections: every 5 years.
Applicable regulations
- Royal Decree 413/2014