Electrical Inspection & Testing SOP
An electrical inspection and testing SOP for Scanel: identifying the installation, defining which tests actually apply, safety preparation, performing the tests, assessing results, and issuing an archived report, with no other job attached.
What the electrical inspection & testing SOP process is
Most of Scanel's other SOPs assume a job is already open: an installation being built, a system being commissioned, a fault being repaired. This one exists for the case where nothing else is attached, a customer wants a switchboard, a set of breakers, an insulation run, a thermographic survey, a fire/gas detection system or emergency lighting tested and reported on, full stop, with no installation crew standing by afterward. That is why the chart opens at "Identify installation and systems to be inspected" rather than inheriting a scope from an installation or commissioning job: the survey has to establish, on its own, exactly what it is looking at before it can decide how to look at it.
"Define required tests for the identified installation" is drawn as a real step, with its own row and its own owner, because which tests apply is a genuine engineering call, not a fixed checklist run the same way every time. Insulation resistance and continuity suit a cable run; a thermographic survey suits a switchboard or a set of breakers under load; a fire/gas detection system or emergency lighting needs a functional check, not an insulation reading. Camille Ward's hours sit on this row and on "Identify installation and systems to be inspected" for that reason: deciding what to test is engineering judgment applied to a specific installation, and the chart gives it the same weight as the testing itself. The isolation and access gate that follows it is a real gate too: "Isolation and access verified safe to proceed?" loops back to "Prepare isolation, permits and PPE for the defined tests" on a No rather than letting a test start on an isolation nobody actually confirmed.
The other deliberate choice is what "corrective action if required" does not do: it does not try to fix anything. "Results within acceptable limits?" routes a failing result to "Flag defect and refer to the SOP that corrects it", and that row names the actual sibling SOP, the Marine Electrical Installation SOP for a failed insulation or continuity reading, the Emergency Marine Electrical Repair SOP for a live fault with immediate safety impact, the High-Voltage Electrical Work SOP for a high-voltage finding, rather than opening a repair inside an inspection job. Anders Vane's hours cluster across assessing results, flagging defects and issuing the report, so the workload BI panel can show his time concentrated in exactly the lane that turns a set of field readings into a customer-facing document, distinct from Jonas Whitmore's hours, which sit in the hands-on testing itself.
What this flowchart covers
In this template
- Standalone intake and scoping, from "Customer requests inspection and test survey" through "Identify installation and systems to be inspected" to "Define required tests for the identified installation", so the test list is written for what's actually being inspected rather than a fixed checklist
- Safety preparation and the isolation gate: "Prepare isolation, permits and PPE for the defined tests" feeding the "Isolation and access verified safe to proceed?" decision, which loops back to preparation on a No rather than letting testing start on an unverified isolation
- Field testing and assessment: "Perform tests: switchboards, breakers, insulation, thermography, fire/gas detection, emergency lighting" followed by "Assess results against acceptance criteria"
- The corrective-action branch: the "Results within acceptable limits?" decision routes a failing result to "Flag defect and refer to the SOP that corrects it" by name, rather than attempting the repair inside this SOP
- Reporting and closeout: "Issue test report" and "Archive documentation and test records", so a customer with no other Scanel work open still gets a documented, retained result
- Named owners and hours on every row via the People and Workload columns, so the workload BI panel can show Anders Vane's hours clustering across assessment, defect referral and reporting while Camille Ward's cluster in identifying the installation and defining its tests
When to use this template
- A customer wants switchboards, breakers, insulation, thermography, fire/gas detection or emergency lighting tested and reported on, with no installation or repair job attached
- You need to standardize which tests apply to which installation type instead of leaving "define required tests" to whoever happens to be on site that day
- A periodic or class-driven survey requires a documented isolation check before testing starts and a retained report afterward
- A test finds a defect and you need a consistent rule for which Scanel SOP picks up the fix, rather than trying to repair it inside the inspection job
- You're onboarding a new test and inspection engineer and need a reference for the sequence from intake to archived report
How it works
Replace the lanes with your actual inspection roles
This chart uses ServiceDesk, Engineering, Field Test Team, HSE / Compliance and QA / Reporting. If a separate person independently signs off the isolation gate from the person performing the tests, split HSE / Compliance into two lanes rather than folding the check into whoever happens to be on site.
Write your own required-tests logic into the test-definition step
"Define required tests for the identified installation" needs the actual mapping your business uses, insulation and continuity for cabling, thermography for switchboards and breakers under load, functional checks for fire/gas detection and emergency lighting, not just "tests as needed". Put that mapping directly into the row's comment field.
Name who can call a No on the isolation gate
"Isolation and access verified safe to proceed?" is the one branch in this chart with real safety consequences if it's skipped. Attach a named role, not just a title, so there's no ambiguity about who can send the job back to preparation instead of letting testing start.
Point the corrective-action branch at the SOP that actually performs the fix
"Flag defect and refer to the SOP that corrects it" is only useful if the referral names the right sibling SOP for the finding, installation work, an emergency repair, or high-voltage work, rather than leaving the next step to guesswork. List your own referral rules directly in that row.
Set People and Workload on every row before you rely on the BI panel
The workload panel can only total hours for rows that carry them. Fill in People and Workload for each step as you adapt the chart, using realistic effort hours rather than elapsed time, so a week with several surveys booked actually shows up as a busy week for the right engineer.
Frequently asked questions
What triggers the start of this inspection and testing process?
The process starts at "Customer requests inspection and test survey": a customer wants specific electrical systems tested and reported on, with no other Scanel job already open. "Identify installation and systems to be inspected" and "Define required tests for the identified installation" both key off that request, so the survey scope is established before anyone books access or picks up test equipment.
Does this SOP cover repairing whatever the tests find?
No. The "Results within acceptable limits?" decision routes a failing result to "Flag defect and refer to the SOP that corrects it", which names the sibling SOP that actually performs the fix, the Marine Electrical Installation SOP, the Emergency Marine Electrical Repair SOP, or the High-Voltage Electrical Work SOP, depending on the finding. This SOP documents the defect and the referral and still issues its own test report; it does not open a repair job.
How does Scanel decide which tests to run?
"Define required tests for the identified installation" is a real engineering step, not a fixed checklist: insulation resistance and continuity suit a cable run, a thermographic survey suits a switchboard or breakers under load, and a functional check suits fire/gas detection or emergency lighting. Which combination applies depends on what "Identify installation and systems to be inspected" found, not on a single standard test list.
Who can proceed with testing if isolation can't be verified?
Nobody. "Isolation and access verified safe to proceed?" loops a No back to "Prepare isolation, permits and PPE for the defined tests" rather than letting the field team begin on an isolation nobody actually confirmed. Testing only starts once the gate reads Verified.
Can this SOP run without any other Scanel job open?
Yes, that's the point of it. Unlike Scanel's installation, commissioning or repair SOPs, this one is a standalone survey: a customer can call in purely to have equipment tested and reported on, and the chart runs start to finish, intake, test definition, safety preparation, testing, assessment, report and archive, without assuming any other work is happening.
Where this process fits
In most operations this process follows Marine Electrical Installation SOP and hands off to Emergency Marine Electrical Repair SOP.
It is one step in Marine electrical.
Step 2: Marine Electrical Installation SOP
A marine electrical installation SOP for Scanel: engineering review, material verification, work preparation, hands-on installation, a workmanship inspection gate, de-energized checks, documentation and handover to commissioning.
Step 3: Electrical Inspection & Testing SOP You are here
An electrical inspection and testing SOP for Scanel: identifying the installation, defining which tests actually apply, safety preparation, performing the tests, assessing results, and issuing an archived report, with no other job attached.
Step 4: Electrical System Commissioning SOP
An electrical system commissioning SOP for Scanel: pre-energization inspection and testing, a hard energization-approval gate, functional testing with a fault-resolution loop, a commissioning report and signed customer handover.