Who arranges access for an electrical thermography survey in a colocation data centre?

In a colocation data centre, the operator arranges access to the shared power chain it owns: switchgear, UPS, busbar, floor PDUs and tap-offs, up to each customer’s demarcation point. That part can be surveyed live under the operator’s permit. Racks and rack PDUs inside customer cages need each customer’s agreement and escort, so they are planned as customer-approved visits.

Where the line usually falls

Most colocation contracts split the power chain in two. The operator owns and maintains everything from the incoming supply down to the point where power is handed to the customer, often the tap-off unit, floor PDU output or a breaker in a distribution board. The customer owns what sits after that: the rack, the rack PDUs and the IT equipment plugged into them.

That split decides who can say yes to a thermography survey of each part. Before quoting, we ask for the operator’s asset list and the demarcation point written down, so the survey route matches who owns what. If your contract is vague on it, that is worth settling before anyone opens a cover.

The operator’s side: one visit, one permit

Shared infrastructure is surveyed live, with no shutdown, under the operator’s own change process and permit to work. The site’s authorised electrician opens covers one at a time; our thermographer images each connection from a safe distance and records the load. A typical operator survey covers:

LV switchboards and the outgoing ways feeding each data hall
UPS input, output and bypass connections
Busbar runs, joint covers and tap-off units
Floor PDUs and remote power panels up to the demarcation point

None of this needs a customer present, because none of it sits inside a customer cage.

The customer’s side: cages and racks

Inside a cage, the operator usually cannot authorise anyone to open a customer’s racks. Each customer has to agree, and most want their own escort present. In practice this works one of two ways:

The customer commissions it. The customer books its own rack PDU survey through the operator’s access process. The report goes to the customer.
The operator offers it. The operator adds rack surveys as an option, collects written agreement from each customer that wants one, and the visits are slotted in around the shared-infrastructure survey.

Either way, we never touch IT equipment. Rack doors are opened by or with site staff, and anything hidden behind cabling is reported as not visible rather than moved.

Who gets the report

We report to whoever commissions the survey. An operator’s report covers the shared power chain, located by board, way and tap-off reference. A customer’s report covers its own racks and feeds. If both are surveyed in the same week, using the same equipment references at the demarcation point gives a joined-up record from switchboard to rack, without either side seeing the other’s private detail.

Load, and why timing differs by customer

Customer loads vary widely in the same hall. A connection only shows its true condition when it carries current, so we record the load with every image and say plainly when a reading was taken at low load. That matters most in newer halls that are still filling. A hot connection is reported as a measured temperature, where it was taken, and the difference in °C from a matching reference.

The same discipline runs through our commissioning work. On one London data centre build, our commissioning thermography recorded 16 busbar sections reading above 80 °C under test load, the highest 103.5 °C at a tap-off unit. Ti inspects and reports; the operator’s or customer’s own contractor investigates and carries out any work.

Frequently asked questions

Can a colocation operator survey customer racks without asking?

Not normally. Racks inside a cage belong to the customer, so each customer’s agreement and escort are needed. Check what your contract says.

Can a colocation customer book its own thermography survey?

Yes. The customer arranges access through the operator’s normal process and receives its own report for its racks and rack PDUs.

Can shared infrastructure and customer racks be surveyed in the same visit?

Yes, where the customers agree. The operator’s switchgear, UPS and busbar are surveyed first, then agreed cages are visited with each customer’s escort.