Should a data centre's house supplies, BMS and security panels be included in a thermography survey?

Yes. A data centre survey usually follows the critical power path from intake to rack, but the site also depends on its house supplies: the boards feeding the BMS, security and access control, fire detection and suppression panels, lighting and the NOC. They are surveyed live alongside the critical path, add little time, and close a gap that a critical-only scope leaves open.

Why house supplies matter in a data centre

The IT load is protected by UPS and generators, but the people and systems that run the site are not always on the same path. If the board feeding the BMS fails, the team loses visibility of the plant. If the access control supply fails, doors and turnstiles fall back to their fail-safe state. If a fire panel’s mains supply fails, it runs on batteries and raises a fault. None of these drops the IT load on its own, but each one makes a bad day worse. They sit on the same kind of connections as the critical boards and deserve the same check (see the whole power path).

What should be in scope

House or landlord distribution boards for lighting and small power across the halls, corridors and plant areas.
BMS and EPMS panels and the supplies to their outstations.
Security and access control supplies, including any small UPS feeding them.
Fire detection, VESDA and gas suppression panel supplies, imaged on the mains side.
NOC, offices and comms rooms, which often have their own boards and small UPS.
Mechanical plant panels where they are not already covered (see chiller, CRAH and pump panels).

Load and timing

House boards are lightly loaded compared with the critical path, and some circuits barely carry current. Survey on a normal working day, when offices, lighting and HVAC are in use. If a circuit is lightly loaded at the time, the report says so and the reading is treated as indicative (see what load a survey needs).

Access and permits

House boards are often in corridors and risers rather than the switch rooms, and fire and security panels may belong to separate contractors. Add them to the method statement and the permit plan before the day, so the site’s authorised person can open them on the same route (see how to prepare a live data centre). Fire and suppression panels are imaged with the site’s fire contractor aware, so nothing is triggered.

What the report gives you

A same-day report from Ti Thermal Imaging that separates critical and house findings, locates each by board, circuit and phase, and gives the measured temperature, where it was taken, the difference in °C from a matching reference and the load at the time. Ti inspects and reports; the site’s electrical contractor investigates findings with the circuit isolated and carries out any work.

A finding from the busbar stage

On a London data centre build, commissioning thermography by our team found 16 busbar sections reading above 80 °C under test load, the highest 103.5 °C at a tap-off unit. The lesson for scope is simple: findings turn up where nobody planned to look, so the scope should cover every board the site depends on.

Frequently asked questions

Does adding house supplies make the survey much longer?

Usually not. House boards are small and quick to image; most of the time goes on access, which is planned in advance.

Can fire alarm panels be opened during the survey?

Only by the authorised person, and with the fire contractor aware. Where a panel cannot be opened, it is listed in the report as not imaged.

Should house supplies be surveyed as often as the critical path?

Most sites include them in the same annual survey (see how often to survey a data centre).

Should a data centre’s house supplies, BMS and security panels be included in a thermography survey?