Can an electrical thermography survey be done in a hospital without disrupting clinical areas?

Yes. Most of a hospital’s electrical distribution sits in plant rooms, risers and switch rooms rather than clinical spaces, and it can be surveyed live, under normal load, with nothing switched off. Where boards sit in or near clinical areas, the estates team plans access around the ward or department, and the survey follows infection control and permit rules.

What a hospital survey covers

A typical route takes in the LV switchboards in the main switch rooms, generator changeover panels, UPS supplies, rising mains and riser distribution boards, motor control and ventilation plant panels, and the floor distribution boards that feed wards, theatres, imaging and labs. Most of this equipment is behind locked doors away from patients. The survey is non-contact: the thermographer images the connections with the covers off, and nothing is isolated.

Why a 24/7 estate helps

Thermography needs equipment carrying a typical load, because a connection with little current through it shows little heat. Many sites have to plan around quiet periods. A hospital doesn’t: wards, ventilation, lighting and medical equipment run day and night, so boards carry real load at most hours. That gives the estates team freedom to schedule boards near clinical areas at the times that suit the department, including evenings, without losing a meaningful reading.

Working near clinical areas

Access by agreement. The estates team agrees times with ward and department managers, and a member of estates staff escorts the survey where needed.
Authorised persons open the panels. Covers are removed by the site’s authorised person under the hospital’s own permit system. The thermographer images and records.
Infection control. The survey follows the site’s rules on clothing, equipment cleaning and restricted zones, as it would in any controlled area.
Short time per board. Imaging a board takes minutes once it’s open, so the time in any clinical corridor is kept short.

New wings and refurbishments

When a new building or major refurbishment is handed over, a thermographic survey under load gives the estates team a baseline before the space fills with patients. On a London data centre build, another type of site where power can’t be interrupted, our commissioning thermography found 16 busbar sections over 80 °C under test load, the highest 103.5 °C at a tap-off. Finding that before handover is far easier than finding it once the building is in use.

What the report gives the estates team

Each finding comes with thermal and visual images, the measured temperature, exactly where it was taken, the ambient, and the difference in °C from a like-for-like reference. Findings are prioritised so the estates team can plan any investigation around clinical activity. Ti inspects and reports; the hospital’s electricians or contractors investigate and carry out any work.

Frequently asked questions

Does anything need switching off?

No. The survey is carried out live. Only the panel covers are removed, by the site’s authorised person.

Does a thermographic survey replace the periodic electrical inspection?

No. It complements it. Periodic testing is largely carried out with the circuit isolated; thermography shows how connections behave under load.

Can the survey be split across several visits?

Yes. Large estates are often surveyed building by building, so the work fits around clinical schedules and estates staff availability.