When should a school or university have its electrical thermography survey?

During term time, when the buildings are carrying their normal load. Holidays make access easy, but with classrooms, kitchens, labs and IT rooms quiet, connections run cooler and problems can stay hidden. Plan plant rooms and risers for the school day, and pick quieter times for boards in occupied rooms, while the building is still in use.

The holiday trap

Estates teams naturally want contractors in during the holidays, and for most maintenance that’s right. Thermography is different. A loose or degraded connection shows up as heat because current is flowing through extra resistance. With the kitchens closed, IT suites idle and teaching blocks empty, there is far less current, and a connection that would run hot in October can look unremarkable in August. The survey still produces a report, but it says less than it could.

What runs in the holidays anyway

Some equipment does carry its load out of term, and can sensibly be surveyed then: heating plant and pumps in colder months, server and comms rooms, and buildings used for summer schools, conferences or lettings. Universities often have research labs, data rooms and halls of residence that run all year. A good survey plan sorts the estate into what can be done in the holidays and what needs term time.

Planning a term-time survey

Start with the plant rooms and risers. Main switch rooms, riser boards and plant panels are usually away from pupils and can be done during the school day under normal load.
Time the kitchens. Catering boards carry their heaviest load during lunch preparation, which is the best time to image them if access allows.
Use the timetable for occupied rooms. Boards in classrooms, labs or corridors can be done during free periods, lunch or quieter afternoons, while the building is still in use.
Follow the site’s visitor and safeguarding rules. The survey team signs in, works where it is agreed, and is escorted where the school requires it.
Authorised persons open the panels. The site’s electrician or maintenance contractor removes covers; the thermographer images and records.

Don’t forget the roof

Many schools and universities now have rooftop solar PV, with distribution boards and isolators outside the usual indoor route. On a commercial warehouse roof, our ITC Level 3 thermographer recorded an apparent temperature of 195.0 °C at the main isolator supply connection in a PV distribution board, with ambient at 24.0 °C. That board was not on the site’s regular survey route. Read the case.

What the report gives the estates team

Each finding has 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. Where a board was too lightly loaded to give a useful reading, the report says so, so it can be revisited in term rather than signed off. Ti inspects and reports; the site’s electrician or contractor investigates and carries out any work.

Frequently asked questions

Will the survey disrupt lessons?

It shouldn’t. Nothing is switched off, and boards in teaching areas are done at times agreed with the school.

Can a multi-academy trust or university survey every site to one standard?

Yes. A single programme with one report format makes it easier to compare sites and plan work across the estate.

Does this replace the periodic electrical inspection (EICR)?

No. The EICR is a separate inspection, usually carried out every five years in schools. Thermography adds evidence of how connections behave under load.