Key takeaways
- Loose and overloaded connections run hot before they fail, and an infrared scan finds them while the equipment is running.
- NFPA 70B, the standard for electrical equipment maintenance, treats infrared inspection as a routine part of a maintenance program.
- Insurers often ask for infrared reports on commercial properties.
- Labeled panels and written records make every later repair faster.
Commercial electrical preventive maintenance is cheaper than the shutdown it prevents. Most failures in panels, switchgear and disconnects start as a loose or overloaded connection that runs hot for weeks or months before it fails. A maintenance program is built to find that heat on a planned visit.
What an infrared scan finds
An infrared camera shows temperature. Scanned while the equipment is under load, a panel with a loose lug or an overloaded breaker shows a hot spot that cannot be seen with the eye. The scan is done with the equipment running, so it does not need a shutdown, and the findings come back as a report with images and a list of what to fix.
What the standard says
NFPA 70B is the national standard for electrical equipment maintenance. It treats infrared inspection as a routine part of a maintenance program, commonly once a year for most equipment, along with cleaning, tightening and testing based on the equipment's condition. Many insurers ask for infrared reports on commercial properties for the same reason.
What a maintenance visit covers
- An infrared scan of panels, disconnects and switchgear under load.
- Hot spots repaired, then scanned again to confirm the fix.
- Panel directories checked and labeled so they match the building.
- Emergency and exit lighting tested and logged.
- A written report for the owner, the property manager and the insurer.
Our commercial maintenance agreements put these visits on a schedule, with priority dispatch when something does fail. The rest of our commercial electrical services are on the commercial page.
When a scan or a visit turns up a repair, it is handled like any other electrical repair: a written price, approved before the work is done. Emergency lighting testing is covered in more detail in emergency lighting and exit sign testing.