Niceic, the UK’s electrical contracting industry’s independent voluntary regulatory body for electrical installation safety, is set to offer courses for  facilities management (FM) professionals mainly in reducing risk of electrical fires in the buildings across the GCC region.

Niceic is a trading name of Certsure, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Electrical Safety First and Electrical Contractors’ Association headquartered in Bedfordshire, England.
 
The company was recently at the FM Expo in Dubai to make FM professionals aware of the latest (18th) edition of the Institute of Engineering & Technology (IET) wiring regulations and how to apply the requirements of this updated standard, to mitigate the high instance of electrical fires in GCC buildings.

Eddie Arrowsmith, the regional engineering manager responsible for Middle East operations at Niceic, said: "We are meeting with FM companies that carry out planned preventative maintenance (PPM) to electrical installations and those who either carry out or are responsible for maintenance, inspection and testing of electrical wiring and equipment in a building."

"FM companies need to have competent technicians on every site, who are adequately supervised and understand their responsibilities with respect to regional standards such as Dewa and Adwea standards as well as the IET Wiring Regulations," stated Arrowsmith.

"However, FM companies are not regulated in the region and therefore building owners have no way of ensuring an FM company employs technicians and engineers who are competent in inspection and testing electrical installations and equipment. Certification such as a Diploma or a Degree in Electrical Engineering, is not necessarily an indication of competence," he pointed out.

“Therefore, we are offering the courses to assess and address competence levels with respect to testing and inspection of electrical installations, at ground and supervisory level, so poor electrical installation practices can be identified and remedied, thus identifying and reducing the risk of faults and potential fires,” said the senior expert.

Arrowsmith said an organisation which had a Niceic accreditation meant that key personnel have been subject to a competence assessment and have shown their understanding of the relevant standards and have correctly demonstrated the relevant fixed wiring tests and interpreted the results correctly.

"Electrical faults are the most common cause of fire across the GCC," said the official citing a study by Dubai Statistics Centre which revealed 22 per cent of fires between 2011 and 2013 were caused by electrical faults such as the one which started the fire at The Address Downtown Dubai on New Year’s Eve 2015.

"The significance of this is that correct testing and inspection will highlight potential electrical failings and thus mitigate potential fire risks," stated Arrowsmith.-TradeArabia News Service