Principles , practices & Legislation for the periodic inspection of electrical installation . 2395-302 .
Written Examination
in this paper you will often be asked to provide longer answers for questions that ask you to " describe " or " explain " These are often related to inspection and / or test procedures and you are required to demonstrate your knowledge of the inspection and / or test process . ( 10 )
example ;
Describe , in detail , the procedure for carrying out a test to confirm , the continuity of the main protective bonding conductor connected to the water installation pipework .
there are a number of pointers in the question , The answer is worth 10 marks and the question asks for " detail " so a full description is required .
As this examination only considers periodic inspection , you can determine that the installation is energised , you would always need to confirm that it is safe to isolate the installation or circuit and state that safe isolation is carried out . On occasions the question may state that the permission to isolate has been given or safe isolation has been carried out
Such questions may also be preceded by a number of auxiliary questions relating to the actions required before or after the test concerned , in such cases these items would not need to be repeated in the procedure .
There is no such indication for this question and so the requirements must be included and so you will need to include obtaining permission and the isolation procedure in your description .
Option 1 ;
The answer could be provided as a description of the process in a " story " format , as in the following .
" " story format "
I would obtain permission from the client to isolate the installation , carry out safe isolation of the whole installation , lock off and retain the ( unique key ) I would then disconnect one end of the main protective bonding conductor . I would select a low-résistance ohmmeter , check condition and function , select a suitable long test lead and ( null the test leads ) , I would connect one test lead to the disconnected main protective bonding conductor and the other lead to the far end of the conductor , Test and record the results , I would then reconnect the main protective bonding conductor before reenergising the supply "
This answer and similar variations are perfectly acceptable and you would obtain the marks for the question , however , it does rely on the procedure being written down correctly the first time without missing any steps , it involves a considerable amount of writing and it is often difficult to spot any errors during the examination when you read back through your answer .
Option 2 ;
The answer can be structured as a set of bullet points .
• Obtain permission to isolate the supply
• Safety isolate , lock off and retain the key . PS unique key
• Disconnect the main protective bonding conductor at one end
• Select a low-résistance ohmmeter , check condition and function
• Select a suitable long test lead
• Null the test leads
• Connect the test leads to the disconnected bonding conductor and the far end .
• Test and record the result
• Reconnect the main protective bonding conductor before reenergising the supply
There is plenty of space to write down your answer . so you can leave a space between each bullet point , giving you the opportunity to add an additional line in later if you have missed a step in the process , you can also read through your answer much quicker and identify any omissions
Additional bullet points may be added at the end if you find you have missed out some information providing they identify when the action is carried out . for example if you find you have omitted to null the test leads the final bullet point could be added as ;
• Before carrying out the test the test leads should be nulled .
The second option , with the use of the bullets points , is generally quicker to complete , less prone to errors or omissions and clearly demonstrates your understanding of the test process , you can try both methods to find out which best suits you , however , Option 2 is strongly recommended .
it is important to recognise the need to carry out testing in a way that does not put yourself or anyone else at risk , also the test must be carried out in such a manner that produces valid results . No marks will be awarded for an answer that describes dangerous techniques and a heavy penalty will be applied to answers that describe invalid procedures .
