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Initial verification or periodic inspection?Certificate or report?
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These three are about the basic difference between the two jobs. You should be able to answer them without the book.
Initial verification = you've done work (new or altered) → you issue a certificate.
Periodic inspection and testing = checking existing work is safe for continued use → you issue a report (the EICR).
Even swapping one broken switch like-for-like counts as work, so it gets a certificate.
What's the main purpose of initial verification?
- aTo prove the work matches the quotation
- bTo confirm the installation is safe to be put into service
- cTo find out how far it has deteriorated
- dTo show the client the job is finished
Answer b. "How far it has deteriorated" is the periodic idea. If you want to check it, the answer is near the start of section 2, initial verification. You can also get there from the contents: initial verification, then "purpose of", which points to 2.1.
GN3 · Section 2 initial verification · 2.1 purpose
Which of these jobs calls for an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) rather than a certificate?
- aAdding a fused spur to an existing ring
- bA rented flat, between one tenant moving out and the next moving in
- cReplacing the consumer unit
- dA new circuit for an outdoor socket
Answer b. Get rid of a, c and d straight away. They all involve new work (adding, replacing, a new circuit), so they get a certificate. A new tenant is a change of occupancy. Section 3.2 on the need for periodic inspection says one should be considered on a change of occupancy or a change of use of a building.
GN3 · Section 3 periodic inspection starts · p.111 GN3 · 3.2 necessity for periodic inspection and testing · change of use / occupancy
An inspector has good records from the last periodic. What do those records mainly help them decide?
- aHow much of the new work to sample
- bHow much of the existing installation to sample
- cWhich certificate the new work needs
- dWhich type of condition report to use
Answer b. Remove a and c because they mention new work, and a periodic doesn't involve doing work. Between b and d: there's only one kind of condition report, the EICR. (Initial verification has two certificates, the EIC and the Minor Works.) So there's no "type of report" to decide, which leaves b. Good previous records let you do less sampling. The guidance runs through section 3.8.
GN3 · Section 5 · the EICR (only one type of report) GN3 · around 3.8 · sampling and use of previous records
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- 18th Edition
- Building Regs
- PAT
- Fundamental Inspection & Testing
- Initial Verification
- Periodic Inspection & Testing