School Maintenance
Electrical maintenance in schools and other Ministry of Education buildings isn’t the same as in private or commercial buildings.
There are much stronger safeguards in the regulations for children in schools, and many Electricians and school Administrators aren’t aware of that.
Electrical Installations & Maintenance in Schools
There is naturally a greatly decreased tolerance for electrical risk in school buildings or Ministry of Education facilities. This is codified in the Ministry of Education’s “Electrical Installations: Standard for Schools.”
K & M Electrical are highly experienced with the rules and requirements of electrical installations and maintenance in Ministry of Education and school buildings. We will ensure that any work carried out adheres to regulations, while keeping costs down and working within your budget.
Thermal Imaging
To the uninitiated it sounds a bit like science fiction, but thermal imaging has become one of the most effective methods of finding existing or developing issues in switchboards and electrical circuits.
- Flowing electricity causes heat – it’s unavoidable. But by using appropriate wiring, ensuring connections are secure and keeping devices in good working order, the amount of heat can be limited to slightly above room temperature.
- More electricity used means more heat. If an appliance is drawing too much power from an outlet or circuit, it will cause the switchboard to heat up, since all circuits go through the switchboard. In this way, hot-spots on the switchboard are early warning signs of faulty appliances, or overloaded outlets or lighting.
- As soon as a circuit is overloaded, a connection is loose, a wire is fatigued or damaged, or a device is worn out, even more heat is generated. This can eventually cause a catastrophic runaway effect ending in electrical fault or fire.
Thermal imaging of school building switchboards is a proactive way to reduce electrical hazards and risk of fire, and is especially useful in revealing many kinds of electrical issues before they turn into costly failures.
You can see slow deterioration with thermal imaging, and the urgency for repair is greatly reduced. There are no unexpected delays with getting parts, class interruptions, or costly emergency callout fees. Frequent checking and planned repair are far cheaper than the costs of a complete breakdown.
Safety Devices - RCDs
As a school administrator, you have a responsibility to ensure the electrical safety devices that protect your children are regularly tested and certified (‘test & tagged’) by a suitably knowledgeable professional.
But it goes deeper than that – simply testing and tagging the devices that are present is not enough if the Electrician doesn’t consider whether the type of device is suitable for that location or application.
- In ECE (early childhood education) facilities, and in schools with Year 1 to Year 8 students, all electrical outlets (‘power plugs’) normally accessible to children should be protected by a relatively strict 10 mA RCD. If any work is undertaken on the distribution board or if any new outlets are added, 10 mA RCDs must replace existing RCDs.
- All other school electrical outlets, as well as all lighting circuits, are required to be protected by 30 mA RCDs.
- There are exceptions to these rules for a number of practical reasons.
These regulations reflect the danger that even a very small current can pose to smaller children.
K & M Electrical are highly experienced in Ministry of Education and school buildings. Get in touch with us about your RCDs and other electrical needs.
AV Installations
Audio-visual equipment in your school offers opportunities for children and teachers alike.
Just like 240v (mains-powered) electrical appliances and systems, there are safety rules in schools about AV equipment and cables. As an example, low-voltage cables, such as those connecting screens, speakers or microphones, can’t be run in the same conduit or space as mains cables or extension cords.
We have years of experience in all kinds of IT and AV projects. K & M Electrical offer flexible work hours, after school or on the school holidays if required, and we can work around fundraising stages with ‘progressive installs,’ undertaking work bit-by-bit. Best of all, we’ll help you get the most out of your new AV system by optimising it for your use-cases and making sure that your staff can effective use it.
From projectors and screens to music rooms and school-wide PA systems, talk to the experts at K & M Electrical.
Heating, Ventilation and AC
Providing a warm, clean environment is something we want for all our kids. However, HVAC systems are among the biggest users of electricity in schools, so fiscally it’s important to have energy-efficient, reliable heat pumps/AC units servicing your school buildings.
Heat pump/AC technology has improved markedly over the last two decades. The electricity costs of heating and cooling mean that it can potentially be more cost-effective to replace existing appliances than to maintain older models. Considerations include power usage, temperature control, maintainability, and noise produced by the system.
The importance of fresh air in schools has recently been in the spotlight in the media. Adequate ventilation can benefit children’s learning, comfort and safety. When ventilation is considered as a part of a complete HVAC system, far better performance and cost outcomes can be achieved.
A well-designed HVAC system can offer significant cost savings in the long term, at the same time delivering important positive outcomes for the children and staff who are serviced by it. Talk to K & M Electrical about heating, ventilation and AC in your school today.
Meeting Requirements
Amongst the additional regulations set by the Ministry of Education is the requirement for an Electrical Maintenance Schedule to evidence regular checking of the condition of every switchboard.
Specialist gear is needed for some of the work that must be carried out in schools. For example, besides checking the ground current that each RCD will detect, the ‘trip time’ needs to be checked as well. Every RCD need to be able to trip within 300 ms to be suitable as a safety device.
Periodic testing, visual inspection and thermal inspection are sensible ways to avoid unexpected electrical failures and incidents. In the process, K & M Electrical will provide your school building’s Electrical Maintenance schedule, along with testing results, records and electrical certificates.
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