Electrical inspection and testing process map

What is in this map

13 steps across 5 swimlanes and 5 phases, with 2 decision points.

Swimlanes (who does the work)

ServiceDesk, Engineering, Field Test Team, HSE / Compliance and QA / Reporting

Phases (left to right)

Intake & Scoping, Test Planning, Safety Preparation, Testing & Assessment and Reporting & Closeout

Why map this process

This is the one map in the set built around a boundary rather than a build: the 'results outside acceptable limits' branch does not lead to a repair row, it leads to 'flag defect and refer to the SOP that corrects it.' The comment on that row is explicit about where each finding goes — a fixed-installation reading to Marine Electrical Installation, an immediate-safety switchboard or breaker fault to Emergency Marine Electrical Repair, a high-voltage finding to High-Voltage Electrical Work. Drawing that referral as a real row, rather than an implied next step, is what keeps this SOP's own scope honest: it inspects and documents, and other maps fix.

The test-definition step is also worth keeping distinct from the earlier identification step. What gets tested (insulation and continuity for cabling, thermography for switchboards under load, functional checks for fire/gas detection and emergency lighting) is stated as an engineering judgment call, not a fixed checklist applied uniformly — which is honest about how inspection scoping actually works, and which is exactly the row a template that tried to hard-code 'the test list' would have gotten wrong.

Every step in the map

This is the spreadsheet behind the diagram. The numbers in “Goes to” are row numbers, which is exactly what the editor’s “Line to” column holds — so you can read the flow here and retype any part of it.

The decision points

Every branch in the map, with the label on each outgoing line. These are the questions the process has to be able to answer.

• 6. Isolation and access **verified safe** to proceed?

  Owned by HSE / Compliance · Safety Preparation

  • Verified → step 7
  • Not verified → step 5

• 9. Results within **acceptable limits**?

  Owned by QA / Reporting · Testing & Assessment

  • Within limits → step 11
  • Outside limits → step 10

Notes on specific steps

These notes travel with the map. In the editor they live in the Notes column and appear when you open a box.

1. Customer requests inspection and test survey

No other Scanel job needs to be open: a customer can call in just to have switchboards, breakers, fire/gas detection or emergency lighting tested and reported on.

2. Identify installation and systems to be inspected

Switchboards, breakers, insulation runs, thermography targets, fire/gas detection and emergency lighting circuits are logged against the installation's as-built drawings before a single test is defined.

3. Define required tests for the identified installation

Which tests apply depends on what's being inspected: insulation resistance and continuity for cabling, a thermographic survey for switchboards and breakers under load, functional verification for fire/gas detection and emergency lighting. This is engineering judgment, not a fixed checklist.

7. Perform tests: switchboards, breakers, insulation, thermography, fire/gas detection, emergency lighting

Each test method is logged against the acceptance criteria fixed at test planning, not against a generic pass/fail line.

10. **Flag defect** and refer to the SOP that corrects it

A failed insulation or continuity reading on a fixed installation is referred to the Marine Electrical Installation SOP; a switchboard or breaker fault with immediate safety impact is referred to the Emergency Marine Electrical Repair SOP; a high-voltage finding is referred to the High-Voltage Electrical Work SOP. This SOP documents the finding and the referral, it does not perform the repair.

Making it yours

Phases (Intake & Scoping, Test Planning, Safety Preparation, Testing & Assessment, Reporting & Closeout) sit in Horizontal lane; the five roles sit in Vertical lane, with HSE/Compliance as its own lane distinct from the Field Test Team. When adapting the referral row, keep its Notes column naming which of your OTHER SOPs each defect type routes to by name — that's what turns 'flag defect' from a dead end into a usable handoff for whoever picks the finding up next.

What to watch out for

• Don't skip the isolation/access safety-verification decision just because a job is 'just testing.' The map loops a 'not verified' result straight back to safety preparation rather than letting testing proceed on an assumption, because the testing team is often working closer to live equipment during a survey than during a planned repair.
• Keep 'define required tests' separate from 'identify installation.' Naming what needs inspecting and deciding how to test it are different kinds of judgment, and merging them tends to produce a survey scoped from a checklist rather than from what the specific installation actually needs.
• Don't let the referral row become a place findings quietly stop. It needs a real owner and a real next SOP named in the Notes column, or a defect found here has no path to actually getting fixed — which defeats the point of running the survey at all.

Frequently asked questions