Access to loft spaces and roof voids is not usually required during periodic inspection of an existing installation.
Access to loft spaces and roof voids can lead to falls and injury.
Solution
One third of all reported fall-from-height work-related incidents involves ladders and stepladders. On average this accounts for 14 deaths and 1200 major injuries to workers each year in the UK. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 (as ammended) requires "... that no work is done at height if it is safe and reasonably practicable to do it other than at height."
The model form for the Periodic Inspection Report in Appendix 6 of BS 7671 includes, amongst other things, a generic limitation stating that cables and conduits concealed in roof spaces have not been inspected. It is therefore not usually necessary to gain access to such space or void.
However, it may be necessary to gain access to such a space or void to inspect parts of an installation where, exceptionally, this has been specifically requested by the client. Another exception is where the inspector has reason to suspect that parts of the installation in the space or void are in an unsafe condition and it is nessary to gain evidence details regarding this for inclusion in the Periodic Inspection report.
This article is extracted from Snags and Solutions Part 3 published by the: NICEIC Group