AFETY ASSESSMENT OF ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION FOR RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS: A CASE STUDY IN SOME SELECTED BUILDINGS WITHIN SUAME ECG STRATEGIC BUSINESS UNIT.

Abstract

The research seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of electrical installation safety systems installed in residential and commercial buildings within the Suame Strategic Business Unit of the Electricity Company of Ghana. Electrical installation practices of artisans in Suame ECG Strategic Business Unit (SBU) are assessed to evaluate the adherence of electrical installation works and safety standards including the practices of artisans. A test sheet was design to identify the potential issues in electrical installations and safety precautions. SPSS was utilised to determine the common electrical installation network within the SBU while FlashWorks and ETAP were employed to model the common electrical installations to assess the short circuit currents performance. The result highlighted electrical wiring practices and installation details encompassing protective devices, conductor details, contuinity, polarity, insulation resistance test and ground protection within the Suame ECG unit. concerns such as unlicensed installers, outdated wiring structures, preferred brands of circuit breakers (MCCBs), residual circuit current breakers (RCCBs), conductors, cable termination in distribution boards, earth electrode protection, and adherence to wiring color code standards. The findings showed variations in the ability of circuit breakers to manage short-circuit occurrences, emphasizing the need to select appropriate ratings of breakers based on their short-time current and thermal energy capacities. These further revealed that most residential and commercial buildings lack basic safety standards.