~established in 2001~

FYI –40-Year Building Re-Certification Inspections & Infrared Inspections

A new Florida state law, went into effect on May 26, 2022, creating requirements for milestone inspections of condominium and cooperative association buildings that are three stories and taller. Miami-Dade County has had a building recertification program since 1975, which was amended on June 1, 2022 and includes an infrared inspection of electrical systems. The integration of the new law together with the amended Miami-Dade ordinance has the following impacts to all existing buildings in Miami-Dade County.

All buildings built on or before 1982 that have already had an initial recertification inspection through Miami-Dade’s 40-Year program will continue to follow the established schedule.

All condominium and cooperative association buildings that are three stories or taller located within three miles of the coastline built on or after 1998 must have a building recertification inspection when the building age reaches 25 years, and every 10 years thereafter. All other buildings built on or after 1993 must have a recertification inspection when the building age reaches 30 years, and every 10 years thereafter.

Coastal condominium and cooperative buildings three stories or taller built between 1983 and 1997 and located within three miles of the coastline must have a recertification inspection by December 31, 2024, and every 10 years thereafter. These buildings are being identified through a GIS mapping project. All other buildings built between 1983 and 1992 must have a recertification inspection by December 31, 2024, and every 10 years thereafter.

FYI – 40-Year Building Re-Certification Inspections & Infrared Inspections

Are Infrared Surveys required for a 40-year Building Recertification in Miami-Dade?

Yes, – an infrared survey is required for buildings with a main service of 400 amps or greater, performed by a Level II or higher certified infrared thermographer who is qualified and trained to recognize and document thermal anomalies in electrical systems and possesses over seven years of experience in commercial inspections.

Depending on the engineering company responsible for the certification, the infrared survey may include a visual inspection, as both surveys require panel covers to be removed.

Are Infrared Surveys required for a 40-year Building Recertification in Broward County?

At this time, infrared surveys are under review with no expectations that they will be required for certification. There is discussion that building inspections will be moved from 40 years old to 25 years old.
EVERY building could benefit from an infrared scan at least once in its lifetime. FYI - National Fire Protection Agency - FPA70E recommends annual infrared inspections of electrical systems to improve safety and reliability for building occupants.

What is a Level-II Certification

Miami-Dade specifies Level-II Certification for the 40-Year Re-certification. Level-II is a certification of competency, it is not a type of inspection. It assures that the thermographer is trained to collect temperature data, understands the limitation of collecting temperature data and is qualified to evaluate severity of problems, based on the temperature and load conditions collected during the survey.

All of Brady Infrared thermographers are Level-II certified and have over 7 years of experiences inspecting electrical systems. Every infrared report is reviewed by a Level-III thermographer before being sent to the client.

Are Infrared Surveys required for newly adopted laws for coastal condominiums cooperative buildings three stories or taller within three miles of the coast?

No – not currently, however, we encourage you to reach out to your engineering firm to discuss this option. EVERY building could benefit from an infrared scan at least once in its lifetime. FYI - National Fire Protection Agency - FPA70E recommends annual infrared inspections of electrical systems to improve safety and reliability for building occupants.

What is an electrical infrared survey and what does it involve?

An infrared electrical survey is a passive scan of your electrical system using a hand-held thermal imaging camera. When performed by a trained and qualified thermographer heat related problems associated with loose / deteriorated connections, overload conditions on conductors and their protective devices, load imbalances, defective components and other heat related items can be found. In some cases, cold conditions on equipment can indicate dead circuits and single-phase conditions on mechanical equipment.

Panel covers must be removed to provide a direct-line-of-sight to items being inspected. Infrared cameras do not see through metal panel covers. Small temperature rises on problematic components can often appear as normal conditions with panel covers on.

Equipment being inspected must be under load. The infrared camera sees current flow and how it interacts with conductive pathways throughout the electrical system. Points of high resistance in the form of loose connections and overload components will become unusually hot as the current battles to flow through these areas.

If a piece of equipment is not operating at the time of the inspection there will be no current flow, which may lead to a thermal problem going undetected. It is critical that these “No Load” components be identified to avoid a false sense of security that nothing is wrong with that equipment. This stresses the importance of having a visual inspection performed during the infrared survey as a second means of detection. Excessive heat can change to appearance of electrical comments, which can be recognized by a trained eye but will appear normal to the infrared camera if no load is present.

Is the Infrared Industry Regulated Similar to the Construction Industry

No, it is not. This opens the door for any person or company to offer infrared surveys.
However, guidelines exist, albeit voluntary, to help bolster the professional reputation of
the infrared industry.
Infrared technology is one of many testing methods that fall under the American Society
for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT). ASNT has stringent reequipments for a person to
become a certified infrared thermographer. ASNT inspectors are qualified to work in
testing laboratories associated with aero-space companies, nuclear power plants and
other quality control testing laboratories.
The typical infrared commercial service provider does not fall under the requirements of
ASNT certification. However, ASNT has developed a guideline (ASNT-SNT-TC-1A) that
helps infrared companies certify and train their employees to properly carry out infrared
inspections.
With regards to certifications, there are nationally recognized training facilities available
throughout the USA that offer formal training courses for Level-I, -II and -III certifications.
These courses range from infrared applications to designing and implementing infrared
inspection programs while some infrared service providers elect to train through in-
house methods. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in entering the
field of infrared to start off on the right foot and learn from professional
thermographers, with years of experience under their belt. One missing component to
formal training institutes is actual field experience. Brady Infrared offers in-field training
for electrical and roofing applications that will accelerate your in-field experience in
a short time.
There are several published standards and guidelines for conducting infrared surveys
(Infraspection Institute 2022 Guidelines). They are designed to establish consistency
throughout the infrared industry and maximizing to the fullest, the benefits infrared
technology has to offer.

Your infrared service provider should be familiar with these documents and follow them
when performing an infrared inspection.

~established in 2001~