ELECTRICAL SYSTEM FAILURE AND PERFORMANCE FORENSICS
Any electrical based technology should perform as intended and last for it’s design lifetime. Lifecycle of installation is usually component specific. For example:
- Wiring installed compliantly should last forever.
- Control and switching devices lifecycle would depend on quality, duty cycle, routine maintenance, installation and design parameters.
- The biggest consequence to system technology longevity is change of use or deviation from original design parameters.
- With the advent of black box (electronic) technology, lifecycles are less predictable. All electronic technology-based components rely on some form of voltage control or reduction. In a lot of cases, this would be some form of power supply; many failures can be traced back to this point. In the end, most black box technology it is not repairable economically nor practically .
Ultimately, when a system or component therein fail substantially or partly through its lifetime it will require forensic investigative testing and studies. As said earlier, it would be one of three causes:
- Change of use design,
- Faulty installation, or
- Faulty components.
As system and/or component failure can manifest itself in many ways:
- Self-destruction
- Property damage
- Fire
- Personal injury
- Productive downtown
Regardless of the resulting outcomes there will most likely be an economic consequence.
Through an objective and thorough investigation, the cause and/or causes can be determined and ultimately a path, if applicable, could be pursued for economic recovery.
In the event a compromised installation was faulty due to non-compliance and there was a permit in place, with successful inspections, there are mechanisms and insurance with all permitted installations for pursuit of economic recovery and system repair or replacement system.
Some components could be pursued for replacement if the failure can be proven to be a component or hardware problem.
In the event of insurance underwriting recovery path, the strength ad position of a claim is clear, concise and objective facts, from a causation analysis.
