After releasing the last version of PIRform , which included the new EICR and all the updates for Amendment One,
we thought a quick maintenance update was in order to fix a couple of issues and release some great new features.

Inspection Schedule manager

One of the main updates is to the Inspection Schedule. We have included 4 new optional inspection sections,
that may apply to your installation. If they do, use the Inspection Schedule Manager to select which sections you
require. These additional sections will now be available for inspection and will appear in the printed report.

 

Set all values to PASS with one click!

Another great feature incorporated in the Inspection Schedule Manager, is the ability to set All values in a particular section to PASS.

Set all the values you want first, then change any odd values to whatever they should be.

 

We also made a few changes and fixes to things that just weren’t right.

New: can now set all values in a section to PASS
New: Can copy an entire certificate, including test results
New: additional inspection sections for installations beyond the scope of the model form
Change: drop down menus now automatically size their list up to 15 rows
Change: observations and recommendations removed from EIC 2011 and MW 2011
Change: design engineer 2 now available for change if Does All is chosen
Fix: improved certificate number generation, especially when copying certificates
Fix: Minimum height set for agreed limitations field in MW 2008
Fix: crash fixed when selecting newly added engineer in board manager
Fix: Next inspection field replaced in EIC 2008
Fix: Comments field now prints from EIC 2011

Amendment One version now available, Free update!!

We are delighted to announce the launch of the
2011 Amended version of PIRform which includes the new Electrical Installation Condition Report!
On July 1st 2011, the 1st Amendment of BS 7671:2008 was released. With notable changes  and some new sections, the biggest change by far was the introduction of the new Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR).
Download it here.

 

Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR)

This new report is replacing the outgoing Periodic Inspection Report (PIR). It was felt that the old inspection schedule was too non-specific for periodic inspections, and so the new inspection schedule simplifies the task of visually inspecting an electrical installation.
From January 1st 2012, this new report form MUST be used for all new periodic inspection and tests.
We have enhanced the intelligence to make the automatic observations even more descriptive.
Some of the over current devices in use today have been replaced with new standards. This has meant that the maximum Zs values are different. Don’t worry, we have made the necessary changes, and you will always be able to access the old devices.

 

New layout

We have introduced a new clear layout in the PIRform Home Screen.
This makes it easy to see  which type of report or certificate you need.
All your existing work will still be available for edit and print, and we have introduced a great new feature that allows you to create EICR’s from existing PIR’s or even EIC’s! The red and green icons couldn’t be clearer as to what they refer to (providing you have a copy of both books that is!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RCD test button check

You will notice a new field in the Circuits & Test Results section for RCD test button check. Whilst it has always been a requirement to check the test button operation, there was only ever one place to record a failure (the old inspection schedule). Now, each circuit’s test button can be checked if applicable. Of course, intelligence will be applied for you should this check fail.

 

Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) 2011

We have made some small changes to the EIC for 2011.
We used to have an Observations  page, and Agreed
Limitations sections. The general consensus was that we shouldn’t have these for new work, and so they have been removed.
This has shortened the form, and any comments on the existing installation can be placed at the foot of the second page.
Departures for Design, Construction and Inspection & Testing can be entered on Page 1.

 

 

 

Create EICR’s from existing reports!

We have introduced a great new feature that allows you to generate a new EICR, based on the information in existing certificates and reports. This is handy when you want to re-visit work in the future.

 

Certificate Sharing

Don’t forget we have also just released our fantastic new feature called Certificate Sharing. This allows users to share live certificate data between other users with this feature, and is ideal for any size of organisation to ensure their valuable data is safe. To find out how much it will cost to upgrade to this feature, log in to the website, and click Buy.

 

Visual Condition Report 2011

The 2011 Visual Condition Report is not quite ready for use. As this is our own creation and not a specific requirement of BS 7671, we wanted to concentrate on the official certification first. The 2008 version can still be used for now. Rest assured we will have this ready in time for the big switchover.

Want a trial?

If you already had a trial of the previous version, and would like another one just to make sure, email us at support@pirform.co.uk and we’ll send you a new trial licence.

Online demo

If you would like to take advantage of our online demonstration service, where you can see the program in action as it was intended, email us sales@pirform.co.uk.

 

Maintenance release: http://blog.pirform.co.uk/post/2011/11/25/Maintenance-release.aspx

We will be exhibiting the latest version of PIRform at ELEX Sandown Park on the 10th and 11th November.
Come and see the changes to the program, including what’s new in Amendment One of BS 7671.

If anyone would like free tickets to the event, which entitles you to a free bacon sandwich and a fetching t-shirt, contact us here. info@pirform.co.uk

PIRform’s powerful new import/export feature allows users to share editable certification with other users. We call it Certificate Sharing, and is the quickest way to get certificates and reports out of the door the same day it arrives.

No more waiting for illegible paperwork or incorrect pdf’s, Certificate Sharing allows anyone with this feature to edit, review, correct and amend certificates. Cutting down on admin time is vital, and one of the benefits of Certificate Sharing is that the job can be invoiced almost immediately.

There is no need to be connected to a network to use Certificate Sharing, anyone can share files freely via the internet, email, or hard disk.

How does it work?

You’ll notice two new buttons on the Home Screen of PIRform, you will need to upgrade to the Certificate Sharing Bolt On to make these work.
Clicking the Export button will open up a simple step by step Export wizard that will guide you through the short procedure.
PIRform exports your certificate(s) as a .PEX file. This is a custom made format that can only be opened by other PIRform programs with this feature enabled.
The file is compressed to allow email transportation, and the file can be renamed to something memorable .

After you have sent this file wherever you want it to go, other PIRform users can now Import this into their version of PIRform. The certificate can then be opened, edited if required, reviewed and issued to the client.

For more information on Certificate Sharing, or to find out how much it will cost to upgrade, visit the PIRform Store, or email sales@pirform.co.uk

PIRform now has a new feature that allows you to disregard high Zs readings for TT installations. This feature must only be used if the requirements of Regulation 411 in relation to disconnection by means of an RCD has been met.

How does it work?

If your installation has a RCD as a main switch, you can select the “Disregard Zs for this certificate” option. Now, when entering values that exceed the maximum permissible, the intelligence will not trigger.

 

If you do not have an RCD as a main switch, but have a particular board that is protected by an RCD, then select the  “Disregard Zs for this board” option.

 

If there is a split board, and only some of the circuits are protected by an RCD, then individual circuits can be selected.

We are pleased to announce the release of a new version of PIRform is now available from our download area.

The main new feature of this release is the ability to import and export your certificates and reports. Please note that certificate import and export is available as a paid addition to the Lite Edition licence. You can add this “bolt on” to your Lite Licence using our website store.

Certificate Sharing

PIRform now lets you export one or more certificates to and from a file. Whilst very simple and flexible to use, this is a major feature and we will be posting some more articles about this feature later this week.

Ignore High Zs Values

You can now control whether to disregard high Zs readings in TT installations. You can do this for the entire installation, for particular boards or even for particular circuits.

Of course, this must be used with caution and only when there is adequate protection by means of an RCD. Tripping times must meet the requirements of Regulation 411.

Other Changes

New: you can now set the default backup location in PIRform Options.
New: added a setting to control background loading.

Change: agreed limitation lookup no longer user definable.
Change: help links available on forms (http://www.pirform.co.uk/help).
Change: improved licence entry and activation feedback.
Change: better use of available screen height throughout.

Fix: crash when activating licence using internet.
Fix: crash when previewing a blank report.
Fix: long lines in limitations & installation extent causing text to be hidden.
Fix: options dialog was showing scroll bars.
Fix: default phase was not saved.
Fix: instruments not properly initialising in new cert and cert options dialogs.
Fix: engineer selections in new cert dialog now show correctly on certificate.
Fix: error when recalculating max Zs.
Fix: machine code not showing in licence details.
Fix: bad refreshing of main form certificate views.
Fix: was not loading association logo.
Fix: bad handling of items moving between archive, recycle bin and main views.
Fix: engineers now deleted when company deleted.
Fix: crash when moving circuit when board phase has not been set.

We Want Your Feedback

We welcome your feedback and want to hear what you think about PIRform and about the features that are important to you. You can get in touch with us in a number of ways: you can put a comment on the blog, use our forums, or find us on Facebook and Twitter, or use our contact details on the website.

There is now a comprehensive Help Section available on the website.
To access it, click here

If there is a topic that does not help you, or you feel we could elaborate further to help other users, please let us know and we will do what we can.

It’s now over a year since PIRform Lite was released for sale and for those who purchased early, it may be time to renew your licence(s).

It couldn’t be easier to renew, simply log in to the PIRform website, and go to your Client Centre.
Click My Licence Codes and you will see a list of all the licences you have purchased, and which are available to renew.
If you have less than 3 months to run on any of your licences, they can be renewed straight away.
You will be sent the usual licence key, that you can install when the previous one expires. This means you won’t be left wanting when you need PIRform the most.

Q. How do I tell the software the circuit is a ring final circuit?
A. Simply enter the word ring into the Circuit Description field. It’s as simple as that.

PIRform looks at 5 separate aspects to determine whether the over current protective device you have selected is appropriate to the cable size in use.

These are:

• Wiring type
• Reference method of installation
• Cable size
• Protective device rating
• Whether the circuit is a ring final circuit (PIRform assumes all circuits are radials until you tell it otherwise).

Example:
If your wiring type is A (PVC/PVC cables), your reference method is C (Clipped Direct), the cable size is 2.5mm and the protective device is 32A, PIRform will generate some intelligence informing you that the combination goes beyond the recommendations of BS 7671.
Entering the word ‘Ring’ into the circuit description will now Revert that intelligence.

Why?
Under Regulation 433.1.5, in Lehman’s terms, if the cable can carry 20A in its installed conditions, then a 30A or 32A protective device, combined with 2.5mm (or 1.5mm for MICC) is acceptable if the circuit is wired as a ring.

Exceptions:
If your Reference Method is either 101 or 103 (Table 4D5), then the de-rating factor of the insulation brings the current carrying capacity down to 17A and 13.5A respectively.
Therefore a re-think is required here, and don’t be fooled by thinking upgrading to 4.0mm will do for Reference Method 103, as this de-rates the cable to 17.5A.

We are pleased to announce the release of a new version of PIRform Lite is now available from our download area. This version has been a long time coming, but it’s certainly worth the wait.  here are a lot of improvements and new features along with fixes to a number of issues in the previous version.  I recommend you all update to the new version as soon as possible.  The big improvements in this release are:

• Three Phase Circuit Handling

• Google-Style Find Facility 

• More Performance Improvements 

• Drop-down List Manager 

• Integrated Data Backup

 

Read on for more details of these and other improvements in this new version.

Three Phase Circuit Handling

PIRform now automatically numbers three phase circuits.

There is a new menu in the ribbon that lets you merge or unmerge circuits in a three phase board (note the shortcut keys that are shown on the menu too):

This lets you do things like this:

If you want to, you can also enter your own numbering for the circuits – whether the board is three phase or not.  If you enter your own numbering then PIRform will stop automatically renaming the circuits.

However you number your circuits, this is available when selecting a supply:

You can also set the default board phase for new boards in PIRform Options and in Certificate Options.  The default number of ways has also been changed from 8 to 9.

Google-Style Find Facility

We have added a search facility throughout the software that lets you find what you want to find quickly and easily.  Just type what you’re looking for into the find box and PIRform will do the rest.  Let’s say you’re looking at a board like this one:

And you want to see all the lighting circuits.  Just type “light” into the find box above the circuit grid and you get this:

Very simple, very powerful!  We’ve even put it into the board selection tool to help you when working on big jobs:

If you want to hide the find box just press Ctrl + F, then press Ctrl + F to bring it back again.

PIRform is Faster – Again!

We made PIRform faster in the last release.  We’ve done it again in this one!  On most machines you will see very noticeable improvements of 20% when opening PIRform, loading, previewing and copying certificates.  Users who are using PIRform on very low power machines like netbooks should see PIRform load a whole lot quicker too.  (Note that we recommend that you use something more powerful than a netbook – a dual core processor with at least 2GB of RAM is the recommended minimum).

Lookup Manager

You can now edit some of the lookup values using the new Drop-down List Manager:

At this time you can change the circuit conductor CPC, installation extent and report purpose values.  We will be putting out another release soon that will let you change more values.

Integrated Data Backup

We’ve added a button to the Home Screen that lets you take a backup of your certificates.

Taking regular backups and saving them somewhere safe – like online storage or an external hard drive – will help prevent you losing your certificates if your computer suffers a disaster.  Note that this feature only lets you backup your data, we do not support restoring from a backup unless under the direction of PIRform Support.

Report Updates

All reports have been improved.  You should notice that the layout is now clearer and more efficient.  Installation extent field now carries over onto a continuation page and we’ve fixed an issue where page 2 did not grow properly.

Other Changes

The Home Screen grids are now laid out in a much clearer fashion.
The Home Screen certificates are now ordered by when they were last changed.
Copied certificates now have a new certificate number.
Copy certificate now copies limitations and observations.
Added missing tool tips in the Certificate Form.
The circuit move controls now disabled if a circuit cannot be moved.
OPD rating can now accept decimal values.
Improved error reporting.
Better information is provided when a licence validation fails.
Removed the clear button from board selection drop-down.

Fixed Issues

Fix: start page now does not close the program if it fails.
Fix: could previously enter more text than the database field size in various locations causing a crash.
Fix: un-posted circuit data was duplicated when moving a circuit.
Fix: extent of installation continuation pages were not being shown.
Fix: bad numbering of intelligence limitations after a manual limitation.
Fix: spellchecker was reverting changes to words in grids.
Fix: incorrect tracking of user changes to circuit names that caused changes to be reverted.
Fix: incorrect numbering of new circuit/board when adding new after one has been deleted.
Fix: crash after deleting a new certificate from Home Screen to PIRform Recycle Bin.
Fix: bad scrolling in New Certificate Dialog.
Fix: crash when removing observations from intelligence.
Fix: error dialog saying “access to disposed object”.
Fix: both double click and enter now opens certificates from the All Certificates grid.
Fix: corrected spelling in recycle bin confirmation dialog.
Fix: confirmation now shown after copying activation code.
Fix: fixed alignment of start page links (component defaults changed in new version).
Fix: start page now correctly handles ellipsis characters.

We Want Your Feedback

We welcome your feedback and want to hear what you think about PIRform and about the features that are important to you. You can get in touch with us in a number of ways: you can put a comment on the blog, use our forums, or find us on Facebook and Twitter, or use our contact details on the website.