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Thermography for building diagnostics, electrical assets & industrial plant.
Our most widely used technology. ISO 18436-7 Category 2 certified thermographers deliver radiometric inspections with zero downtime — every anomaly measured against a reference, classified to a published criterion and trended over time.
A thermal image is a picture. A thermographic inspection is a measurement.
Anyone can point a camera at a switchboard and produce something orange. What makes a finding defensible is the qualification of the person holding the camera, the conditions recorded at the moment of capture, and the criterion the reading is classified against. That is the difference between a photo and data your insurer, engineer or maintenance planner can act on.
- ISO 18436-7 Category 2 certified thermographer
- High-resolution radiometric FLIR cameras
- Emissivity, load and ambient recorded per image
- Findings classified to NETA severity bands
- Repeat inspections trended asset by asset
- Report issued within one business day
Drag the handle across a real finding: the load-side lugs of a 300 A moulded-case circuit breaker. To the eye all three look the same; the thermal image shows the C-phase lug running 19 °C hotter than A-phase under the same load — a high-resistance connection on its way to failure. The temperatures are the camera's radiometric readings, not a colour guess — every finding in our reports is presented as this image pair, with the same measurements.
Thermography services
Electrical & switchboard thermography
- Main switchboards, distribution boards, MCCs, VSDs
- Transformers, HV switchgear, busbars, capacitor banks
- The insurer-requested annual inspection
- Brisbane & Sunshine Coast local pages
Mechanical & industrial condition monitoring
- Bearings, couplings, motors, gearboxes, conveyors
- Refractory and insulation breakdown on kilns and furnaces
- Steam systems and process heat loss
- Delivered by rope where plant cannot reach
Oil & gas thermal imaging
- Corrosion under insulation (CUI) screening
- Pipe integrity and blockages
- Tank & vessel product, sand and sludge levels
- Flare and refractory inspection
Cold room & freezer surveys
- Insulation integrity and panel joint failure
- Cold bridging and ice formation
- Refrigeration energy loss quantified
- Australia-wide cold chain facilities
Building & property diagnostics
- Moisture ingress and leak tracing
- Missing or defective insulation
- Live termite detection
- Defect liability and pre-purchase inspections
Specialist applications
- Theme park & ride electrical safety
- Data centre & UPS rooms
- Solar array and PV string faults
- Roof membrane moisture surveys
Seeing inside the vessel
Thermography is not only for switchboards. On process plant it shows what is happening behind the steel: this is the channel head of a shell-and-tube gas cooler on an offshore facility. The sharp horizontal boundary across the head is a liquid level — hot gas above it at 85.8 °C, cooler condensed liquid pooled below. No gauge, no isolation, no entry; one image confirms the exchanger is doing its job and where the liquid sits.
Reading conditions, not just colours
The same asset can look completely different depending on when it is imaged. This lagged GRE pipe on an offshore oil and gas platform was inspected after sunset, once solar loading had dissipated. The outer lagging cooled quickly in the transient conditions; the water trapped underneath held its heat — and showed itself as the warm band along the bottom of the pipe. Imaged at midday, the sun-loaded lagging would have hidden it entirely.
Moisture under insulation, offshore platform. Bx1 max 33.9 °C against a 30.4 °C lagging surface — a 3.4 °C ΔT that is meaningless without knowing the emissivity, the time of day and the thermal history of the surface. Knowing when to look is most of the skill.
How a thermographic inspection runs
Load confirmation & access
Boards must be energised and carrying at least 40% of normal load — a fault only generates heat when current flows through it. Covers removed by a licensed electrician under SWMS.
Radiometric capture
Every component imaged with a matched visual reference. Emissivity, reflected temperature, distance, ambient and load are recorded per image so the reading can be reproduced.
Classification against criteria
Each anomaly compared to its reference phase and to ambient, then placed in a severity band with a defined repair timeframe — see the table below.
Report, register & trend
Issued within one business day: image pairs, measured values, classification, likely cause and action for every finding — plus the boards found compliant. Repeat inspections are trended against the last.
Severity criteria we classify against
NETA maintenance testing specification bands. Most reports leave this out — it is the part that turns an image into a decision.
| ΔT vs similar component | ΔT vs ambient | Classification | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–3 K | 1–10 K | Possible deficiency | Investigate at next scheduled outage |
| 4–15 K | 11–20 K | Probable deficiency | Repair as scheduling permits |
| — | 21–40 K | Deficiency | Monitor until corrective measures taken |
| >15 K | >40 K | Major discrepancy | Repair immediately |
Why industrial clients put thermography first
It is the one condition-monitoring method that surveys an entire electrical distribution system, live, in a day, without touching anything. It finds the loose termination before it becomes the switchboard fire, the failing bearing before it becomes the unplanned outage, and the wet insulation before it becomes the pipe replacement. Paired with airborne ultrasound — which hears the arcing and corona infrared cannot see — it forms the core of a predictive maintenance program that pays for itself in the first avoided failure.
From the knowledge base
What ΔT is considered a critical electrical fault?
The severity bands, and why ambient vs similar-component comparison give different answers.
ComplianceDoes my insurer require an annual thermographic switchboard inspection?
What underwriters ask for in Australia and what a compliant report has to contain.
Thermography basicsWhy does emissivity matter — and why can shiny copper read 30 degrees low?
The single most common source of error in electrical thermography, explained without the physics degree.
Common questions
Does the power need to be off?
No — the opposite. The board must be live and loaded, because a fault only generates heat when current is flowing through it.
Can you see through the switchboard door?
No. Infrared does not pass through steel or glass. Covers come off, under a safe work method, or IR inspection windows are fitted for future surveys.
How often should this be done?
Annually is the norm and is what most Australian insurers ask for. High-load, harsh-environment or critical sites often move to six-monthly.
Who is qualified to classify a finding?
A Category 2 thermographer certified to ISO 18436-7 or equivalent. A Category 1 holder can capture images; setting and applying criteria is a Category 2 function.