Why Insurance Carriers Want Infrared Inspection Reports
Commercial property insurance carriers have become increasingly specific about electrical maintenance requirements — and infrared thermography is consistently at the top of their requirements list. The reason is straightforward: electrical failures are the leading cause of commercial building fires in the United States. Insurance carriers that pay hundreds of millions of dollars annually in electrical fire claims have done the analysis, and they know that documented maintenance programs — including regular thermal imaging — correlate strongly with reduced losses.
Some carriers require annual thermography surveys as a condition of coverage. Others use the presence or absence of documented inspections as a factor in premium pricing. In the event of a loss, the inspection documentation you can produce directly affects how your claim is evaluated.
What Insurance Carriers Want to See
When an insurance carrier or loss control inspector asks for your electrical maintenance documentation, they are typically looking for:
A written electrical maintenance program (EMP)
Demonstrating that maintenance is systematic, not ad hoc
Infrared thermography inspection reports
Including thermal images, identified anomalies, and corrective action documentation
Dates of inspection
Showing that inspections occur at the required frequency (typically annually)
Technician credentials
Demonstrating that inspections were conducted by certified thermographers
Corrective action records
Showing that identified problems were actually addressed
Important Note
An inspection report without evidence that corrective actions were taken may be worse than no report at all in a claims context — it documents that you knew about a problem and didn't fix it.
How Invizions' Reports Meet Insurance Requirements
Every Invizions inspection report includes calibrated thermal and visual images for each finding, delta-T temperature measurements, equipment identification, inspection date, severity rating (per NETA criteria), and specific corrective action recommendation. Reports are formatted to document the inspector's credentials (Infraspection Institute certification numbers) and the inspection methodology.
These reports are designed to satisfy the documentation requirements of major commercial property carriers and to withstand scrutiny in a claims context. We can also provide re-inspection reports after corrective actions are completed — documenting that identified findings were resolved.
The Fire Risk Connection
Electrical failures cause approximately 69,000 structure fires per year in the United States, resulting in hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars in property damage annually (NFPA data). The majority of these fires involve electrical distribution equipment — the exact equipment that infrared thermography is designed to monitor.
Thermal imaging identifies the conditions that lead to electrical fires: overloaded conductors that heat insulation to ignition temperature, loose connections that arc and spark, failing breakers that don't interrupt fault currents. Identifying and correcting these conditions is not only the right thing to do from an insurance standpoint — it is the right thing to do from a life safety standpoint.
Get an Inspection Report Your Insurance Carrier Will Accept
Contact Invizions for a comprehensive infrared inspection with documentation that meets insurance and NFPA 70B requirements.