Project Scope
Excellence Engineering provides Facility GAP Analysis to clients in order to identify NFPA 70 (NEC), Article 501 (liquids and vapors) and Article 502 (dusts) code deficiencies in relation to the defined electrical area hazardous classification of petrochemical and oil & gas related facilities. This type of analysis is beneficial in both new and older facilities where equipment changes and additions have been made, regular maintenance may not have been maintained over time, or to assess if acquired assets meet industry hazardous area code requirements.
The objective of a Facility GAP Analysis is to physically audit an existing facility’s electrical, instrumentation and mechanical equipment installations and identify any violations of national standards and recommend a correction for the identified deficiencies. A focus is made to identify personnel and equipment safety issues associated with equipment grounding practices, equipment installation requirements and NEMA enclosure requirements as related to the identified hazardous area classifications of the facility. Information obtained for the Facility GAP Analysis is derived from site surveys and interviews with facility operator and maintenance personnel.
Typical deliverables consist of a written report that includes the scope, objective, referenced industry codes and standards, the basis of the Facility GAP Analysis, and a spreadsheet that contains a detailed list of discrepancies. Examples on the report could include: facility/area location, equipment tag # (if available), date observation recorded, description of code deficiency, national code reference violated, recommendations for remediation and a list of photo references (when possible).
A Facility GAP Analysis does not have to be limited to a facility’s defined hazardous areas. Inclusion of a facility’s installations covered by the other various NEC, NFPA, API and OSHA articles can be included upon request.