Status assessments
Status assessments give an indication of whether and when the replacement or updating of stations, switchgear or other equipment needs to take place.

It is expected that vital key components will last for a long time, although you may only have a vague idea of how long that may or should be. This circumstance can unintentionally lead to maintenance procedures being over-ambitious and more long-term planning being overlooked in favour of more urgent problems. Long-term planning should take in such issues as the overall efficiency of the equipment, technically and financially, as well as the working environment under chapter C of the Swedish service regulations. The status assessment involves grading the components at a plant in terms of the risks and consequences of a fault. As such, concepts such as supply as a percentage of demand time are also considered in the status assessment.

Commissioning
The term commissioning covers not only connecting the voltage, but also the necessary checks beforehand.

These checks should include the protection systems themselves and the outer circuits which are necessary for the systems to function. In addition to checking that the equipment matches the circuit diagram, specifications, etc. it also needs to be checked against the designer's intentions.

- Measurement transformers checked for direction and transformation ratio
- Efficiency of earthing protection linked to summated current measured
- Current and voltage circuits measured
- Switches, turn-on and trip circuits tested
- Switches moved and status indicators checked
- Earthing checked
- Alarm and indicator systems checked
- Auxiliary supply system checked

Commissioning is fundamentally different from normal relay testing.

A plant's protection relays must function in all circumstances, being required to work faultlessly in just a few milliseconds, even when they where last needed to deal with a surge many years ago. This function is tested at scheduled intervals depending on the plant's importance, environmental conditions, simple or complex equipment, etc.

Delivery inspection
When delivering machinery and other electrical equipment, agreed delivery tests and inspections are to be carried out at the vendor's factory.

If the technical specification for the tests has not been agreed, they are carried out in line with the standards generally applied to the machine or product in question.

If, on completion of the delivery checks, the goods are found not be in line with the contract, the vendor must bring the goods up to scratch as quickly as possible. At the purchaser's request, new tests may then be carried out.