Documentation and auditing of protection systems in industrial systems

The establishment and maintenance of documentation identifying details of protection equipment used in industrial distribution systems may seem a very mundane topic. However the absence of accurate information regarding site protection systems can result in considerable operational difficulties if protection maloperations occur or if a distribution system is extended or modified. Consideration of the type of documentation and the reasons why it is required is thus an important issue in the overall operation of an industrial distribution system. This paper therefore considers various aspects of documentation typically used to record details of site protection systems. The paper first examines some parameters of typical industrial systems that have a bearing on the type and importance of protection system documentation. Reasons why records of the site protection system configurations should be kept are then examined, followed by a description of typical types of data records. Finally, the paper concludes by describing some aspects of auditing of site records