Why Every Data Centre Needs Annual Electrical Thermography – And Why To Use SnapCor for Instant Reporting

Modern data centres live on a knife edge.

A single hidden hot spot on a UPS board, PDU, busbar run or main LV switchboard can escalate into a fire, forced shutdown or prolonged outage. Industry studies routinely put data centre downtime at thousands of dollars per minute, with some analyses quoting figures as high as $9,000 per minute when you combine lost transactions, SLA penalties and reputational damage.

That’s why more operators are building annual electrical thermography into their maintenance and risk programmes – not as an optional extra, but as a core control alongside load testing, arc-flash studies and power quality monitoring.

In this article we’ll cover:

• Why every data centre should have a formally scheduled annual infrared survey
• The specific electrical assets that benefit most from thermographic inspection
• How standards like NFPA 70B support this approach
• And why, in the field, we rely on SnapCor for instant, site-ready reports powered by the proven TICOR engine.

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Why Annual Electrical Thermography Is Non-Negotiable in Data Centres

Early warning for your most critical assets

Thermography uses infrared cameras to detect abnormal heat in live electrical systems – exactly where data centres are most vulnerable. Risk-engineering guidance from insurers and organisations like FM Global highlights thermography as a key tool for catching:

• Loose or deteriorated connections
• Overloaded breakers and cable sets
• Imbalanced phases on UPS and PDU outputs
• Ageing busbars and joints
• Localised heating in critical switchgear and MCCs

These issues almost always show up thermally before they fail electrically, which makes infrared scanning perfect for mission-critical environments where you can’t afford unplanned outages.

Driven by standards, not just “good practice”

With the 2023 update, NFPA 70B moved from a recommended practice to an enforceable standard for electrical maintenance. It now states that:

• All electrical equipment in the scope of the programme must be inspected at least every 12 months, with shorter intervals for high-risk or condition-3 equipment.
• Infrared inspections must be performed at normal operating load (or a documented minimum), with temperature differences (ΔT) recorded between hot components, references and ambient.

For data centres – which typically sit at the high-criticality end of the spectrum – this effectively means at least annual thermography on the electrical distribution that keeps the IT load alive: switchgear, UPS, PDUs, busways and distribution boards feeding white space.

Proven in the field by specialist thermography teams

Specialist providers like Ti Thermal Imaging Ltd have been using thermography to protect data centres for over a decade. Their inspections cover:

• LV and MV electrical infrastructure (switchboards, transformers, busbars, PDUs)
• Cooling systems (CRAC/CRAH units, chilled water circuits)
• Mechanical plant and building envelope where heat transfer affects IT performance

Thermal audits identify anomalies in the early stages, allowing operators to plan remedial work before there’s a fire, trip or cascade failure – and without taking systems offline.

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What a Data Centre Electrical Thermography Programme Should Cover

A robust annual electrical thermography programme for data centres typically includes:

1. Main incoming & LV switchgear

Your main switchboards, change-over panels and generator interfaces are prime candidates for infrared inspection:

• Incoming breakers and cable terminations
• Busbar joints and tap-offs
• Section links and tie breakers

NFPA 70B explicitly calls out switchgear assemblies and busways as equipment where thermography should be performed.

2. UPS systems and battery strings

Uninterruptible power supplies are central to data centre resilience. Thermography helps you:

• Check UPS input/output terminations and internal cabling
• Scan static bypass paths and maintenance bypass panels
• Identify weak or failing cells across battery strings using ΔT and pattern analysis

3. PDUs, RPPs and busways in white space

Downstream of the UPS, you need to know your power distribution is healthy:

• PDU and RPP incomers and outgoing ways
• Tap-off boxes on busbar trunking
• Over-populated racks and hot spots around cabling bundles

4. Generators and mechanical plant

While this article focuses on electrical thermography, most programmes also scan:

• Generator alternators, control panels and power connections
• MCCs feeding cooling, pumps and fans
• Mechanical bearings, couplings and motors where heat indicates impending failure

5. Trending across years, not just single surveys

Annual thermography is most powerful when combined with trending:

• Comparing ΔT and severity against previous inspections
• Tracking whether remedial actions actually closed the risk
• Demonstrating continuous improvement to insurers and auditors

This is exactly the approach used in Ti’s data centre programmes in the UK and Middle East, where repeated thermal campaigns build a long-term picture of asset health.

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The Hidden Bottleneck: Reporting, Not Scanning

Capturing thermal images in a data centre is rarely the slowest part of the job.

The real time sink – and the biggest source of inconsistency – is turning hundreds of images into a clean, structured, NFPA-aligned report that facilities teams, risk engineers and insurers can actually use.

Traditional workflow:

1. Capture images with a camera
2. Download to a laptop
3. Rename, sort and copy them into folders
4. Manually build tables in Word or Excel
5. Calculate ΔT and severity in spreadsheets
6. Paste everything into a PDF template

For large data centres, that can mean days of post-processing, and the quality of the report depends heavily on each thermographer’s discipline.

This is why Ti Thermal Imaging built TICOR – a real-time thermal imaging reporting application that allows engineers to create on-site reports by capturing findings directly into structured templates. TICOR users report saving up to 33% of total inspection and reporting time because reporting is completed as they work, not after the fact.

And it’s why the next evolution, SnapCor, exists.

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Why We Use SnapCor for Instant Data Centre Reporting

SnapCor is a thermographic reporting platform built on the TICOR engine and tuned for modern inspection teams. It’s designed to take everything we’ve learned from thousands of inspections at Ti Thermal Imaging Ltd and make it available to any thermography or FM team that needs fast, consistent reporting.

Here’s why we rely on SnapCor in data centres.

1. Works with any thermal camera

Data centres often run a mix of cameras and brands across different teams and regions. SnapCor is camera-agnostic and works with any thermal imaging camera that can export standard image formats, so we don’t have to standardise on one manufacturer before we standardise our reporting.

2. Inspection-led workflow that matches how engineers actually work

SnapCor mirrors the way our thermographers think on site:

1. Build the client, site and asset structure in the app
2. Walk the route, capturing images and measurements directly against each asset
3. Log faults with ΔT, load, severity and recommendations as we find them
4. Tap once to generate a complete PDF report before leaving site

This inspection-led workflow means engineers aren’t hunting for the right spreadsheet or template – the process itself enforces consistency.

3. Instant, standardised electrical thermography reports

Because SnapCor is powered by TICOR’s electrical module, we get:

• Consistent severity grading for electrical faults (Minor / Important / Serious / Critical)
• Centrally managed formulas for ΔT and, where required, load-correction aligned to BS 7671 principles
• Drop-down libraries for common data centre fault types and remedial actions

For operators who need documentation for NFPA 70B, insurer reviews or internal risk committees, this standardisation is invaluable.

4. Built for complex electrical runs – including busbars

Large data centres feature long runs of busbar trunking feeding white space. Ensuring every tap-off, panel and joint is inspected – and proving it – can be a challenge.

SnapCor’s busbar inspection feature gives engineers a streamlined view of busbar runs, showing which sections are complete, which items are trending and where the biggest ΔT changes are between inspections.

That makes it far easier to:

• Prove full coverage for each inspection cycle
• Track the condition of specific joints over time
• Demonstrate to insurers and auditors that runs are being systematically managed

5. Trend data that turns annual surveys into a continuous story

Because SnapCor captures structured data – not just pictures – it’s simple to trend:

• ΔT and severity for each asset over successive annual surveys
• Recurring faults that may point to deeper design or loading issues
• The effectiveness of completed remedial works

For data centres, that means your annual thermography isn’t just a snapshot; it becomes a long-term condition record, supporting everything from capacity planning to insurance negotiations.

6. Instant, shareable PDFs while the engineer is still on site

Finally, SnapCor delivers what data centre teams and clients care about most: fast, clear reporting.

At the end of the inspection, all the captured data – client details, asset inventory, trending, images, temperatures, severity and recommendations – is compiled into a clean, branded PDF with one tap.

Facility managers and risk teams don’t wait days for a report. They can start planning corrective work the same day, with documentation ready for internal change processes, maintenance tickets and insurers.

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Turning Annual Thermography into a Strategic Advantage

For data centres, annual electrical thermography isn’t just a compliance checkbox. Done well, it:

• Reduces the risk of catastrophic electrical failures and fires
• Protects uptime and SLA performance
• Provides evidence for NFPA 70B-aligned maintenance programmes and insurance discussions
• Builds a long-term picture of asset health across sites and regions

But to reap those benefits, you need two things:

1. Qualified thermographers who understand the unique challenges of data centres (high density, redundant paths, 24/7 load).
2. A reporting platform that turns their findings into clear, consistent, instant documentation.

That’s why our data centre teams at Ti Thermal Imaging Ltd rely on SnapCor – built on the proven TICOR engine – to deliver on-site, insurer-ready thermography reports in minutes, not days.

If you’re running or maintaining a data centre and want to:

• Implement or upgrade your annual electrical thermography programme
• Standardise reporting across multiple sites or contractors
• Or simply get reports faster, with less manual work

👉 Get in touch with Ti Thermal Imaging Ltd for end-to-end inspection support, or request early access to SnapCor to bring instant reporting to your own thermography team.