What premises does Section 710 affect?

Any premises containing areas used for the diagnosis, treatment or monitoring of patients — hospitals, dental practices, GP surgeries, medical centres, clinics, diagnostic centres and similar. It is the use of the space, not the size of the building, that matters: a single treatment room within a larger premises can be a medical location.

Does my GP surgery or dental practice count as a medical location?

Typically, yes in part. The treatment and examination areas of a GP surgery or dental practice are generally within the scope of Section 710, while offices, waiting rooms and other non-clinical spaces usually are not. An assessment of your premises will confirm exactly which areas are affected.

What is supplementary equipotential bonding?

It is the practice of connecting exposed metal parts in an area together with bonding conductors, so that dangerous voltage differences cannot develop between them. It is used in areas of increased electrical risk, including many medical locations, and where present its continuity may require recording during inspection.

What are the Groups in Section 710?

Section 710 classifies medical locations into groups according to how a failure of the electrical supply or installation could affect patient safety in that space. The classification a location is given determines the protective measures its electrical installation needs. Classifying a location correctly is something to agree with the healthcare provider and a competent electrical contractor.

Who can carry out this testing?

A competent, qualified electrician — and for medical locations, one who understands the additional considerations Section 710 introduces. Royal Docks Electrical’s City & Guilds qualified electricians have over 28 years' experience, carry £5m public liability insurance, and provide formal certification for all inspection and testing work.

Where can I get help with medical location testing?

Our medical electrical testing page covers the inspection, testing and certification services we provide for healthcare premises across London. Call us on 020 7473 7807 or use the form on this page and we’ll get back to you, usually within the hour.

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Plain-English Guide

Section 710 Medical Locations Explained

A plain-English guide to BS 7671 Section 710 — what counts as a medical location, what the section requires, and what it means for your premises.

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Ask About Section 710

The Standard

What Is BS 7671 — and Where Does Section 710 Sit?

Before Section 710 makes sense, it helps to know what BS 7671 is and how the standard is organised. If you’d rather skip the theory, our medical electrical testing page covers what we do in practice.

BS 7671 — the IET Wiring Regulations

BS 7671 is the UK national standard for electrical installations (the IET Wiring Regulations). It sets out how fixed electrical installations — the wiring, distribution boards, sockets, lighting circuits and protective devices in a building — should be designed, installed, inspected and tested. It is not itself a piece of legislation, but it is the benchmark standard against which electrical installation work in the UK is judged, and working to it is the recognised way of demonstrating that an installation is safe.

How the standard is organised

The main body of BS 7671 contains the general requirements that apply to installations of every kind. Beyond that, the standard includes a series of sections covering special installations and locations — places where the ordinary rules alone aren’t considered sufficient because the risks are higher or unusual. Bathrooms, swimming pools and construction sites each have their own section. So do medical locations.

Where Section 710 fits in

Section 710 is the section of BS 7671 that deals with medical locations. It doesn’t replace the general requirements of the standard — it adds to them, setting out additional requirements that reflect the particular risks involved where patients are being diagnosed, treated or monitored. In a medical location, a patient may be less able to react to an electric shock, may be connected to equipment, or may depend on the electrical supply in a way an ordinary building occupant does not. Section 710 exists to address exactly that.

Electrician testing a distribution board in a healthcare corridor

Definitions

What Counts as a “Medical Location”?

The term is broader than many people expect — and it’s the use of the space, not the name on the building, that decides.

The definition in plain English

A medical location is an area intended for the diagnosis, treatment or monitoring of patients. That covers the obvious cases — operating areas and hospital wards — but also many smaller, everyday spaces: treatment rooms, dental surgeries, GP examination rooms and diagnostic rooms. A physiotherapy treatment area or a minor-procedures room in a high-street clinic can fall within the definition just as an operating theatre does.

It applies room by room, not building by building

A premises isn’t a medical location in its entirety just because healthcare happens somewhere inside it. The waiting room, offices and kitchen of a GP surgery are generally ordinary spaces; the examination and treatment rooms are where Section 710 becomes relevant. That’s why an assessment of how each area is actually used matters more than the label on the front door.

Socket outlets along a healthcare corridor wall

Typical spaces within scope

Areas commonly assessed as medical locations include:

Treatment Rooms

Dental Surgeries

Operating Areas

Diagnostic Rooms

Examination Rooms

Patient Monitoring Areas

Key Concepts

Groups, Bonding and Protective Measures

Two ideas come up again and again in Section 710 — the classification of locations into groups, and supplementary equipotential bonding.

The concept of Groups

Section 710 doesn’t treat every medical location the same way. Locations are classified into groups according to how a failure of the electrical supply or installation could affect patient safety in that space. A room where a patient is simply examined presents a very different risk from one where a patient is connected to equipment or undergoing a procedure, and the classification reflects that.

The important point for a premises owner or manager is this: the group a location is placed in determines the protective measures its electrical installation needs. Classifying a location correctly is therefore the essential first step, and it’s something to agree between the healthcare provider — who knows how the space is used — and a competent electrical contractor.

Supplementary equipotential bonding

Supplementary equipotential bonding means connecting the exposed metal parts within an area — pipework, equipment enclosures, metal fixtures — together with bonding conductors. The aim is simple: if everything conductive in the room is held at the same electrical potential, dangerous voltage differences cannot develop between the things a patient or member of staff might touch at the same time.

Bonding of this kind is used in areas of increased electrical risk, and medical locations are a prime example — patients may have reduced ability to react to shock, and may be in contact with conductive equipment for extended periods. Where supplementary bonding is present, its continuity may require recording during inspection, which is why it features in a thorough inspection and testing regime for healthcare premises.

Test probe checking a supplementary bonding conductor

In Practice

What Section 710 Means for Your Premises

The standard matters most at two moments: when electrical work is designed and installed, and when the installation is inspected and tested.

Inspection and testing

For an existing premises, the practical route to understanding where you stand is periodic inspection and testing, recorded on an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR). Inspection and testing is carried out in accordance with the current edition of BS 7671 where applicable — and in a healthcare premises that includes the additional considerations Section 710 introduces for medical locations, such as verifying supplementary bonding where it is present. The report records the condition of the installation and classifies anything found so you can see clearly what, if anything, needs attention.

Who should pay attention

Section 710 is most relevant to the people responsible for healthcare premises rather than the clinicians working in them: practice managers of GP surgeries and dental practices, healthcare estates teams in NHS Trusts and private hospital groups, and facilities managers looking after buildings that contain clinical space. If your role includes arranging electrical inspection, keeping compliance records or commissioning electrical work in a building where patients are seen, Section 710 is part of your landscape — even if you never need to read the standard itself.

Section 710 — Common Questions

BS 7671 is the UK national standard for electrical installations (the IET Wiring Regulations). It is not itself a piece of legislation, but it is the benchmark standard against which electrical installation work in the UK is judged, and working to it is the recognised way of demonstrating that an installation is safe. Section 710 is the part of that standard that deals with medical locations.
Any premises containing areas used for the diagnosis, treatment or monitoring of patients — hospitals, dental practices, GP surgeries, medical centres, clinics, diagnostic centres and similar. It is the use of the space, not the size of the building, that matters: a single treatment room within a larger premises can be a medical location.
Typically, yes in part. The treatment and examination areas of a GP surgery or dental practice are generally within the scope of Section 710, while offices, waiting rooms and other non-clinical spaces usually are not. An assessment of your premises will confirm exactly which areas are affected.
It is the practice of connecting exposed metal parts in an area together with bonding conductors, so that dangerous voltage differences cannot develop between them. It is used in areas of increased electrical risk, including many medical locations, and where present its continuity may require recording during inspection.
Section 710 classifies medical locations into groups according to how a failure of the electrical supply or installation could affect patient safety in that space. The classification a location is given determines the protective measures its electrical installation needs. Classifying a location correctly is something to agree with the healthcare provider and a competent electrical contractor.
The practical route is an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) carried out by an electrician familiar with medical locations. Inspection and testing is carried out in accordance with the current edition of BS 7671 where applicable, and the report records the condition of the installation and identifies anything that needs attention.
A competent, qualified electrician — and for medical locations, one who understands the additional considerations Section 710 introduces. Royal Docks Electrical’s City & Guilds qualified electricians have over 28 years' experience, carry £5m public liability insurance, and provide formal certification for all inspection and testing work.
Our medical electrical testing page covers the inspection, testing and certification services we provide for healthcare premises across London. Call us on 020 7473 7807 or use the form on this page and we’ll get back to you, usually within the hour.

Need Section 710 inspection and testing?

Our medical electrical testing service covers EICRs, supplementary bonding verification and certification for healthcare premises across London — carried out in accordance with the current edition of BS 7671 where applicable. Or start with our EICR certificate page and contact us with any questions.

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