HTM 06-02: The NHS Safety Standard Your Customers Expect You to Understand

If you’ve ever worked on an NHS hospital or healthcare building, or supplied electrical materials to someone who does, you might have come across the term Health Technical Memorandum, or HTM. These are not just academic documents; they are a practical, frontline safety-and-engineering playbook for running and maintaining healthcare estates. HTMs provide detailed guidance on the design, installation, management, operation, and maintenance of building services systems in NHS facilities.

Put simply, HTMs are the “rules of the road” for engineers, contractors, estates teams, and maintenance companies operating in healthcare settings. NHS England publishes them so that everyone working on electrical, fire, water, ventilation, and other critical systems knows exactly which industry-best practices and regulatory expectations apply. According to NHS England, HTMs “give comprehensive advice … on the design, installation and operation of specialised building and engineering technology used in the delivery of healthcare.”

For maintenance companies, and importantly, for electrical wholesalers who supply them, HTMs represent more than recommended best practice. They’re often mandatory requirements on NHS estate properties. Staying on top of HTMs isn’t a bureaucratic extra: it’s about legal compliance, safe operations, and protecting lives in a high-stakes environment.

A Tour Through the HTM Landscape

The HTM series covers a wide range of technical domains. Here are some of the key parts you might come across:

HTM 00: Policies and principles of healthcare engineering, offering the foundational framework for the rest of the series.

HTM 06 Series: Electrical services. This includes:

HTM 06-01 – Electrical supply and distribution.

HTM 06-02 – Electrical safety guidance for low-voltage (LV) systems (our focus).

HTM 06-03 – Electrical safety for high-voltage (HV) systems.

Out with Electrical HTM Series: HTM 02 Medical Gases, HTM 03 Heating and Ventilation Systems, HTM 04 water systems, HTM 05 Fire safety (the Firecode) deals with functional fire-safety design, and several others.

Each HTM is tailored to a specific technical or operational challenge within healthcare. They are not loose suggestions, they often feed directly into NHS Trust policies and local regulations.

Diving Into HTM 06-02: Electrical Safety for Low-Voltage Systems

What is HTM 06-02?

Health Technical Memorandum 06-02 is guidance specifically for managing low-voltage electrical systems (i.e., typical wiring, circuits, switchgear) in healthcare premises. Its current version was updated in October 2023. The primary goal? Help Duty Holders meet the legal requirements under the

Electricity at Work Regulations, ensuring electrical risk is properly managed in a hospital environment.

“Duty Holders” here means people with real responsibility, not just contractors, but NHS managers, estates directors, and anyone in control of the buildings. They have to make sure electrical systems are safe, properly maintained, and documented.

Who Needs to Know HTM 06-02 (Yes, That Includes You)

HTM 06-02 is not just for in-house NHS estates teams, it’s directly relevant to maintenance companies, electrical contractors, and wholesalers too:

Contractors and Maintenance firms: If you’re doing any kind of work, testing, isolation, repair, you must operate under the safety regime laid out in HTM 06-02.

Electrical Wholesalers: Even if you don’t physically touch hospital wiring, your customers do. If you supply them with LV components (cables, switchgear, PPE), it’s worth knowing that HTM 06-02 could dictate not just what they buy, but how they install, test, and maintain.

Key Themes in HTM 06-02

Here’s a breakdown of what makes HTM 06-02 especially critical, and why anyone working on NHS estates should treat it as a core document, not a nice-to-have.

1.       Roles & Responsibilities

HTM 06-02 defines clear roles: Designated Person, Authorising Engineer (LV), Authorised Person (LV), Competent Person (LV), etc. Each role has specific duties, training requirements, and documentation obligations.

2.       Safety Documentation

The HTM mandates a range of safety documents:

·       Permits to Work for making systems dead.

·       Certificates of Authorisation for live working when it’s absolutely necessary.

·       Limitation-of-Access forms, isolation diagrams, logbooks - the lot.

These documents are designed to mitigate risk, make accountability crystal clear, and ensure traceability.

3.       Safe Work Procedures

Whether work is on a de-energised circuit or requires working live, the HTM provides detailed procedural guidance. That includes working out whether a system can be made dead (isolation), or whether live working is justified (and authorised), plus what protective equipment is needed.

4.       Training & Competence

Not just any electrician can tinker with a hospital’s low-voltage system. HTM 06-02 requires specific training and a formal appointment to roles like Authorised Person or Competent Person.  There are accredited courses run by external organisations.

5.       Record Keeping & Logbooks

The guidance emphasises accurate record keeping. From safety programmes to certificates, logbooks must be kept and maintained. This ensures not only safety but auditability, NHS Trusts need to show that work was done safely.

6.       Risk Assessment & Compliance

At its heart, HTM 06-02 is about managing risk: understanding where electrical hazards lie, assessing whether live working is necessary, and putting the correct controls in place. It also helps NHS organisations comply with UK regulations on electricity at work.

Why This Should Matter to Electrical Wholesalers

You might think: “We just sell cable, breakers, and switchgear, not hospitals!” But the reality is, your NHS maintenance customers must work to HTM 06-02. That means:

·       They may specify particular types or ratings of components you wouldn’t usually consider.

·       They will ask for documentation or certification (e.g., that a product is suitable for use under an HTM-regulated installation).

·       They need procedural knowledge, so they might lean on you for guidance around documentation or training providers.

By understanding HTM 06-02, you position your business as a trusted partner to NHS contractors. Not only are you supplying hardware, but you also understand the need for compliance, record-keeping, and competency.

More information here

The Stakes: Safety, Compliance & Reputation

Working in healthcare brings added pressure. Patient safety, continuity of critical systems, and regulatory compliance are non-negotiable. A failure in electrical safety isn’t just a maintenance error, it could disrupt life-saving systems.

For maintenance companies, non-compliance with HTM 06-02 can lead to serious legal and reputational risks. For wholesalers, supplying non-compliant gear, or failing to appreciate the regulatory landscape, could erode customer trust.

But when everyone plays by the same rulebook, risk is managed better, and work can proceed with confidence. That’s why HTMs exist: to ensure NHS buildings remain safe, reliable, and compliant.

Final Thought

For maintenance companies and electrical wholesalers serving NHS estates, HTM 06-02 isn't background reading, it's the foundation of how electrical work must be executed. Understanding this guidance transforms you from a supplier into a strategic partner who speaks the same language as your NHS clients.

When your customers ask about compliance documentation, specify unusual component ratings, or need guidance on approved training providers, they're not being difficult, they're following HTM 06-02 to the letter. The wholesalers who understand this context don't just fulfil orders; they anticipate needs, provide relevant technical support, and build lasting relationships based on shared commitment to safety and compliance.

In healthcare electrical work, there's no room for shortcuts or guesswork. By making HTM 06-02 part of your team's knowledge base, you're ensuring that every cable, every breaker, every piece of switchgear you supply supports the safe, reliable operation of NHS facilities, and ultimately, the care of patients who depend on them.