I was under the impression that EFLI testing is only required to ensure earth-fault protection where no RCD is present. At least that's the case in Germany and Austria. Short-circuit protection is only indirectly governed by the rules on voltage drop, in theory a short circuit could persist until the thermal section of the MCB trips if the circuit impedance is high enough. EFLI stands for earth fault loop impedance, which suggests that at least in the UK it's also about earth faults rather than L-N or L-L short circuits.
I'm not qualified for testing and inspection, so I don't need to know this by heart but off the top of my head I think the required tests for any type of installation in Germany and Austria are:
- insulation resistance at 500 V DC
- continuity of earth and bonding conductors throughout the installation (measured using an Ohm meter between the earth bus bar and each connection point with an appropriately long lead)
- impedance of any earth electrodes
- RCD trip time
- RCD trip current
- where no RCD is present, EFLI and PFC (prospective fault current, calculated from nominal voltage and EFLI)
- live switching (making sure no single pole switches or MCBs break neutral conductors)
- phase rotation of 3-phase circuits
