Aiming at the problems of low efficiency, high management cost and low intelligence in substation operation and maintenance, this paper, by applying the design of live detection technology and hierarchical distribution to the intelligent operation and maintenance of substations, develops hierarchical distribution of live detection for substation operation and maintenance intelligent system. It puts forward the hierarchical distribution substation intelligent operation and maintenance mode and verifies the application. The system has improved the networking, automation and intelligent level of substation operation and maintenance successfully and enhanced the efficiency and quality of substation operation and maintenance, which has a good promotion and application value. This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51537009) and Science and Technology Project of State Grid Corporation of China (No. 524625160017).