Residential Wiring Part II

ELECTRICAL PLANS

As often happens, the construction plans (blueprints) for this particular house arrived, and there is no Electrical plan, what to do, the builder still wants a bid price from you for the job? We engineer it ourselves, usually to National Electrical Code minimum standards, adding receptacles, lighting fixtures, controls, switches, and other items like telephone jacks, cable tv jacks, etc., in accordance with National Electrical Code dictates. At this point, with little or no input from the builder and/or homeowner, the electrical system design is in it's infancy.. still awaiting input from the homeowner.

I have loaded a floor plan for a small house to the site for you to inspect. It will enable you to see the various symbols and such that demark the various and sundry electrical devices throughout the building. I have only shown one floor of the building, but you can get an idea from this one level, which has the most important room in the house from an Electrician’s standpoint, the cook’s workplace and usually the core of the home - the kitchen.

You will see also an electrical symbols schedule, which denotes the different electrical components on the blueprints (read: black on white). This is a plan I engineered myself, with receptacles, switches, lighting fixtures, etc., marked in their respective locations. The receptacles are laid out, according to NEC, with each one located in a code-compliant manner. Switches at the entry to each space, for example two switches at the back door, one to turn on a light fixture on the exterior, to light the stoop as you leave the building, the second switch to turn off the kitchen light. It is in this manner that the safety of the homeowner is protected, the idea being to light your way as you go, turning off the lights behind, in the spaces we are leaving.

I can use this plan for estimating the basic components of the Electrical system, but I still need the info from the plumber, for the items he is installing. As I mentioned previously, a dishwasher, hot water source, a hot tub, steam generator, garbage disposer? The HVAC contractor also has to ring in with the items in his work arena, the boiler or furnace, the air handler(s), condensing units, and, obviously, thermostat locations and connection of the entire system. The HVAC contractor puts in his equipment for the heating cooling plant, Electricians hook it all up electrically and make it a fully functional system. Once the components of the various systems are decided upon, with the culmination of this information, the contract bid is prepared and submitted to the Builder, or General Contractor.

Once the bid is reviewed and accepted by all parties involved, and the job is awarded to Old Harbor Electric, Inc., the work on the job site begins. The next thing we do, as the awarded Electrical Contractor, is set up a source for temporary electrical power, for the various tradesmen working on the project.

NEXT UP, THE TEMPORARY POWER POLE.