cbelectricmaui
Member
- Location
- Kihei, Hawaii, USA
Hello all,
I am a licensed electrician / electrical contractor in Maui, Hawaii, and am currently reviewing an engineered drawing to prepare a bid on a residential project. The property will consist of a 7,000 square foot main dwelling, 1,000 square foot additional dwelling (cottage), a detached garage, swimming pool, etc.. The engineered drawing that I am looking at specifies that the service will be a 600A service. The service conductors will energize a 600A Fusible Disconnect rated for 63kAIC. The feeders on the load side of the service disconnect will energize a 600A main distribution panel. The MDP does not show having a 600A main breaker, but the number of disconnecting means within the enclosure is less than 6, so no problems there. The 600A MDP is also specified at 63kAIC. All Sub-panels after the MDP - house panels, pool panels, detached garage panel, etc. - are specified at 38kAIC.
In my opinion, the kAIC ratings of 63kAIC & 38kAIC are overkill for a residential application. However, this is a multi-acre, multi-million dollar, custom, high-end, luxury home here on Maui, so maybe we're just building the best of the best.
I am currently building a 7,500 square foot structure with a 300A electrical service. It's high-end and nice, yada yada, but not as nice as the above mentioned. My main question is this:
Are the kAIC ratings mentioned above indeed overkill & unnecessary, or are they legit? Does anyone have experience building residential dwellings with 600A services? I believe the engineer was hired to just get through the permitting phase with the county, and the service request phase with the utility company. I don't think he's pouring his heart into these drawings, and I have already found other inconsistencies that he has admitted to be 'Boiler-Print' type specifications. Thanks for reading this. Hope to hear from you all soon. Have a great weekend. Aloha.
I am a licensed electrician / electrical contractor in Maui, Hawaii, and am currently reviewing an engineered drawing to prepare a bid on a residential project. The property will consist of a 7,000 square foot main dwelling, 1,000 square foot additional dwelling (cottage), a detached garage, swimming pool, etc.. The engineered drawing that I am looking at specifies that the service will be a 600A service. The service conductors will energize a 600A Fusible Disconnect rated for 63kAIC. The feeders on the load side of the service disconnect will energize a 600A main distribution panel. The MDP does not show having a 600A main breaker, but the number of disconnecting means within the enclosure is less than 6, so no problems there. The 600A MDP is also specified at 63kAIC. All Sub-panels after the MDP - house panels, pool panels, detached garage panel, etc. - are specified at 38kAIC.
In my opinion, the kAIC ratings of 63kAIC & 38kAIC are overkill for a residential application. However, this is a multi-acre, multi-million dollar, custom, high-end, luxury home here on Maui, so maybe we're just building the best of the best.
I am currently building a 7,500 square foot structure with a 300A electrical service. It's high-end and nice, yada yada, but not as nice as the above mentioned. My main question is this:
Are the kAIC ratings mentioned above indeed overkill & unnecessary, or are they legit? Does anyone have experience building residential dwellings with 600A services? I believe the engineer was hired to just get through the permitting phase with the county, and the service request phase with the utility company. I don't think he's pouring his heart into these drawings, and I have already found other inconsistencies that he has admitted to be 'Boiler-Print' type specifications. Thanks for reading this. Hope to hear from you all soon. Have a great weekend. Aloha.