jbelectric777
Senior Member
- Location
- NJ/PA
A contractor friend called for some advice on some multi family apts and sizing the service, He was confused because the architect drew 200 amp single panels in these very small apts, gas fired heat, hot water and drying/cooking. So we did the NEC calculation, turned out the building calculated just under 80KVA. The inspector off the record told him he would put an 800 amp service in, the service supply is 120/240 we concluded a 400 is of more than enough. This is a question to the moderators and skilled vets of the business, Why do these architects size these panels so high, its a complete waste of money when they only need 100's. My son is an architect and said "Dad, to be honest I'd call you on something like that because they dont teach us much mechanical stuff" he also said these days architects cant "sub out" services to an electrical engineer because everyones working cheaper due to the economy. My answer is to have the licensed electrician or an inspector be allowed to draw the electrical in, in NJ they let the electrician do it for one and two family dwellings only and after that it has to be a licensed design professional, as an inspector do you know how many times I reveiwed a plan and had to call and correct an engineer or architect? I cant even count it happened so much. Jim