Splitting load calcs across sub-panels

T

TealHeals

Member
Location
Oregon
Occupation
journeyman electrician & licensed signing supervisor
I'm reviewing some prints for a 4,600 square foot office space. There are 3 sub-panels and each sub-panel has circuits assigned to about 1/3 of the space.
The drafter has taken some of the load calcs and spread them across the panels. For example, instead of 1 sign circuit on the sub-panel that feeds it - there's 600 VA filled in on Panel A, and the other 600 VA on Panel C.
There's enough other weird stuff on here where the calcs don't reflect the reality of the circuits coming off each sub-panel.
When I brought this up, I was met with "We've always done it this way." And I'm relatively new to being a signing supervisor in Oregon, and new to this company.
* The drafter is not an electrician
And I can't think of a single reason why somebody would take a calculated load for the building and spread it across the sub-panels.
Is this a common design "rule" I never learned?
 
I'm with you. Assigning a circuit's load to a panel that is not feeding the load is flat-out wrong. And I consider "we've always done it this way" to be an unacceptable basis for doing so.

For starters, it wasn't "always." Someone did it for the first time. That person might have had a valid reason that applied to their situation, but not to yours. My response would be, "why is it so wrong to do things right"? Perhaps it has never (yet) caused an issue, and perhaps that is why they think it is OK to keep doing it. But it might make a difference under other circumstances, and they won't know how to do things correctly.
 
charlie b said:
I'm with you. Assigning a circuit's load to a panel that is not feeding the load is flat-out wrong. And I consider "we've always done it this way" to be an unacceptable basis for doing so.

For starters, it wasn't "always." Someone did it for the first time. That person might have had a valid reason that applied to their situation, but not to yours. My response would be, "why is it so wrong to do things right"? Perhaps it has never (yet) caused an issue, and perhaps that is why they think it is OK to keep doing it. But it might make a difference under other circumstances, and they won't know how to do things correctly.
Click to expand...
I was really needing a reality check from a fellow electrician. There are other weird calculations on this print that pre-date my arrival to this company and I spent much of the day today saying, "What???" out loud to myself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top