Electrical Design Software?

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I am looking into purchasing an Electrical Design computer program & not sure what would be the best one to get, can anyone give me their input. I'll be designing residential/commercial electrical systems for new construction applications & then the plans will go in for review & permitting.

Thanks,
Jim

P.S. I posted this question here (http://forums.mikeholt.com/forumdisplay.php?f=61) but not sure if that was the right category so I'm re-posting it in this category. Moderator, feel free to delete from the other category if need be.
 
Electrical Design Software

Electrical Design Software

AutoCAD is the standard software for engineering design around here. Also check with Florida Board of Professional Engineers to see what the requirements are to do engineering work in your state. Typically, it requires an engineering degree from an ABET certified college, 4 years of experience, and two 8 hour exams (EIT and FE). Otherwise, you may just be purchasing expensive software without the legal license to stamp your own drawings.
 
Thanks Don, I have two engineers that will approve any design or make corrections if necessary. There R lots of firms asking for help in this area & I was thinking of getting into it. I will check out the State requirements.
 
Rollbar said:
...There R lots of firms asking for help in this area & I was thinking of getting into it....
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I wasn't, and still am not quite sure what you mean by "electrical design" software. Just to be more clear, AutoCAD, in its basic form, will only aid in drawing up plans. It does not automatically perform any drawing tasks nor does it do any design calculations. There may be thrid-party "add-on" modules which will do these functions but I've made no attempt at finding such. You may have to obtain another program entirely if your looking for something which automates, to a degree, calculations and such.

AutoCAD Electrical is a major enhancement for electrical engineering, but from the demos I've viewed, I believe it to be geared more towards industrial-type control systems... but I'm open to correction on that assessment, having no first-hand experience with this offshoot of the basic program.

IMO the best electrical design software for premises power distribution offered by Autodesk, the developers of AutoCAD, is Autodesk Building Systems (ABS). This software is an HVAC, piping, and electrical trades enhanced version of Architectural Desktop... which is an enhancement in itself to the more basic AutoCAD.

For each level of enhancement, the price tag goes up quite a bit. IIRC, ABS costs in the neighborhood of $5,000 to $6,000... while you may get AutoCAD for around $2,000 to $2,500. If you can get by with it, you can probably pick up AutoCAD LT (meaning the "Lite" version) for less than a grand.

Be sure to check out the videos, tutorials, and documentation on the Autodesk website, and be sure to get the trial version(s) of the program before making any commitment to one in particular.
 
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Rollbar said:
Thanks Don, I have two engineers that will approve any design or make corrections if necessary. There R lots of firms asking for help in this area & I was thinking of getting into it. I will check out the State requirements.
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Your two engineers will be skating on ice that is only slightly thicker than it gets in Port St. Lucie. Most states provide that engineers may stamp only plans that were done under their "responsible supervision". If things ever go wrong, they might have trouble showing that the work was done under their "responsible supervision".

If they are working for someone else they are probably covered by the liability insurance of their employers, which won't cover any liability for stamping your plans. They would need their own insurance to cover "errors and omissions" in your plans that they stamp.

Your best bet is to work for one of those firms, licensed to practice engineering, that are "asking for help in this area".
 
Smart $ said:
IMO the best electrical design software for premises power distribution offered by Autodesk, the developers of AutoCAD, is Autodesk Building Systems (ABS). This software is an HVAC, piping, and electrical trades enhanced version of Architectural Desktop... which is an enhancement in itself to the more basic AutoCAD.
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ABS is now joined by Revit Systems as a design tool offered by Autodesk. Revit Systems is more of an MEP engineering program and less of a drafting program although some would disagree. If you buy Revit Systems Plus you get Revit Systems and ABS.
 
sparkie001 said:
ABS is now joined by Revit Systems as a design tool offered by Autodesk. Revit Systems is more of an MEP engineering program and less of a drafting program although some would disagree. If you buy Revit Systems Plus you get Revit Systems and ABS.
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If you buy revit, you should invest in a top of the line computer, and a squishy ball to release the tension while you are waiting for the computer. And the engineering calculations it can do are limited to some basic HVAC calcs and basic lighting levels. So I guess I'm one that would disagree:)

Autocad for drafting is probably required. Then for engineering software there is SKM, Etap, ESDA, and Easypower. I use SKM, and it is probably the cheapest. Etap and ESDA seem somewhat more oriented to real time monitoring of systems for POCO's and large users, rather than just calculations.
 
I agree with Bob. The engineering firm I work for has the CAD designers as employees rather than independent contractors. They sit right next to the engineers, and we work very closely with each other. If it made economic sense to outsource this work, I'm sure lots of firms would be doing it, but only if it would be legal to do so.

Because of the "responsible supervision" requirement, I don't see how it would be legal to outsource CAD work to an independent contractor.
 
steve66 said:
And the engineering calculations it can do are limited to some basic HVAC calcs and basic lighting levels.
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I agree with the supercomputer requirement! I mentioned Revit as it does more elect engineering than ABS, but still only load calcs, v-drop, approx lengths, quantities and lighting levels. I use Captor / Dapper for short circuit and coord and Visual for ltg.
 
I use http://www.designmaster.biz/
You'd be surprized how it enhances productivity. Here are some of what it does:
One-Line Riser Diagrams
Panel Schedules
Homeruns and Loops (yes, it draws for you!)
Light Fixtures
Receptacles
Switching (get tired of thinking through tick marks for 4-way switches?)
Interior Lighting Calculations
Fault Calculations
Voltage Drop Calculations
Cost Estimating
Site Lighting Calculations (photometrics right in your drawing)
Equipment

It is database driven, but automatically draws as well - very smart.
 
Software

Software

I would recommend VOLTS from Dolphins Software. The software program automates the tedious task of creating One-Line Riser Diagrams, Panel Schedules, Feeder Schedules, Load Summaries, user defined reports, etc. All computations are in conformance with standards established by the 2005 NFPA National Electrical Code? and IEEE. VOLTS also accommodates the dynamics of the electrical design process by adding, deleting or modifying branch circuit devices with limited effort. The program also exports all reports and schedules into DXF format for use with AutoCAD. You can download a 10 day free trail.
 
Electrical design software.

Electrical design software.

Hi,

If you want to buy a very reasonable program that is a lot easier to use than Autocad you can go to the following website www.autotraxeda.com, and down load a program called AUTOTRAX. The program is designed mainly as an EDA platform. I use it for all my designs Electrical and electronic. You can easily create your own parts and symbols. Your drawings can also be exported in DXF format. It will cost you about $300.00 and this includes free upgrades for the whole year of 2007. The year normaly runs from Jan to Dec. The program also includes a free Project manager program.

Regards,

Ed.
 
There are some contractors and engineers that use AutoCAD. There are some that use Solid Works. There are some that use Visio. There are even some that use Turbo Cad. And there a lots that don't use any cad program at all. Volts exports to cad to support every user.

Additionally, Volts is more flexible, handles more computing problems, supports all cable types inclusive of fiber optic, is much more adaptive and produces more information. It features every report that you'll need in addition to 5 user defined custom reports. Design Master cannot compete with Volts except on the very simplest of projects.

I am not permitted to reveal the future of Volts until the press releases are published, but I can say that it once again, Design Master cannot even compete with Volts' future.

And that's why I use Volts over Design Master, SKM and Easy Power.
 
you may go with , amtech software . by which you can draw riser diagram and perform all calculation analysis even short circuit analysis.

I feel , for USA project , no need to have any software , or guide . Buy NEC hand book , that would do to survive in your field. I own NEC 2005 hand book. the cost is pretty much "for me" ( around 8500 rupees including transportation ) . SO WHY CAN'T U.
 
Illegal

Illegal

A cease and desist order from whatever Engineering Licensure Board will surely represent an end to your idealic enterprising. What you are doing is considering is typically not only against the law for you, but also unethical and against the Code of Conduct for Engineers (referred to as "Plan Stamping"). My personal suggestion is that both you and your "Engineers" review ethical and legal obligations prior to hurting someone.
 
Please post the name of your new firm. Would very much like to send you some work.

Send detailed description of services offered as well as the names of your professional engineers to :

Patrick Creehan
Prosecuting Attorney
The Florida Board of Professional Engineers
2507 Callaway Road, Suite 200
Tallahassee, Florida 32303-5268
 
sceepe, that is funny, I almost fell out of my chair.

The engineers that I might be working with are swamped & if I did start this up it would be @ their office. How many of you design your layouts & give it to an engineer to check/approve to see if it is feasible or not. How many of you do a one line & say put it in the plans, we need it here or the customer want to add this & the engineer say's draw it up for me so I can check it & then I will add it to the set. Humm, don't be so hard one someone for asking a question because he was asked to preform a service or task for some one who might know better. I really don't think that one of these firms would go out on a limb for little ole me unless the "T"'s & "I"s were dotted. Finalization is not complete on this project, heck it might not even work once we get into it. So set back & relax.

P.S. A special thanks to those who replied with the information I asked for, it is a big help.
 
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