Switching - on plans vs. how it's installed

[kwired]

This thread, my friends, shows just how different the electrical trade is from the HVAC trade.

Had this question been posted at an HVAC forum, the unanimous answer would have been 'put it in as they drew it, then charge them for the change order to make it work.'

The electrician is more likely to know something is not going to work ahead of time vs the HVAC guy.

I did not say anything about missing the opportunity to make more money for doing the job twice though, that is a pitfall for doing it right the first time and/or questioning things instead of just doing what the plan says

 

[Strathead]

Hey thanks for all the replies! After a couple of hours, I gave up on staring at the screen waiting for replies (much like waiting by the phone for the boys to call in 7th grade - female here, by the way). Just happened to come back to it now.

The other new electrical and I are going to be re-vamping standards so it's good to get some feedback on different ways of showing things. I like the sound of just putting the circuit number and tagging the switches/lights accordingly. I draw the arcs to show which lights control which switches, not intending to show how to route conduit.

Yeah, I didn't think 5-way or 6-way switches existed unless maybe we're talking about another industry.

From an estimating perspective, I really prefer this method. The Schools I have bid require fixture whips and boxes. Unless you were going to show every box and fixture whip, I prefer to have nothing on the page. One of the local Engineers, shows conduit from light to light and hashes the # of conductors. He gets it pretty well right, except, since I am required to prvide j boxes and fixture whips the conduit doesn't rund from light to light. I generally take off my conduit for lighting, so I end up drawing all new conduit and wire on the page and ignoring what was there.