Electrical Building Design Books Pdf
Marva Richardt
Electrical services are a vital component in any building, so it is necessary for construction professionals to understand the basic principle of services design. Design of Electrical Services for Buildings provides a basic grounding for students and graduates in the field. It covers methods of wiring, schemes of distribution and protection for lighting and power installations. Systems such as alarms and standby supplies are also covered. Each method is described in detail and examples of calculations are given.
Barrie Rigby has been involved in Building Services Engineering over a number of years, including the design of systems. He has taught courses on electrical installation and participates with Institution of Electrical Engineers' course unit lecturing team.
Wiring a House (5th Edition); This was my favorite book. It stood out for me because it was really about wiring a whole house, which is what I needed to do. It included sections on designing the circuit layouts and the service entrance. Many other books seemed focused only on renovations and assumed that the serious electrical work was already done. The Author, Rex Cauldwell, also has a great reputation and brings both his experience as a master electrician (and plumber) and his degree in Electronic Engineering to this book. He tells you how to meet the code, and then common sense ways you should exceed it. The explanations and images are excellent (pictures on every page). The book is actually a fun read with humor sprinkled throughout and as a result, I was able to read it much more quickly than some of the other books.
The Chicago Construction Codes establish minimum standards for the construction, alteration, repair, maintenance, and demolition of buildings and other structures in order to protect public health, safety and welfare. The Chicago Construction Codes include provisions of the Municipal Code of Chicago related to construction and rehabilitation, plumbing, heating, electrical, fire prevention, sanitation, zoning and other health and safety standards relating to buildings and structures, except provisions enforced exclusively by a city department other than the Department of Buildings.
An electronic copy of the entire Municipal Code of Chicago, including the Chicago Construction Codes, is available from American Legal Publishing. Information on navigating these provisions is found on this page.
The City of Chicago is currently in the middle of a multi-year effort to comprehensively update its construction requirements based on widely-used model codes and standards while maintaining provisions that are well-adapted to local conditions. Phase 2 of Construction Code Modernization will be phased in between June 2019 and August 2020. For more information of Chicago's Construction Code Modernization project click here.
The accessibility provisions of the 2019 Chicago Construction Codes (primarily Chapter 14B-11 and Section 14R-3-305) apply to all permit applications started on or after December 1, 2019, regardless of whether the project is electing to follow other provisions of the 2019 Chicago Building Code or Chicago Building Rehabilitation Code (links above).
Requirements for elevators, escalators, and other conveyance devices are found in Title 14C (effective October 1, 2018). These requirements are partially based on and incorporate provisions of model codes published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and other standards development organizations. These documents are available for purchase from their respective publishers:
The Chicago Electrical Code (Title 14E of the Municipal Code) incorporates provisions of the 2017 National Electrical Code, which is published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). These provisions are incorporated by reference and not reprinted in the ordinance. A free, read-only document which compiles the model code provisions and amendments adopted by the City of Chicago, hosted by NFPA, can be viewed at:
Under the Phase 2 Construction Code Modernization Ordinance, the 2019 Chicago Building Code (Title 14B) and Interim Chicago Fire Prevention Code (Title 14F) apply to most permit applications started on or after August 1, 2020. While the City of Chicago continues to study modernization of the Chicago Fire Prevention Code, many provisions of Title 15 of the Municipal Code of Chicago continue to be referenced in the Interim Fire Prevention Code.
Requirements for fuel gas (natural gas) installations are found in Chapter 18-28, Article XIV, and are based on the 2000 International Fuel Gas Code published by the International Code Council (ICC). A copy of the 2000 edition may be purchased from ICC at
Effective November 1, 2022, requirements for energy transformation (formerly energy conservation) are found in Title 14N of the Municipal Code and are based on and incorporate the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, published by the International Code Council (ICC).
Sign requirements are found in both the Building Code (Chapter 13-20, Article XIII; Chapter 13-96, Articles I and II) and Zoning Ordinance (Title 17). Electrified and illuminated signs must also comply with the Chicago Electrical Code.
Work in existing buildings, including repairs, alterations, and additions is not required to meet all requirements for new construction but must meet the requirements of the Chicago Building Rehabilitation Code. Work in existing buildings is also required to meet the applicable energy conservation requirements (see above).
Under the Phase 2 Code Modernization Ordinance, the 2019 Chicago Building Rehabilitation Code (Title 14R), became optional for permit applications started on or after December 1, 2019, and mandatory for most permit applications started on or after August 1, 2020.
The Chicago Zoning Ordinance is Title 17 of the Municipal Code of Chicago. The Chicago Zoning Ordinance is distinct from the Chicago Building Code and is administered by the Department of Planning and Development, Bureau of Zoning. Additional land use regulations administered by the Zoning Bureau are found in Title 16.
Disclaimer: Not all laws applicable to construction and building maintenance are listed on this website or in the Municipal Code of Chicago. In some cases, Illinois or federal laws or regulations may impose additional requirements for a project. Please consult an Illinois-licensed architect, engineer, or attorney to determine which laws and requirements apply to your specific building or construction project.
The"ONE" book that everyone in the electrical industry has been requestingis now available. An excellent book for training programs as this bookexplains how to properly install the materials used. One of Tom Henry'slargest books with over 375 pages filled with designing of theelectrician's everyday needs.
Avoidre-pulling the THHN conductors because you didn't understand theampacity, the terminal ratings, and the variables that apply todesigning. This book will educate the installer on the minimum design(Code required) or how to save money when installing larger conductors.What is the correct THHN wire size for a 150 amp panel with continuousloading? What is the right size wire to run to the parking lot lights for voltage drop?
Last summer I spent a whole weekend mapping out all of the circuits in my house. I did it myself and made a whole lot of steps going from the electrical panel to every part of the house, flipping breakers and switches.
On the right side is a double 30 amp breaker at the top, another double 30 amp breaker in the middle, and then a single 20 amp breaker at the bottom. They protect the heat pump water heater, the electric cooktop in the basement, and lights and outlets on the back side of the house.
The easy version of the old-fashioned way to do it would be to have two people talking to each other from different parts of the house. One will stay at the panel, turning breakers on and off. The other person will go to each room in the house as well as looking at exterior lights as the panel person switches breakers.
You can take this even further, too. Jonathan Porter, an engineer in Minnesota, made a full schematic design of every circuit in his house. It shows every load, cable, junction box, and breaker. Joe Smith, a contractor in California, labeled not only his breakers in the panel but also the switches and receptacles in the house. Dennis Heidner, an engineer in Seattle, drew a schematic layout of his system and labeled the cables, too. How OCD will you be with your circuit mapping?
Allison A. Bailes III, PhD is a speaker, writer, building science consultant, and the founder of Energy Vanguard in Decatur, Georgia. He has a doctorate in physics and is the author of a popular book on building science. He also writes the Energy Vanguard Blog. You can follow him on Twitter at @EnergyVanguard. Photos courtesy of author.
The original labels on my panel only bore a passing resemblance to what they actually served. One very useful thing to do when mapping them is to write the circuit # on the back of the cover-plate for each outlet, switch or junction box you test.
What would be nice if electricians used logic when running circuits and didn't connect unrelated rooms to each other for their own convenience. My house has the lights in the garage, laundry room, and kitchen on the same circuit, along with a couple random outlets including an outdoor outlet. So if i'm running a higher power item outside it can trip that circuit and thus kills the lights. It taught me that when designing houses, to be specific on the electrical plans with how I want the circuits run to ensure areas are logically isolated.
The radio trick is great if you want to find the breaker for one receptacle. But if you want to map out, for example, all the receptacles in the kitchen, that can take a lot of back and forth to the panel.
That's where I think your idea of using the Emporia Vue could make it easier. If you have a medium-size plug-in load, maybe a 100 W light bulb (if you can still buy one of those), you could move it from receptacle to receptacle, seeing which channel it shows up in, without going back and forth. I don't have mine monitoring system (IotaWatt) set up with a large number of channels, but I could move the CTs to the likely candidates for a part of the house, maps those, and move on. You can check the circuits you are monitoring plus one more, but designating the one more by turning it off.
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