Showing my ignorance

[stelthorst]

My boss wants me to help design the electrical for his new house. Since my design experience is in the industrial/commercial field I'm not familiar with the terms Architects use. In a meeting with the Architect he stated he wanted to have the DD set ready by Thanksgiving. I was too embarrassed to ask what a DD set was, so I'll ask it here.

[framedNlv]

DD would be design development.

Chris

[stelthorst]

Thanks Chris,

What is usually shown on Design Development drawings?

[Steve_Bennett]

After DD would come CD or Construction Documents. DD's are usually a very basic set of drawings that convey the "design intent" of the project. It usually doesn't have many dimensions and is typically more artsy than technical. CD's are where you iron out all the finite details.

[david_peterson]

Most of the Electrical plans I've seen for a DD set consist of basic locations for home runs and junction boxes. Where and how big the pannels and switch gears would be (I'm guessing your boss dosen't need the switch gear). Basically just some lines (or splines) that show the basic wiring diagram that whould show voltage and estimated wire gage. That's about it. Now if it's a residential project that might even pass for CD's since the Archies usually show switch locations and heights. I guess it all depends though on how much your boss paid for the plans.

[stelthorst]

Thanks everyone,

I think my DD plans will have to more elaborate. For two reasons

1. It's my f---in boss

2. Right now it looks like I'm going to need a 600 A service because this house is HUUUGE (15,000 sf).

In other words I should probably get to work

Thanks again for all your help.

[Steve_Bennett]

Thanks everyone,

I think my DD plans will have to more elaborate. For two reasons

1. It's my f---in boss

2. Right now it looks like I'm going to need a 600 A service because this house is HUUUGE (15,000 sf).

In other words I should probably get to work

Thanks again for all your help.Thx for clarifying the size of house - that makes a big difference. Yeah, you may get a bit more detailed on a house of that scale/cost/size just for client happiness. Don't forget to keep the arch guys involved thru the process to make sure you are including enough info for what they need. It would be horrible to submit everything by the deadline only to find you didn't make it detailed enough. You can never have enough communication on a project of that size.

[Steve_Bennett]

Did I mention that residential owners of projects like that tend to be the most picky about details that usually don't make a difference and make lots of last minute changes regardless of what the change might impact? I hope you have addressed this in advance and that you will be using at the very least ABS to tackle this project.

[stelthorst]

Thanks Steve,

I'm planning on doing everything in ABS

I'm already seeing that the Architect is going to dictate everything. He wants to place the floor boxes so that they lay in the middle of the tile and he stated on previous jobs they had to chip out the concrete and move the boxes because the owner changed their mind about the size of the tiles.

The thing about working for your boss is I can either make myself look good or I'll be walking down the road kicking rocks wandering what just happened. Hopefully I'll be able to impress him.

[Steve_Bennett]

Thanks Steve,

I'm planning on doing everything in ABS

I'm already seeing that the Architect is going to dictate everything. He wants to place the floor boxes so that they lay in the middle of the tile and he stated on previous jobs they had to chip out the concrete and move the boxes because the owner changed their mind about the size of the tiles.

The thing about working for your boss is I can either make myself look good or I'll be walking down the road kicking rocks wandering what just happened. Hopefully I'll be able to impress him.:lol: chip out the concrete??? :lol: that's exactly the kind of stuff I'm talking about...

Are you going to AU?

[stelthorst]

:lol: chip out the concrete??? :lol: that's exactly the kind of stuff I'm talking about...

Are you going to AU?I was talking to the construction consultant the other day and he mentioned this Architect is known for lots of changes and last minute redesigns. This could be a fun ride.

Yes, I'm going to AU. Somehow I caught the vice-president on a good day and he said I could go. Booked the trip 10 minutes later before he changed his mind. I'm sure he'll ask somebody during that week where I am.

[Steve_Bennett]

I was talking to the construction consultant the other day and he mentioned this Architect is known for lots of changes and last minute redesigns. This could be a fun ride.

Yes, I'm going to AU. Somehow I caught the vice-president on a good day and he said I could go. Booked the trip 10 minutes later before he changed his mind. I'm sure he'll ask somebody during that week where I am.Of course, I thought I saw your name as one who's voted on where to eat. My bad. Cool!