Just realized I've been reading electrical plans backwards for 6 months

A coworker pointed out I was mixing up the power and lighting layers on a commercial job last week, and now I see it everywhere in my old drawings. Has anyone else had a basic thing click way later than it should have?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavin_kim1d ago

The 277/480 volt lighting circuits on my last project had the lighting layer physically above the power layer in the CAD file, so I can see how it trips people up. @taylor_patel thats a generous way to look at it, but if the panel schedules are based on that layer order, you might have some serious load balancing errors. Did you have to go back and check all your old panel schedules after you found the mix-up?

taylor_patel1d ago

Whoa, hold up. I kinda see it the other way. Mixing up layers happens to everyone, sure, but catching it now means you've probably been doing your electrical layout with a better big-picture view than someone who rigidly follows the layers from day one. Your mileage may vary, but I've seen guys get so stuck on the layer order that they miss obvious conflicts between power and lighting that jump out when you blur them together. So maybe you weren't wrong for 6 months, maybe you were just doing it your own way and now you have a chance to refine it.