Electrical Engineering A - Process Maps (PM)

Electrical engineering deals with the overall process of planning, designing, installing, commissioning, operating and maintaining electrical power systems for building projects. It deals with low voltage electrical installations from 12V (AC/DC) to 1000V (AC) or 1500 volts (DC) in accordance with IEC definitions. Electrical installations within scope of this process are considered to commence at a meter where the public utility supply terminates or at a transformer where voltage is stepped down to the low voltage range in scope. Incoming electrical supplies and distribution of electrical energy at higher voltages are considered to be out of scope of this process.

The Electrical Engineering process is concerned with the distribution of power from an initial supply point to components and terminals where it is used to drive mechanical devices, converted to heat or light or made available through outlets to appliances that may be temporarily connected or disconnected from the power supply. This is considered to include the provision of distribution points at which a supply circuit may be split into multiple sub-circuits, protective devices and support devices such as cable tray, conduit, cable trunking etc.

Whilst the Electrical Engineering process is concerned with the provision of power to heating elements and lighting fittings; it is not concerned with the requirements or actual provision of heat and light from such elements and fittings.

Six main process stages are considered within the Electrical Engineering lifecycle. These are shown in the high level process map below as:

Plan Electrical Systems
Design Electrical Systems
Install Electrical Systems
Test and Commission Electrical Systems
Operate Electrical Systems
Maintain Electrical Systems

Process Overview

Id	Task	Name	Process Stage(s)
1	Task	Plan Electrical Systems	Outline Feasibility(2), Substantive Feasability(3)
2	Sub-Process (collapsed)	Design Electrical Systems	Outline conceptual design(4), Full conceptual design(5), Coordinated design and procurement(6)
3	Task	Install Electrical Systems	Production information(7). Construction(8)
4	Task	Test and Commission Electtrical Systems	Construction(8)
5	Task	Operate Elements and Systems	Operation and maintenance(9)
6	Task	Maintain Elements and Systems	Operation and maintenance(9)

Note that this mappings splits the general project stage "Construction" between the Electrical stages "Install" and "Test and Commission".

Role Overview

The primary roles shown in the process model diagram (as "swimlanes") are defined as:

Electrical Design
Electrical Construction
Facilities Management (in this case, concerned with the electrical engineering aspects of facilities management)

Exchange Requirements

The following Exchange Requirements describe the information need in the activities identified in this Process Map.

Name	Description
er_exchange_electrical_model (programming)	No description available
er_exchange_electrical_model (space)	cyclical requirement
er_exchange_electrical_model (equipment)	cyclical requirement
er_exchange_electrical_model (systems)	cyclical requirement

Process Descriptions

In this section, all of the processes shown in the diagram above are described.

Plan Electrical Systems - ID:1

Type	Task
Name	Plan Electrical Systems
Documentation	The objective of the planning activity is to: - prepare general outline of requirements (program or brief) and plan future action for the specific planning task concerned, - set up client organisation for programming (or briefing) - obtain program requirements (brief) from the client organisation, - appoint organisations to the project for carrying out work as appropriate to the specific planning task concerned. In this case, the planning activity is concerned with electrical systems.

Design Electrical System - ID:2

Type	Sub-Process (collapsed)
Name	Design Electrical System
Documentation	The objective of the design activity for a project is the progressive development and refinement of the requirements expressed in the program (brief) and then to propose design solutions to those requirements including construction/installation methods, materials, technical solutions. Design solutions proposed should be validated against the provision of building codes and regulations for the specific location of the project and should be in accordance with sustainability criteria including environmental impact and service life. The cost of the design solutions proposed should be estimated and managed through the progressive development of a cost plan. In this case, the design activity is concerned with electrical systems.

Install Electrical Systems - ID:3

Type	Task
Name	Install Electrical Systems
Documentation	The objective of the construct or install activity for a project is to translate proposed design solutions into actual constructed or installed solutions for the project. This activity includes all actions necessary for: - provision of production information including specifications and schedules outlining quality and type of materials and goods required to achieve the objective and constraints applicable to project execution. - planning and scheduling work tasks, - procurement actions for materials, goods and services including tendering actions - execution of construction and installation tasks up to the point at which the work can be tested, commisioned, inspected and/or determined as complete. In this case, the activity is concerned with installation of electrical systems.

Test and Commission Electrical Systems - ID:4

Type	Task
Name	Test and Commission Electrical Systems
Documentation	The objective of the test, commisson and complete activity for a project is to: - provide for the testing of technical solutions to ensure that they will function with the required level of safety - set up technical solutions to operate according to the actual operating requirements of a project - ensure that construction or installation work has been properly executed and to remedy any defects - turn over project to the client of the clients operating agent In this case, the activity is concerned with testing, commissioning and completion of electrical systems.

Operate Elements and Systems - ID:5

Type	Task
Name	Operate Elements and Systems
Documentation	The objective of the operate elements and systems activity for a project is to perform those actions and adjustments required to ensure the normal day to day operation of a project.

Maintain Elements and Systems - ID:6

Type	Task
Name	Maintain Elements and Systems
Documentation	The objective of the maintain elements and systems activity for a project is to perform those actions and adjustments required to return elements and systems to a satisfactory state (physical or functional) for continued operation. The activity is concerned both with planned and unplanned maintenance activities and considers requirements that may be state (failure or imminent failure), time or condition based. A maintenance requirement is triggered by an event which may be caused by either: - the amount of time that has elapsed since the previous maintenance operation was carried out has reached the planned interval between maintenance operations, or - the date on which a maintenance operation is planned has arrived, or - the current operating condition of an element, group of elements or system as determined by the values of one or more parameters has reached a level at which maintenance is set to occur, or - an operational failure (either complete or partial) has occurred that requires a maintenance operation to correct. In the context of the above, maintenance is also considered to encompass replacement where an element has reached the end of its working life.

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