NAVIGATING ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS IN BUILDING PROJECTS IN 5 STEPS
What makes a building habitable for you? Is it just the sturdy walls, beautiful paintings, or the well-planned electrical installations? While the bricks and architectural designs of the building make it visually appealing, it’s the hidden electrical fixtures that truly bring a building project to life making it safe and habitable.
Electrical installations give you a luxury that makes you feel at home. It doesn’t matter if your building project is for residential or work purposes; you certainly need to have these set-ups if you must enjoy electricity in the building.
So, if you’re thinking along these lines, then you have the best plans for your building.
Now, what does it involve? Is it just about flipping on the switch and watching everywhere light up with your amazing fixtures. Not at all!!! There are behind the scenes input that produce such amazing effect. This article will reveal the “How’s” of electrical installations.
STEP BY STEP GUIDE FOR SAFE AND EFFECTIVE ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS
1. DRAW A BLUEPRINT
I like to see this as a well-crafted plan that shows you what should be done and how it should be carried out. The electrical system is a complex web that demands meticulous attention. This makes planning a necessity that must not be shelved. A solid plan ensures every component find its rightful place. So, yes, before any single wire is added to any construction project, a solid plan must be drawn.
Who draws this plan?
The plan is best drawn by a certified electrical engineer. This is because an electrical plan involves the following
- Attention to detail
- Electrical codes and regulations to follow
- Knowledge of electrical components and systems
- A good understanding of factors such as load distribution, voltage needs, safety regulations, and future scalability
The plan helps you determine how much power your building needs so that you have enough power for your gadgets while also avoiding excessive usage that can result in a blackout. In addition to the expertise of the electrical engineer, your preferences and those of the civil engineer are considered during planning, especially when deciding where to place sockets and switches. No one wants to deal with tight corners where they have to squeeze in to plug in a device. That’s why careful planning and considerations go into ensuring everything is placed just right.
Besides planning, you might want to consider the kinds of material that should be used in your electrical installations. Will you do copper or aluminum materials? Well, it all depends on your budget. Aluminum can be budget friendly especially if you have so much wiring to do. However, copper wirings have been proven to be the best. Kagz Projects Limited will always advise you go for something durable, safe, and efficient while bearing in mind that your choice of electrical material can influence the safety, longevity and durability of the wiring of your construction project.
Before choosing a material, answer the following questions reflectively
- Do you want a sustainable flow of electricity?
- What about having something that gives you impeccable conductivity and durability?
- Do you want something resilient to corrosion?
- Do you want something that sustains mechanical stress and promotes longevity of any electrical set up?
If your answers to these questions are positive, you want to ensure that you contact the best procurement team for your electrical materials. You want to ensure the wiring of your house is carried out without hassles.
2. WIRING
What is wiring and what does it entail?
First, you should know that the wiring of your building project is like setting up a robot for its optimum functionality. You have to get those wires positioned where they should be.
So, how do you proceed?
- BUILD CONDUITS
Electrical installations will not be complete without first making conduits. At this point, you want to create a passage for your wires to run through. This passage is usually concealed within walls, ceilings, and floors to keep your space tidy and organized. It also serves to protect your wires from the environment. Without these conduits, your wires are exposed to the danger of getting damaged. And since we’re trying to get something durable, you really need to have those conduits installed. Conduits installation is necessary for your electrical installations.
- WIRE LIKE A PRO
The next thing you want to do is to carefully fit your cables through the already fixed conduits while connecting them to junction boxes. It’s necessary at this point to have them labeled and color-coded. This is ultimately for safety purposes during the wiring process. While electrical installation is important, safety is even paramount. For more information on safety in construction sites, see this link. https://kagzprojects.com.ng/tested-and-proven-safety-strategies-for-your-construction-projects/
3. EARTHING
Electricity is not something that should be toyed with, therefore, there should be a safe path for electricity to flow to the ground just in case there’s any fault in the electrical system. Earthing prevents damage to equipment, while also preventing the event of electrical shock and fire damage.
4. INSTALL
So, you’re done putting things in place. It’s time for your settings to come alive. Electrical installation process is like breathe to a molded image, it’s like the heartbeat to the entire human system.
The wiring done will not come alive except there is a switchboard that distributes power to the various circuits around your building. It houses the electrical breaker that trips off in the case of a bad electrical fault that can be destructive to your gadgets. It’s okay if you consider the switchboard as something that protects your building from collapsing. So, you should have this power house installed to help function in all the ways it has been designed to function.
The next things you’ll want to do now is to have those switches and sockets installed to control your lightings and also charge up your devices whenever you want.
At this point, you want to carefully choose the ambience you want for in your space. Do you want it warm or brightly lit? Choose your lighting fixtures and have them installed for you.
5. QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING THE ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS
It’s easy to throw caution to the wind and just spring into action if you’ve come this far. However, you need to understand that you must test all that you’ve done to ensure there are no surprises. Get a good electrical engineer to run a check on the electrical installations to certify that it is safe to flip on that switch. Do not just flip on the light switches if it has not been certified safe.
Carefully check all wires and connections to spot any visible damages or wrong connections. Confirm that the earthing system is working fine by using the earth fault loop impendence testing method.
Having gone through this rigorous, yet interesting process, you’ll agree that the electrical installations of your building project is an interesting process even though it feels daunting, demanding and challenging; a process that requires expertise. You can be sure that Kagz Projects Limited can come through for you. We can help you walk through the rigorous phase of electrical installations . Feel free to reach out to us if you have to carry out your electrical installations. We’re just a phone call away.