Construction 3 : Part 3: Electrical, and Wiring Layout Systems

conductor

A wire, metal bar, or strip that offers minimal resistance to electric current. Copper is most commonly used as an electrical conductor.

current

gauge

a standard of measurement for cable sizes. Used to determine exact size or measurements.

insulator

A material that does not allow heat or electrons to move through it easily.

one-way switch

they are used to control lights, fans, or other devices from a single location. It has a simple ON and OFF marking.

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters

A residual-current device, or residual-current circuit breaker, is a safety device that quickly breaks an electrical circuit to protect equipment and to reduce the risk of serious harm from an ongoing electric shock

Power Branch Circuit

the part of the electrical system that originates at the panel board and feeds electricity to the convenience outlets and receptacles in the building where electrical appliances can be plugged-in.

transformer

A device that increases or decreases the voltage of alternating current

Panelboard

A single panel or group of panel units designed for assembly in the form of a single panel, including buses and automatic overcurrent devices, and equipped with or without switches for the control of light, heat, or power circuits; designed to be placed in a cabinet or cutout box placed in or against a wall, partition, or other support; and accessible only from the front.

Dead Front

A term define as "Without live parts exposed to a person on the operating side of the equipment."

Circuit lockout

A method used to lock out a circuit that a technician is working on to prevent someone from restoring electrical energy to the circuit.

Raceway

The system of electrical cables and outlets used to power lighting instruments on the grid. This either hangs beside the grid pipes or is mounted to the ceiling above the grid.

Amperes

the unit for measuring electrical current; the abbreviation is amp.

Ballasts

A device in fluorescent lamps that regulates the level (amps) of electrical current and voltage flowing through the fluorescent lamp tube.

Electrical Circuit

A complete path for electrical current flowing from the building power source to the equipment being powered and back to the power source.

Circuit Breaker

A safety device designed to automatically stop the flow of electricity whenever a circuit becomes overloaded, i.e. exceeds the number of amps that the wiring can accommodate

conduit

Metal or non-metallic tubing — available in either rigid or flexible varieties — used to route and protect electrical wires and communication cables

flat wiring / apartment wiring

A special flat power cable that carries the branch circuit power between the building's floor slab and the carpet. The thin conductors are separated and enclosed within an insulating assembly (usually about 3" wide and less than 1/16" thick). The wiring system is accessed through specially designed floor monuments and connectors.

floor duct

An under-floor system of wireways (covered troughs) which brings electrical wires and data cabling to floor monuments. This system provides many of the benefits of access flooring but often costs less.

plenum

refers to an air chamber in a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system or to the space between a dropped ceiling and the floor above

receptacle

This unit provides one point of access to the branch circuit with places to plug in one, two or three cords.

Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)

An electrical device that supplies separate or supplemental power to equipment in the event of a power outage.

Docking Module

A component providing work surface height access to power and data plug-ins.

AFCI Outlets

A type of outlet these are just like the GFCI receptacles but give protection against arcs. An arc refers to a unique condition when a fire incident happens because of the jumping of electricity from one wire to another.

Electrical plan

It is a type of technical drawing that delivers visual representation and describes circuits and electrical systems.