Lecture Notes 5 Building Services

UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

BUILDING SERVICES
CIVE 3218(5)
CIVE 2242D

LECTURE NOTES 5

ELECTRICAL SUPPLY AND INSTALLATIONS

Naresh Sewdin

2 September 2013

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Lecture Notes 5 Building Services

Scope

The scope of this section is to provide you with the basic principles for designing
electrical distribution systems for buildings. It is applicable for low voltage services
inside dwellings, commercial, institutional and industrial buildings.

1. Introduction

Electrical supply is essential in all buildings since no electrical equipment like light
fittings, power sockets, motors, lifts, pumps, air conditioning equipment and other
electrical equipment will function without electricity by ensuring also properly sized
protective devices and cables. The design of electrical services is governed by reference
to the British Standards BS 7671 and CIBSE Guide K. It is also essential to comply with
Local Authorities requirements (e.g. CEB Act).

2. Electricity supply and distribution

3.1 Basis of three phase generation

In 1981, Michael Faraday succeeded in producing electricity by plunging a bar magnet

into a coil of wire. Today, electricity is produced using coils of wire that are cut by a
magnetic field as the magnet rotates. These coils of wire (or stator windings) have an
angular spacing of 120o and the voltages produced are out of phase by this angle for
every revolution of the magnets. This thus generates a three-phase supply.

The majority of equipment that require power is a building for example light fittings or
sockets require only single 230V supply. However, air conditioning units, fans, pumps,
lifts and other motor equipment used in buildings use three-phase power which can be
considered as provide three separate 230 volts supplies (each known as single phase).

A three phase supply provides 73% more power than a single phase supply for the
addition of a wire. With a three phase supply, the voltage between two line or phase
cables is 1.73 times that between the neutral and any one of the line cables (i.e. 230 V x
1.73 = 400 V).

Figure 5.1

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Lecture Notes 5 Building Services

Figure 5.2

3.2 Electrical circuit

A water pump creates a water pressure. The pipework offers a frictional resistance to the
water flow. The larger the pipe, the lower the resistance and hence the greater the flow
from the same pressure. Also, if the pump pressure is increased, the greater is the flow
for a given pipe size. This means that the flow is dependent upon the pressure and the
pipe resistance.

For an electrical circuit, the pump is replaced by an electric generator creating an

electrical pressure, the pipe is replaced by an electrical conductor and the water flow by a
flow of electric current. In this circuit, the current flow is dependent upon the electrical
pressure (voltage) and the circuit resistance in exactly the same manner as the water
circuit. An important factor in distribution is the fact that the conductor resistance causes
a voltage drop.

3.3 Electrical supply

The Central Electricity Board produces around 40% of the country's total power
requirements from its 4 thermal power stations and 8 hydroelectric plants; the remaining
60% being purchased from Independent Power Producers. Currently, it is the sole
organisation responsible for the transmission, distribution and supply of electricity to the
population.

At present, the transmission voltage of the CEB system, which interconnects the major
load centres and generating stations, is 66 kV. The CEB has recently upgraded its
transmission system to 132 kV through the construction of a 37 km long double circuit
132 kV line. The distribution voltages in Mauritius are 22 kV, 6,6 kV and 400 volts. The
22 kV system provides the bulk power distribution and forms multiple loops around
various load centres.

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Lecture Notes 5 Building Services

The following voltage definitions are used in the British Standards related to equipment
in building services applications:
 Low voltage – less than 1 kV between conductors or 600V between conductors
and earth
 High voltage – greater than low voltage.

A sub-station is required for the conversion, transformation and control of electrical

power. The requirements for the sub-station depend upon the number and size of
transformers and switchgear.

A transformer is basically two electric windings, magnetically interlinked by an iron

core. An alternative electromotive force applied to one of the windings produces an
electromagnetic induction corresponding to an electromotive force in the other winding.
If the number of turns in the secondary coil is reduced, the voltage is also reduced and
the current increases.

Figure 5.3

There are basically two types of transformers in common use today – one in which the
core and windings are enclosed in liquid filled tank which provides cooling and
insulation and the other one where the core and windings are cooled directly by air. Oil
immersed transformers are commonly designed with ratings from 16 kVA to 1000 kV,
but ratings up to 2500 kVA are not uncommon.

The transformer is inherently an efficient device and except at low loads the efficiency
will lie from 96% to 98.5%. However losses comprise iron and copper losses. Iron losses
are due to the magnetising effects within the steel core and from currents induced within
the steel whereas copper losses are due to the resistance of the primary and secondary
windings.

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3.4 Earthing systems

Supply systems require a safety electrical earthing facility. The systems are classified in
accordance with a letter coding:

First letter – type of earthing:

T – at least one point of the supply is directly earthed.
I – the supply is not directly earthed but connected to earth through a current limiting
impedance.

Second letter – installation earthing arrangement:

T – all exposed conductive metalwork is directly earthed.
N – all exposed conductive metalwork is connected to an earth provided by the supply
company.

Third and fourth letters – earth conductor arrangement:

S – earth and neutral conductors separate.
C – earth and neutral conductors combined.

Hence, common supply and earthing arrangements are:

 TT system
Most used in areas where the supply is overhead like in Mauritius. An earth
terminal and electrode is provide on side by the client. As an extra safety
measure, a residual current device RCD known as trip switch is located between
the meter and the consumer unit.

Figure 5.4

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Lecture Notes 5 Building Services

 TN-S system
This is widely used in the UK with the electricity supply company providing an
earth terminal with intake cable. It connects back to the star point at the area
transformer where it is effective earthed.

Figure 5.5

 TN-C-S system
This is as the TN-S system but a common conductor is used for neutral and earth
supply. The earth is therefore TN-C but with a separated neutral and earth in the
consumer installation where it becomes TN-C-S. The advantage is that a fault to
earth is also a fault to neutral which creates a high fault current. This will operate
the overload protection (fuse or circuit breaker) rapidly.

Figure 5.6

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Lecture Notes 5 Building Services

Current practices include burying a metal plate or a metal tape mesh or driving a metal
electrode into the ground. Whatever earth method used, a low resistance to an electrical
fault is essential. The IEE Wiring Regulations recommend that the earth electrode
resistance should not exceed 200 ohms.

3. Rules and regulations

A common complaint among building services engineers is the lack of space afforded by
the architect for the sitting of the plant and equipment. Regulation 131-12-01 from BS
7671 requires adequate means of access and working space to be provided for the
installation, replacement, operations, inspection, testing and maintenance of every piece
of electrical equipment.

Regulation 110-04-01 begins making clear the Wiring Regulations are non-statutory. But
however, compliance to CEB Act and MS 63 is mandatory.

BS 7671 complies with the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002
and also the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974. IEE Regulations (BS 7671) are
intended to provide for the safety of persons, livestock and property against dangers and
damage which may arise in the reasonable use of electrical installation in line with
regulation 130-01-01.

4. Safety and protective devices

5.1 Overcurrent protection

An overcurrent can be either an overload current or a fault current. When selecting the
size and type of electrical equipment which include cables, account has to be taken of the
present electrical load and any foreseeable future loads that may be connected.

An overload current is defined as an overcurrent occurring in a circuit that is electrically

sound. It may arise due to excessive appliance connected to the system or a faulty
appliance.

Fault current can arise either from a short circuit or earth faults:
 Short circuit current is an overcurrent resulting from a fault of negligible
impedance between live conductors having a potential difference under normal
operating conditions. The live conductor includes the neutral as well.
 Earth fault current is a fault current which flows to earth and arises when a fault
condition occurs between the live conductor and earthed metalwork.

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Lecture Notes 5 Building Services

Regulations 130-04 and 130-05 call for the protection of electrical equipment from
excess current so that protective devices must break any overcurrent flowing in a circuit
before such a current causes a temperature rise detrimental to the conductors or
insulation or terminations or in contact with the conductors.

5.2 Protective devices

Any protective device be it a fuse or circuit breaker will be rated in terms of its nominal
current rating which is the current that it will carry indefinitely at its breaking capacity.
The breaking capacity it the ability of a circuit protective device to interrupt the flow of
current in a short circuit situation without causing damage to itself or its housing.

 BS 88 HBC Fuses
The rewirable fuse consists of a thin wire held between the terminals of a
porcelain holder and has only limited breaking capacity. If a very large current
flows, the fuse wire melts very rapidly and a large amount of energy is suddenly
released. The energy can be large enough to cause serious damage to the fuse
carrier. This then led to the development of the cartridge fuse HBC (high
breaking capacity) fuse which consists of a tubular body from high grade ceramic
designed to withstand the mechanical and thermal forces of heavy current
interruption.

 Circuit breakers
An alternative to a wire which melts when overloaded is a circuit breaker.
These are classified according to the insulation material used to extinguish the arc
formed when the contacts separate. Of the class of air-break circuit breakers,
three main subdivisions exist which are:
 Miniature circuit breakers (mcb’s)
 Moulded case circuit breakers (mccb’s)
 Air circuit breakers (ACB’s)

The standard BS EN 60898 defines the breaking capacity and requires that the
MCBs be marked with the rating (in kA) in a rectangle.

Circuit breakers provide for both overload protection (overload current deflects
bi-metal strip in response to the heating effect of the current flow which de-
latches the circuit breaker) and short circuit protection (higher fault current uses
mechanism to operate in the magnetic trip to have a very short breaking time
around 5-6 miliseconds)

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Protective Description Current

device rating, A
Mcb Protection for overload and short 6 to 200
circuit
Mccb mcb with a combination of switch and 10 to 1600
overcurrent protective device in
insulated case
Acb not different from mccb except is 800 to 6300
contained in metal housing rather than
moulded case
Table 5.1

Type Magnetic trip Type applications

current range
B 3 to 5 times In Domestic, commercial (Little or no
inductive switching surges)
C 5 to 10 times In General industrial (Inductive circuits,
e.g. small motors)
D 10 to 20 times In Special applications (High inductive
circuits e.g. large motors, welding
machine)
Table 5.2

5. Electrical cable sizing

6.1 Factors affecting choice of wiring system

The choice of wiring system is affected by many factors such as the type of building,
temperature, safety, cost, etc. Because of the complexity and hazards involved in the
installation of cables, there are quite a number of different types of cables and wiring
system in use. The factors concerned are as follows:
1) Type of building construction – to decide the routing, fixing and terminations.
2) Flexibility of the system – change of location of equipment such as in machine
shops and temporary buildings
3) Installation conditions – protection against mechanical damage requirements and
working heights
4) Ambient temperatures – cable to be able to withstand that temperature in the
environment concerned.
5) Appearance of finished installation – aesthetics (can it be run surface or
concealed)
6) Durability – life of installation
7) Economics – cost of installation and money available
8) Safety aspect – what type of building it is (e.g. school, office or hospital)

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6.2 Electrical calculations for a electrical distribution for a building

1) Objective of calculations
The objective of the calculations is to design the Low voltage power distribution
installation from the transformer room to final distribution points. All calculations
were based on BS 7671 and CIBSE Guide K

2) Calculation procedure

The calculation procedures are as follows:

a) Determination of load on each Distribution board
b) Selection of transformer size
c) Determination of Correction coefficient factors
d) Selection of cable size.
e) Selection of switchgear (protective device).

3) Assumptions

The following assumptions were made:

 Ambient temperature: 350C
Correction factor for ambient temperature is determined from Table 4C1
 Number of bunched circuits for all cables:1
Number of layers (All):1
Correction factor for grouping of circuits is determined from Table 4B1
 Installation method: cable tray

4) Load list

A load list containing the estimation of the total connected and diversified load is
prepared based on projected electrical equipment for the area concerned. The floor
area is determined from architectural floor plans. For an office building, the following
electrical loads can be assumed:

Type of load Power W/m2 Diversity

Lighting 10-14 1
Sockets 25-40 0.8
Air conditioning units 55-70 0.8
Table 5.3

5) Selection of transformer size

Based on the findings from the load list, the size of the transformer or generator can
be determined which is normally the total diversified electrical load from all electrical
accessories or equipment.

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Lecture Notes 5 Building Services

6) Determination of Correction coefficient factors

The correction coefficient, Ca for ambient temperature is given by:

1
/2
Ca = Maximum continuous operating temperature – Ambient temperature
Normal allowable temperature rise

For PVC cable, the maximum continuous operating temperature is 70oC, so the rise in
temperature will be (70 – 30) = 40oC where the ambient temperature as per
manufacturer specifications is rated at 30oC.

Hence, Ca = [(70 – Ambient temperature)/40]1/2

Table 4C1 from BS7671 can be referred to get the correction factors for ambient
temperature.

The correction coefficient, Cg for grouping is determined from Table 4B1 in BS 7671
which is dependent on the method of installation and the number of circuits or
multicore cables.

The correction coefficient, Ci for thermal insulation is determined from Table 52A in
BS 7671 which is dependent on the length in insulation and derating factor.

7) Selection of cable size and switchgear (protective device)

Start

Assessment of general characteristics, (Type and

disposition of installation circuits)

Determination of design current (Ib) of the

circuit, taking into account diversity where
appropriate. (Regulation 311‐01‐01)

Selection of the type and nominal current rating

(In) of the associated overcurrent protective 2
device.

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Lecture Notes 5 Building Services

1 2

Is Ib ≤ In ? No

Yes
Determine ambient temperature (ta) and hence
the correction factor for ambient temperature (Ca)
– [Table 4C1 or 4C2 from IEE regulations]

Determine correction factor for grouping of cables

(Cg) – [Table 4B from IEE regulations]

Determine correction factor for cables surrounded

by thermally insulating material (Ci) – [Table 52A
from IEE regulations]

Determine type of protection of overcurrent

protective device:
(i) overload protection only, or
(ii) short circuit protection only, or
(iii) overload and short circuit protection

Determination of maximum conductor current

rating (It) that will produce safe maximum
operating temperature.

Selection of suitable conductor size from relevant

4
tables of IEE regulations.

Estimate the route length of each cable/circuit (L)

and determine the supply voltage (Vs)

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Lecture Notes 5 Building Services

3 4

Calculation of maximum voltage drop (Vd) in volts

that can be tolerated using equation:

Voltage drop, Vd = IbRcosθ + IbXsinθ

Is Vd ≤ 4% Vs ? No

Yes
Evaluation of shock risk by calculating the earth
fault loop impedance (Zs)

Is Zs ≤ recommended No
Zs ?

Yes
Evaluation of thermal constraints by :
1. Calculating the prospective short‐circuit
current (If)

Evaluation of thermal constraints by :

2. Calculating the circuit protective
conductor (CPC) cross sectional area (S)
using equation [I2t = k2S2] where k value is
determined from IEE regulations 54B to
54F.

Selection of suitable CPC conductor size from

relevant tables of IEE regulations by ensuring that
it is greater or equal to the calculated CPC (S).

End

Figure 5.7

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Lecture Notes 5 Building Services

6. Types of cables

Any cabling system consists of three essential components:

1) The metallic conductor which provides the electrical conducting path (a conductor
with its insulation but without mechanical protection in known as a ‘core’ of the
cable).
2) The insulation sometimes called the ‘dielectric’ which prevents direct and
dangerous contact between the energised conductors and other objects.
3) The external protection, preventing ingress of moisture, mechanical damage,
chemical or electrochemical attack, fire or any other influences which are harmful
to the cable itself.

7.1 Conductors

Materials used for conductors should have low resistivity, good durability, good handling
properties and have reasonable costs.

The material with lowest resistivity is silver (1.63µΩ-cm) but that most commonly used
is copper (1.75µΩ-cm) by virtue of its cost and general suitability.

Tinned copper and plain copper conductors can operate successfully at temperatures up
to 150oC. Above this temperature, it is advisable to have silver-plated or nickel-plated
copper conductors.

Aluminium (resistivity 2.83µΩ-cm) is used in special situations because of its low cost
and lightness. It is not suitable for normal or general applications due to difficulties in
joining. It is not recommended in smaller conductor sizes (generally available below 16
mm2)

7.2 Insulators

Materials used for insulators should have high resistivity, good durability, adequate
strength, satisfactory flexibility and have reasonable costs.

The safe working voltage depends upon the electrical characteristics of the insulation and
on its thickness and its life depends upon maximum operating temperature. The principle
types of insulation are tabulated as follows:

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Lecture Notes 5 Building Services

Item Insulator material Description and Features

1 Air Depends on degree of atmospheric pollution and
humidity. Costs of support are considerable.
Disadvantage is that it must be ensured that the
conductors are totally enclosed or place out of reach of
fire or shock.
2 Polyvinyl Chloride Suitable for continuous operation at 70oC. Life of PVC
(PVC) is considerably in excess of 30 years and resistant to
chemicals, oils grease and to certain extent to sunlight.
PVC has good strength and resistance to abrasion. It
becomes brittle at lower temperatures.
3 Heat Resisting PVC Suitable for continuous operation at 85oC. Suitable for
operation for temperatures up to 105oC for periods not
exceeding 5 years. Becomes soft and deformed at high
temperature, e.g. at fault conditions.
4 Crosslinked Excellent electrical properties with working
Polyethylene (XLPE) temperature increased up to 90oC. Offers higher
current capacity than the equivalent core-size in PVC.
Compared to PVC, XLPE also minimises the amount
of smoke and corrosive gas production in event of fire.
5 Paper A strong durable insulation - now largely replaced
with PVC or XLPE which are cleaner – paper
insulated cables use oil impregnated paper which is
enclosed in a lead or lead alloy sheath to prevent
leaching. Cable jointing is an expensive process due to
the need to prevent moisture penetration.
6 Ethylene Propylene Insulation compound based on EPR can be used for
Rubber (EPR) continuous operation at 90oC. They are used as
insulation for cables intended for hot situations, e.g.
boiler rooms and heated ceilings.
7 Silicone Rubber Silicon rubber is another synthetic rubber with good
insulation properties and it can be operated
continuously at a temperature up to 150oC. It is more
expensive than EPR and is therefore suitable only
suitable in situations where its high temperature
properties are required such as final connections to
tungsten or tungsten halogen lampholders.
8 Fluorocarbon Substantially more expensive than organic materials
Polymers but have excellent resistance to oils, solvents and
practically all chemical reagents. Operating range is
-75oC to 260oC. These operating temperatures are
based upon relatively short life associated with
aerospace. A thin coating of tin on each wire serves as
barrier to prevent chemical interaction between
constituents of the insulation and copper.
9 Mineral Insulation Mineral insulation copper sheathed (MICS) can
withstand considerable temperatures in fires.
Maximum ambient temperature range is 100-145oC.
Table 5.4

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7.3 Protective enclosures

1) Conduit

The most usual form of installation in all size of buildings. Combines reasonable cost,
durability and adaptability with ease of change since cables can be withdrawn from
the conduits and new ones reinstalled if required.

With this form of protection, the cables are drawn into protective tubes or conduits of
steel or PVC which are secured to surfaces at intervals. The size of the conduit is
determined by the number of cables to be drawn into it. Both metal and plastic (PVC)
conduits are available in light gauge and heavy gauge format.

The principle methods of concealment are as follows:

a) Cast within the middle third of concrete slab between the steel re-inforcement so
that the conduit is neither at the top of slab (compression) or bottom of slab
(tension).
b) In the floor finish, normally in the screed where low depth slabs are provided.
Where the floor slab is deep enough, small conduits can be installed directly onto
the concrete slab and covered with screed.
c) Built within hollow stud-partitions especially for concealed installations for
lighting and socket system. Modern lightweight internal partitions are often built
from timber studding (framework) and plasterboard in which conduits are readily
concealed.
d) Behind false ceilings

2) Trunking

Trunking (a ductwork system with a removable lid) provides adaptability of circuitry

and is used wherever a large number of cables have to be run where subsequent ease
of access would be an advantage.

Trunking may be both metal or plastic for smaller sizes of trunking. A typical use for
plastic trunking might be as skirting trunking around edges of a room where it
combines the function of skirting and a trunking.

Typical trunking system can be fitted with one or two dividing trays and used as
follows:
 2 compartment:
Top: Extra low voltage circuits
Bottom: Heating, lighting and small power circuits

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 3 compartment:
Top: Public telephone
Middle: Heating, lighting and small power circuits
Bottom: Internal telephone, extra low voltage circuits

Some type of circuits need to be kept apart from others, either to ensure that extra-low
voltage systems cannot have dangerous voltages impressed on them and/or to ensure
that services which must operate under emergency conditions will remain unaffected
for as long as possible in event of fire.

3) Floor ducts

Floor ducts are wide shallow sections, laid on the concrete foundation slab and
brought to the necessary number of inspection boxes. Conduits are fitted vertically
into the ducts at position where the supplies are required for equipment and
accessories which hare generally away from the perimeter wall and partitions.

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