DESIGN of ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS

(CITY & GUILDS 2391-20 - PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS C&G 2400)

COURSE 350: 4 DAYS + examinations + project

Whenever electrical systems are installed, the correct design of the installation will be paramount for ensuring the safety of personnel and the ongoing functionality of the installation itself. Even when fairly straight-forward installations are carried out, there is always a level of design work required - for instance in a small domestic installation it may be necessary to calculate the size of cable feeding a garage which is a long distance from the house. In larger commercial installations the ‘standard circuits’ often employed in small installations are no longer applicable, and each circuit would need design calculations to be performed. This course provides participants with all the necessary skills and knowledge to design electrical installations. Candidates on the electrical installation design course learn how to design installations using flowcharts as an aid to clarifying the various issues (design current, short circuits, overloads, fault currents etc) that they need to consider

PARTICIPANTS

The course is intended for candidates who have already attended the 17th Edition / C&G 2382 (Course 310 or 300) and the Inspection & Testing / C&G 2391-10 (Course 340). The course builds on the knowledge and skills that candidates have gained from these courses.

COURSE PRESENTATION

Instructor-led practical examples of how electrical installations should be designed are given. The course consists of several design exercises for the candidates to carry out. A range of electrical installations from small domestic circuits to more complex commercial and industrial examples are used. Comprehensive course notes are provided.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

On completion of the course, participants will be able to

design electrical installations, performing all necessary calculations
verify that a design complies with the Regulations
conduct an initial verification of a new electrical installation
conduct an initial inspection of an electrical installation
design, verify and inspect electrical installations in compliance with current safety legislation and BS7671.

Candidates are required to complete a 20-hour design project which involves the assessment of general characteristics, selection and erection and verification of an electrical installation.

Successful completion of the course leads to the award of City & Guilds 2391-20 Level 3 Certificate in Design, Erection and Verification of Electrical Installations.
Contact us for more information on the design of electrical installations (C&G 2391-20) training courses

What do candidates on the Electrical Installation Design course actually do?

The Electrical Installations design course (2391-20) is the pinnacle of the series of City & Guilds qualifications and is preceded by the courses on the wiring regulations (2382) and the inspection and testing (2391-10) qualification. See the drawing in the news page which depicts the progression through these qualifications.

The course begins by guiding the candidates through a series of searching questions with answers provided via a combination of syndicated exercises and individual efforts. This helps to build the candidates' skills and knowledge of the design process, taking each step of the design one stage at a time.

Candidates are provided with course notes which contain useful reference material, help on various topics and suggestions for answering questions in the written examination.

This is page 10 of the course notes for the electrical installation design course, listing some of the equations that the candidates need to understand and use This is page 11 of the course notes for the electrical installation design course, describing how electrical equipment should be selected and erected This is page 12 of the course notes for the electrical installation design course, providing advice on how questions should be answered in the written examination

We also issue helpful design reference documents which list all the important stages in the design of an electrical installation. This again helps to clarify the process by which an electrical installation design should be performed.

This is page 1 of the design reference sheet for the electrical installation design course, depicting some of the equations that the candidates need to understand and use This is page 2 of the design reference sheet for the electrical installation design course, depicting some of the equations that the candidates need to understand and use

The written examination (which is usually scheduled in the week subsequent to the design course, to allow candidates time to 'brush up' for the exam) is a 3 hour, open book examination. The following gives some idea of the level of complexity of the questions posed in the examination.

The City & Guilds electrical design exam paper Example of a candidate's answers to the City and Guilds exam paper

Candidates on the electrical installations design course also need to complete a design project. This is usually started off on the course itself, but it also requires the candidates to spend time (20 hours is suggested) to complete it in their own time. Typically the project requires them to design the complete electrical installation of a commercial building, specifying all the cabling, switchgear, cable runs etc required.

This is an example of the design project for the electrical installation design course

Candidate's project submissions vary in length and detail but the following are example of submissions that we have received, showing tables created to list the circuit specifications, the distribution board arrangements and the lighting circuits designed by the candidate.

This is an example of a candidate's submission for the design project on the electrical installation design course, listing the circuit specifications for the design

Candidates also have to complete the electrical installation certificates, inspection schedule and test results schedule for their design, using the appropriate IET forms.