Main Switchboard Room Requirements

Each switchroom is unique and needs to be considered in relation to the specific equipment which will be installed.

Main switchboard room requirements.

An electrical room is a room or space in a building dedicated to electrical equipment. Limit values for humidity and air quality e g. Stand alone packages. In some projects switchboard and panelboard installation may be taking on a new twist with distributed generation applications such as small wind and solar installations.

There are three types of general interior electrical spaces that factor into new building design. Dust content may also be set. Openings or doorways should be at least 0 9 m wide by 2 2 m high to allow access to the switchboard room or enclosure where necessary. Where a clear space of at least 3 m is provided in front of the switchboard and its equipment including its doors only one emergency exit path needs to be provided.

Space requirements for electrical rooms remote switchgear. Switchgear placed in another service area near the genset room opens floor space and helps keep operators out of high decibel areas when gensets are in operation and protects delicate electronics from the heat and vibration associated with these machines. Therefore even if the switchboard is constructed using lift off type doors the switch room walls must be as a minimum 1 metre from all faces of the switchboard to comply with this requirement. Main lv switchrooms will typically contain free standing switchboards and motor control centres mcc along with auxiliary equipment required for the room to function bus ducts cable containment distribution boards lighting small power air conditioning equipment fire fighting etc.

Electrical equipment may be for power distribution equipment or for communications equipment. As an illustration the diagram below shows simple room layout consisting of a 22 kv switchboard some dc and scada panels click for a larger image. Switchboard ifs that requires access from the front only. The most important is not to exceed the permissible maximum temperature.

Large buildings may have a main electrical room and subsidiary electrical rooms. Integrated facilities switchboard ifs. Main equipment rooms distribution pathways and local branch equipment rooms. Design criteria for room ventilation.

Together with the actual equipment sizes this defines the overall minimum dimensional requirements of the room. This ifs assembly can incorporate normal main switchboard structures along with structures that incorporate multiple panel boards per structure usually two as well as dry type transform ers. In order to design a good ventilation of switchgear and transformer rooms the air in the room must meet various requirements.