New Residential Home Need a PE to Draw Up Plans

[tehparadox86]

I am planning on building a new home on an empty lot in PG County MD. If I were needing electrical plans to submit to the county, does it have to be an licensed Engineer, PE, like civil engineers? Its only a single family home and not a large office or something.

 

[Bill West]

When I had my house built the plumbing & electrical "engineering" was done by the installing tradesmen. More than know the code, they knew how the local inspector was interpreting it that year. I was available during construction and simply walked around with the electrician to establish light and outlet locations. I did have some special lighting control ideas, for those I gave him sketches and we mutually chose suitable parts. At my city permits office I have the impression that they really don't want to deal with electrical amateurs anymore. Take a look at your county's building department website.

I gave my general contractor scale sketches of the floor plan & elevations I wanted and he had them fleshed out and drafted for permit submission. The city asked for one overhanging room to have PEng approved support. As the work progressed I shopped for finishes & fixtures and gave the contractor notes.

I did not design the house in nut and bolt detail for him and I did not tell him how to build it. I did not want to build it myself either, co-workers had told me how many years that takes. From supervising contractors in my own job I also knew the difference between discussing things and telling him how to do his job.

The contractor completed the house in 9 months but I was still involved more than half of the evenings and most weekends in researching and answering his questions on style choices and in shopping for stuff. I looked in at least 7 carpet stores to get what I wanted, ditto for tile, plumbing, lights, appliances, kitchen cabinets, paint, blinds, etc. That work exists in self built homes too. At the end of the year I gave back my last 4 days' vacation to my boss because of the office time I had spent on the phone.

Good luck on the new home, Bill

 

[jraef]

The only valid answer is for you to check with the local AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction), often the county if your city isn’t big enough to have its own inspectors. In some places, licensed Electrical Contractors or Master Electricians are legally able to submit plans for residential services, in other places homeowners can submit their own, at least up to certain sizes (i.e. 200A or 400A max. service drops). But only your local AHJ can answer that for you.


" We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know." -- W. H. Auden

 

[jmbelectrical]

Check with the local AHJ. Where I live, electrical drawings for residential buildings whose service sizes are 600A or smaller are not required to be signed and sealed by an engineer.