Electrical Consulting for MEP

[ryan.castelli]

I have a mechanical engineering degree and am about 5 years out of school. I am a licensed PE in Texas. I work for a mechanical and plumbing contractor. I have been able to see the benefit of having a PE in the construction / contracting industry since I became licensed, which has been encouraging to see my hard work pay off. My expertise is in HVAC and plumbing system design. I am interested in learning the electrical side so that I can provide full MEP engineering services. Right now, architects will use me for mechanical and plumbing but will go somewhere else for electrical stamps. Does anyone have recommendations for resources to learn the electrical side of MEP consulting? I only had a couple electrical classes in undergrad and do not feel anywhere close to ethically stamping electrical drawings. Any feedback will be appreciated!

 

[Dothracki PE]

Sorry that nobody responded to you Ryan (great name btw). I have a book that was reccomended in a list of references for the PE that would be great for this but it seems it might be discontinued and I cannot find the replacement book. If it helps, the book is "Fundamentals of Building Electrical and Illumination Systems" by Pearson for Penn State (The course is AE 311). ISBN: 978-0-558-52735-8.

These other books appear to be similar:

• https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Analysis-Building-Electrical-Engineering/dp/0442008740
  
• https://www.chegg.com/textbooks/mechanical-and-electrical-systems-in-buildings-6th-edition-9780134701189-0134701186?c_id=sem&preSelection=Buy&c_id=sem&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=tb--long_tail-googleshopping_group7&utm_content=PRODUCT_GROUP&gclid=Cj0KCQjwupD4BRD4ARIsABJMmZ-D8vi64ovug3IaOXi3dn1GrJg0VstfJLzLXQkZo9Ds60t-ql1bJwcaAoClEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Design-Guide-Commercial-Buildings/dp/0070119910/ref=pd_lpo_14_t_0/146-3642972-8181603?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0070119910&pd_rd_r=0a0f4f5d-eefb-45cf-a5cf-42983564991f&pd_rd_w=6lBFP&pd_rd_wg=K61AJ&pf_rd_p=7b36d496-f366-4631-94d3-61b87b52511b&pf_rd_r=9X6TYNJXWCMW4SB2GBZ4&psc=1&refRID=9X6TYNJXWCMW4SB2GBZ4
  

Plus I would recommend that you get a handbook version of the National Electrical Code 2020 (as Texas appears to be adopting this version in September 2020). Electrical design for buildings is required by most jurisdictions in the United States to follow the NEC.

 

[ryan.castelli]

This is a great list - exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!!!

I'm assuming you do electrical design for MEP? What's your background? Recent grad?

 

[Dothracki PE]

@ryan.castelli exactly, I work for an MEP firm with mechanical, plumbing, and fire protection engineers. I majored in Electrical Engineering and graduated 5.5 years ago. I think most of my electrical coworkers are EE majors except for one who is Architectural Engineering, I think. My managing principals who seal my drawings are mechanical engineers for the most part.