Distribution board designer

In the board designer of Avenler you allocate the main switch, the RCDs and the MCBs to the enclosure's module positions arranged in rows, and assign the circuits to the devices. The program checks the board, calculates the single-line diagram from it and also provides indicative sizing.

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What can the distribution board designer do?

The distribution board is the electrical heart of a flat or building: it houses the main switch, the residual current device (RCD) and the MCBs of the circuits. The board designer of Avenler shows the enclosure as module positions arranged in rows, with fill bars, and works from the same circuit list you set up on the floor plan. That way the board contents, the circuit protection and the drawing cannot drift apart.

How a board is built up

• Board type: single-phase consumer unit, three-phase consumer unit, meter/service cabinet or sub-distribution board (fed from a device of the parent board). A project can have at most 20 distribution boards.
• Enclosure: you choose it from a catalogue item and enter its size: 1–6 rows, 6–36 modules per row.
• Devices: in the Add device palette you search by code or text. It only lists catalogue items that have module data (kind, width, number of poles, rated current, tripping characteristic, RCD sensitivity and type), so only devices whose size the program knows can go into the enclosure. Devices can be moved by dragging or with the arrow keys.
• Connections: you specify which RCD or main switch the device sits behind, which circuit(s) it feeds and, on a three-phase board, which phase it goes on.
• Suggest from circuits: the program offers an allocation with a preview, which you can accept or discard.
• Link to the drawing: the board can be linked to the distribution board symbol on the floor plan, and the list of circuits connected to it can be specified; the link is visible on both sides.

In a meter cabinet, the meter and the main fuses have to be added manually.

Checking the board

The designer's Checks panel runs rules. Basic rules include a missing RCD, missing or oversized protection and an overloaded circuit; physical rules cover a device that does not fit in the enclosure, has no module data or has not been placed; a structural rule flags differences from the drawing link. The practical rules (for example RCD loading, putting lighting circuits behind one RCD, phase balancing, spare ways, the main switch) can be switched on and off, and their severity and threshold can be adjusted.

Single-line diagram, sizing and schedules

From the board and the circuit list the program calculates a single-line diagram, which can be printed on A4 or A3 sheets with a title block; see the single-line diagram page for details.

The Sizing panel shows for each circuit the power (entered or suggested from the devices), the design current, the rated current of the protection, the current-carrying capacity of the cable, the length and the voltage drop including the drop on the supply; values over the limit are shown in red. For each board it totals the phase loads and the main switch size. The program also takes grouping and ambient temperature into account, and checks whether the MCB will reliably trip based on the fault loop impedance (the supply impedance value can be adjusted).

The enclosures and devices of the boards also go into the bill of quantities and the quotation, broken down by board; and the circuit schedule can be printed “for the board door” (protection, RCD, phase, rooms).

What it cannot do, and what to watch out for

Sizing, checks and practical rules are indicative only: the current-carrying capacity tables and limit values are awaiting approval by an electrical designer, and the calculation does not replace the designer's responsible sizing. Only devices with module data can be placed in the enclosure, so it is worth reviewing the catalogue's module data before first use. The single-line diagram cannot be edited by hand; you change the board data instead.

Design a distribution board