Fixture electrical-codes for blueprints

Part of electrical-codes is following electrical blueprints when installing electrical fixtures. Each type of fixture has a specific electric symbol that will be on the blueprints to help electricians and inspectors know where the fixtures will be located.

The two types of lighting are fluorescent and incandescent. There will eventually be LED lighting on low-voltage systems, but probably not for awhile.

The different types of mounts are wall mounts, ceiling mounts, and floor mounts.

It's these different types of lights and mounts that make so many variations and cause us all to use more specialized electric symbols.

Simple residential plans can follow a fairly simple bunch of symbols on the blueprints. More complex dwellings with security systems, low voltage safety lighting and things like that are more like commercial projects.

The more complex that electrical needs are will determine the complexity of the electrical symbols that describe each fixture. Carpenters also need to make special reinforcements in walls ceilings and floors where heavy fixtures will go.

Normally, general contractors make sure all these things are brought to the sub-contractors attention, but if a homeowner is doing his or her own contracting, they might miss a few things that the electrical plans will remind them of.

Because there are so many different types of fixtures that never existed before, there has to be more fixture symbols. It's things like track lighting, wall fans and ceiling fans, to name a few, that have made the electrical symbols list longer and longer.

Fixture electrical-codes for blueprints top of page

Back to blueprint symbols main page