Getting Started with PlanElec: From Floor Plan to First Export

A PlanElec project connects the floor plan, electrical topology, distribution board, and exports. The most reliable start therefore follows the real project sequence: spaces first, electrical devices and connections next, and documents after that.

This guide takes you through that first cycle. For a permanent reference with more detail, open the help center.

Step 1: Create a project

After signing in, choose Create project in the project overview, enter a recognizable name, and select how you want to start:

• the guided workflow;
• a localized project template;
• an empty project.

The guided workflow follows seven areas: project, floor plan, rooms, devices, distribution board, single-line diagram, and export. You can pause it without removing project data.

Next, create at least the building and its first floor. Add the project, customer, and installer details early; PlanElec reuses them later in title blocks, the self-check report, and the working dossier.

Step 2: Draw or calibrate the floor plan

Draw exterior and interior walls with the polygon, rectangle, or line tool. If you already have a plan image, use it as a reference and calibrate it with a known measurement.

The image remains an underlay. Walls, doors, windows, stairs, rooms, and electrical points are stored as separate project data. That is what allows PlanElec to generate a readable situation plan later.

Work one floor at a time and review the geometry before placing many electrical devices. Major structural changes are easier while the plan is still relatively empty.

Step 3: Name and review the rooms

When the walls enclose an area, PlanElec detects it as a room. Give every room a clear name, such as Kitchen, Utility room, or Bedroom 1.

A good room structure supports several later steps:

• automatic socket and lighting proposals;
• grouping standard devices during circuit assignment;
• viewing material by room;
• placing symbols on the situation plan.

Review outdoor areas and special zones too. A room without a correct boundary or name makes the later review harder.

Step 4: Place the electrical devices

Open the symbol palette and place sockets, switches, lighting points, fixed connections, and special appliances in their real locations. Place the distribution board and any connection or junction boxes as well.

PlanElec includes helpers for automatic sockets, lighting, standard equipment, and spotlight grids. Use them as proposals: review every position and adapt quantities or patterns to the real design.

Link switches to their lighting points. An automatic switch chain can connect unassigned switches and lights in the same room, but you decide whether the proposed control logic is correct.

Also note the distinction between location and electrical structure. A floor-plan symbol must be linked to a compatible topology node. The unconnected-components list helps you find missing links.

Step 5: Propose circuits, cables, and the board layout

Once the devices are recorded, automatic circuit assignment can create a preview. The current logic groups standard devices, creates separate breakers for several special appliances, uses 30 mA groups where applicable, and can distribute loads across phases or multiple boards.

Apply the proposal only after reviewing the groups, protection devices, and existing manual decisions.

Cable segments can then be generated from the topology. The automatic router searches for routes along the walls on a floor. Review the cable type, cross-section, route, and length; a manual length can override the calculation.

Finally, open the distribution board editor. Auto-fill arranges the existing main switch, RCDs, and MCBs on DIN rails and reserves spare capacity by default. This is not the same as circuit assignment: the electrical structure is created first, and its modules are positioned physically after that.

Read Using automatic planning for the detailed workflow.

Step 6: Review the diagram, self-check, and exports

The single-line diagram is generated from the electrical topology. Review every protection device, connection, cable specification, circuit name, and symbol. Resolve unconnected components and relevant validation findings.

The AREI/RGIE self-check covers a documented subset of rules that can be evaluated from project data. It is advisory: a clean run is not a certificate of conformity and does not replace an electrician's review or the official inspection.

The export workspace currently brings together:

• the single-line diagram as a PDF;
• the situation plan as a PDF;
• the advisory self-check report;
• circuit, cable, and material lists in the pilot workflow;
• a selected working dossier with cover, index, and page numbering.

The distribution board PDF is only shown when its feature flag is enabled. The detailed material list is manufacturer-neutral and contains no prices; it is not yet approved for ordering.

Read Exporting documents for the current status and document-by-document checklist.

A dependable first project cycle

Keep the first project deliberately small and real: one floor with a board, two socket circuits, lighting and one fixed appliance is enough. This makes the three kinds of information visible. A floor-plan symbol answers where an item is. Its circuit, protective device and cable answer how it is supplied. The export joins those views, but cannot invent missing measurements.

Inventory before drawing

Record the visible connection type and voltage, boards, floors, rooms and electrical points. Do not open sealed equipment and do not infer the network solely from a conductor count. For an existing installation, photographs of labels and a careful survey by a qualified person are safer than assumptions. Keep unknown cable or protection data explicitly open instead of entering a plausible-looking value.

Review devices and circuits separately

Place the board and real devices first. Link switches to the lights they actually control, then assign consumers to circuits. Review every planning proposal before accepting it. PlanElec provides a guided editor and suggestions, not automatic professional approval. Cable route, installation method, grouping, ambient conditions, voltage drop, fault current and manufacturer restrictions may sit outside the data captured by the project.

Keep three views aligned

Use the same circuit identifiers in the board, single-line diagram and situation plan. After moving a device, splitting a circuit or changing protection, inspect all three views. A useful test is whether another person can start from a position-plan symbol, follow its identifier to the correct circuit and return to the physical board. If not, the project is not ready to be treated as documentation.

Treat export as a review stage

Generate previews first. Inspect page breaks, clipped labels, legend, installation address, responsible person, document revision and date. Reopen the PDFs and compare them with the current project. Single-line and situation-plan PDF export are available in the normal workflow. The detailed material list and working dossier are pilot capabilities with visible coverage boundaries; they are not a purchase approval or official inspection report.

The AREI/RGIE self-check is advisory. A result without reported errors only means that supported rules decidable from the entered data found no issue. Measurements, product instructions, site conditions and unmodelled provisions remain outside that conclusion. Have the design, installed work and dossier reviewed by a qualified electrician before commissioning and official inspection.

When the views disagree

• A device is absent from the diagram: inspect its electrical assignment, not only its position.
• A circuit has no position-plan items: look for unplaced or incorrectly referenced devices.
• A protection rating looks doubtful: resolve conductor data and professional design before overriding it.
• An export shows stale information: compare metadata, current revision and the latest saved state.
• The self-check is incomplete: fill known gaps; never read incomplete as passed.

Saving, alternatives and collaboration

Give the project and floors stable names. Before testing a major automatic proposal or structural edit, confirm the saved state and create a comparison export where useful. A design alternative is not an as-built installation. Mark which option is proposed, rejected or installed.

When several people contribute, agree who owns the floor plan, electrical assignment, board and final review. Do not quietly rename shared circuit references. A short change note with date, affected area and author avoids exporting a new spatial revision with an old electrical revision.

Worked first room

Use a kitchen as an exercise. Draw and name the room, then place general sockets, lighting and the fixed equipment actually intended. Link switches to their lights and keep high-load appliances separate where professional design calls for it. Do not infer cable and breaker values from an appliance name. Enter confirmed data and leave unknown routes or lengths open.

Now compare position references, every consumer path in the single-line diagram and board population. Consider whether exterior areas or additional sources affect the scope. Export both plans and trace three devices in both directions. Only after that chain is coherent should you extend the method to the next room.

Data handling and a real finish line

Do not put real third-party customer data into a practice project. A real dossier legitimately needs installation and responsible-party information, but it should stay inside the authorised project and distribution circle. Before sending a file, check for internal notes, obsolete alternatives and incomplete values.

The first project is not finished because a PDF exists. It is finished when spatial points match the building, assignments are traceable, the board and drawings use the same references, missing data remain visible, and a qualified person has reviewed relevant decisions. The inspection assesses installed work, not how quickly software produced pages.

Further guides and official source

• Create a single-line diagram step by step
• Draw a situation plan
• Plan a distribution board
• FPS Economy: official RGIE/AREI books, Book 1 V06

A useful first finish line

Treat the project as ready for an initial review when the rooms and symbols are correctly placed, all relevant electrical points are linked, automatic proposals have been checked manually, and the exported documents have been reviewed page by page outside the editor.

PlanElec keeps those steps in one model. Technical responsibility remains with the relevant professional, and only a recognized inspection body performs the official inspection.