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Synopsis
Many people assume that electrical power systems are static and do not need to be
commissioned. Our experience in the field has shown otherwise. We have seen a variety of
problems ranging from design mistakes, installation errors, and equipment manufacturing
defects. These problems are expensive reminders that the commissioning of electrical systems
must be done.
This paper will discuss some of the most common design, installation, and manufacturing
problems for electrical power equipment. These are actual problems that we have found on our
projects. It will alert the reader to the most common problems found during new construction.
The reader can use some of the items listed in the paper as a checklist to use on their
projects(Table 2).
This paper will also include numerous photos of defective equipment and installations. It will
discuss the importance of electrical distribution system commissioning and why it must be
performed at every facility…both new and existing.
Robert Fuhr graduated with a B.S.E.E. from the University of Wisconsin in 1980. Before
graduating, Mr. Fuhr worked for Madison Gas and Electric in Madison, WI and Tennessee
Valley Authority in Knoxville, TN.
After graduation, he worked for the General Electric Company from 1980 to 1986 as a Field
Engineer performing commissioning and start up tests on a multitude of power distribution
equipment.
From 1986 to 1989 he worked as a Senior Facilities Engineer at the University of Washington.
While there, he re-commissioned the electrical power distribution system for the University
Hospital.
In 1986, he established Power Systems Engineering, a consulting firm that specializes in power
system studies, power quality services, and commissioning services. In addition to his
consulting services, he also teaches classes in electrical safety, power factor correction,
harmonics and filter design.
Mr. Fuhr is a Professional Engineer registered in Washington, Oregon, California, and Alaska.
Bob is involved in IEEE and the Electric League of the Pacific Northwest. He has served as an
officer for IEEE-Industrial Applications from 1988 to 1992. He was the 1991-92 chairperson of
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IAS. He was a member-at-large for the Seattle Section of IEEE for 1992-93. He is an IEEE
Senior Member.
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Electrical commissioning or acceptance testing, has been around for many years. For decades,
the electric utilities have used extensive programs and testing procedures that have reduced
construction delays and outages due to startup problems. Commercial and industrial facilities
eventually adopted these procedures and techniques.
In 1972, several testing companies formed the InterNational Electrical Testing Association
(NETA) to further promote and standardize commissioning and acceptance testing. The
organization created NETA Acceptance Testing Specifications for use on new equipment
installation and startup. They also implemented a test technician and testing company
certification program. Their specifications are widely used on projects throughout the country.
There are many codes, standards, and other requirements that mandate some electrical testing
and commissioning. State Labor and Industry departments, local electrical inspectors or
“authorities having jurisdiction” (AHJ) may have additional testing requirements.
Table 1 lists some of the codes and standards that require electrical commissioning. The
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has also addressed the need for commissioning of
electrical equipment with its Recommended Practice of Electrical Equipment Maintenance,
NFPA-70B.
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The electrical distribution system is the foundation for all other systems in the building. These
systems include communication, fire and/life safety, security, and all mechanical systems. It is
the electrical distribution system that provides power to all of these other systems. Without
reliable power, these other systems will not function properly.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) published Standard 493, Reliable
Industrial and Commercial Power Systems (Gold Book). The standard lists statistics on the
reliability of various electrical equipment and systems. The Industrial Applications Society of
IEEE performed an electrical equipment failure survey and categorized the types of failures.
These categories are listed below:
• Manufacturer-defective component
• Application engineering or improper application
• Inadequate installation and testing prior to startup (commissioning)
• Transportation to site – defective handling
• Inadequate operating procedures
• Inadequate maintenance
• Outside agency-personnel
• Outside agency-other
• Other
The first four categories are problems that occur during the construction phase and usually have
the greatest effect on the construction schedule. IEEE found that these four categories represent
over 40% of the failures.
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identification and resolution of the electrical system. With all of the players on board, the
contractor, owner, equipment manufacturers, and equipment distributors can all contribute by
offering solutions to correct the problems. The outcome is a fully commissioned, fully
functioning building with all system problems identificd and resolved before the owner moves
in.
Chart #1 shows the breakdown of deficiencies for eleven projects. The chart shows that 58% of
the problems found are due to installation mistakes or problems made by the various contractors.
Defective components represented almost a third of the problems found. The next largest
problem area representing 14% of the problems, was improper design or application of the
devices.
The final category is component damaged during transit to the job site. Although this
represented only 1% of the deficiencies, they still can cause severe problems that can easily
delay the construction schedule. Photo #1 shows an example of damage that was caused by a
metal clip that loosened up during transit. After the switchboard was installed, the clip
eventually fell, causing a line-to-ground fault. This accident caused an extensive amount of
damage.
Deficiency Breakdown
1%
27%
Defective
Design/Application
Installation
Transportation Damage
58%
14%
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A common problem that we see is the failure of the electrical design engineer to specify and the
contractor to provide trip settings for circuit breakers and relays. Many of the circuit breakers
have solid state trip units with multiple settings available (see Photo #2). The function of these
protective devices is to monitor the current level and trip open the circuit breaker if the current
exceeds the set points and delay times.
A protective device coordination study determines the proper current pickup levels and time
delays for the breakers and relays. The goal of the study is minimize the effects of an outage
when a fault occurs. A correctly set circuit breaker will have current pick up values and time
delays set so that when a short circuit is sensed, the trip unit will trip the breaker closest to the
fault. This is called selective device coordination. The breakers are said to be coordinated.
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To limit their liability, the equipment manufacturer will ship their equipment with the current
pickup and time delays set on minimum. Many owners and contractors falsely assume that the
manufacture has determined the device trip settings at the factory and has adjusted these devices
before shipping the equipment. This incorrect assumption causes many of the devices to trip
when they are not supposed to.
To prevent this from happening on your projects, we highly recommend verifying that Protective
Device Coordination requirements are clearly stated in the project specifications. A protection
specialist should be hired to perform the study. Then verify that the correct settings have been
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programmed into the trip units and relays before the electrical system is energized (See Photo
#3). We have seen some projects where the coordination study was performed but no one
programmed the settings into the breaker trip units and relays. Again this led to unplanned trips
and outages. Through commissioning, breakers and relays could have been set properly to avoid
these problems.
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Another problem that occurs on almost every project is improper motor overload protection.
Motors are controlled and protected by motor starters. These starters contain overload relays that
monitor the current and will trip the motor off-line if the motor current exceeds the overload
setting.
On most projects, the mechanical engineer determines the motor size. The electrical engineer
determines the motor starter size based upon the information the mechanical engineer has
provided him/her.
Even on projects where good communication exists between the mechanical and electrical
engineers, we find motor starters and overload relays that are not sized properly for the motor
that the relays are supposed to protect. As the number of parties in the design/manufacturing
loop increases, the potential for a mismatch between the motor and overload relay also increases.
Sometimes the mechanical engineer specifies skid-mounted equipment. The skid manufacturer
will change the motor size without telling the mechanical design engineer. Without the
mechanical engineer informing the electrical engineer of this change, we again have a motor and
relay mismatch. Often the electrical contractor does not discover this mismatch. Electrical
commissioning would identify this mistake and prevent the resulting problems.
Photo #4 & #5 shows a mismatched motor starter overload and motor. Note that the motor
nameplate ampere rating (40 amperes) is much larger than the maximum motor overload relay
full load amperes (3 amperes). In this example, the motor starter had to be changed out to a
larger one.
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Many large, campus-type projects distribute medium voltage power. This requires the use of
medium voltage cables, stress cones, current transformers, and protective relays. For these
distribution systems, it is extremely important to install the stress cones (see Photo #6) and cable
splices properly. Stress cones and splices are the weak points of the system and are usually
where faults and failures occur. After the medium voltage cables, stress cones, and splices are
installed, they must be hi-potted (insulation resistance tested) to assure that the installation is
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correct. It is not uncommon to have one or two bad stress cones or splice installations on a
project.
Another common problem in medium voltage distribution systems involving current
transformers and relays is the cable shield grounding lead. Many electricians mistakenly think
the ground leads should not pass through the ground fault relay current transformers. Failure to
do so will result in defeating the detection and removal of a cable ground fault. This will cause
more equipment damage than normal. The photo #7 below shows the silver cable shield
grounding leads installed outside of the current transformer. They should pass through the
transformer not outside of it.
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Many projects now have sophisticated metering packages installed on the main switchboard or
downstream distribution panelboards (See Photo #8). These meters are sometimes networked
together so that the distribution system can be monitored on a remote computer.
Many of these meters are required to be set and adjusted for use with the correct voltage / current
transformers and transformer winding connection. Many times this is not done at the factory, as
one would expect. Sometimes the discovery is not made until months after the owner has moved
in. These devices should be commissioned before energizing the equipment. Failure to do so
may require an outage after the owner has moved in to fix the problem.
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Emergency Distribution systems consist of generators (Photo #9), automatic transfer switches
(ATS), switchboards, panelboards, and other equipment. They are necessary for emergency
lighting, fire alarm system, smoke control, and other critical systems. Commissioning the
components of the emergency distribution system is a must.
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Dry type distribution transformers are commonly used in many buildings to reduce the voltage
from 480/277 to 208/120 Volts. Most of the transformer manufacturers have shipping bolts (See
Photo #11) that keep the transformer secure during shipment to the job site, which reduces
transportation damage. Many times the electrical contractor fails to loosen these shipping bolts.
This causes the transformer to be very noisy and resonate when energized. This is very annoying
for the building occupants located near the transformer. Commissioning ensures that these bolts
are checked and verifies that they are loose before the transformer is energized.
The National Electric Code requires that the neutral conductor be bonded to ground. This is
done at the main service switchboard or switchgear and on the secondary side of step down
distribution transformer. This is to prevent returning neutral current from splitting and flowing
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on the green equipment grounding safety conductor. Figure #1 shows a correctly installed
neutral ground bond at the main panel. Figure #2 shows an illegal neutral to ground bond in the
Sub-Panelboard.
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Summary
Although there are many different types of problems and deficiencies that we have found
throughout the last fifteen years, the items discussed above are the most common problems. By
focussing on these items, you will uncover many of the problems that will plague your project.
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The checklist below (Table 2) is not meant to be a replacement for performing a full-service
electrical commissioning program for your project. However, it will give you a good idea of
some common problems and mistakes that see repeatedly on our projects.
Motor HP and Starter Size Problems Mechanical, Electrical design engineer and
manufacturer must coordinate with each other during
design phase. Field verify as soon as equipment has
arrived on site
Medium Voltage Distribution System Installation Perform Hipot (insulation resistance test) on all
Problems cables, stress cones, and splices.
Emergency Distribution Component Problems Test all emergency distribution system components.
Then perform a system test by having the generator
using actual building non-linear loads.
Noisy Distribution Transformers Check and verify that the shipping bolts are loose.
Illegal Neutral to Ground Bonds Remove neutral to ground bond at main service and
measure the insulation resistance between neutral and
ground.
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