A house is half ready when its structure work is done. To make it ready for occupation, you also need to complete finishes like painting, carpentry, tiling and electrical work. Among these, electrical finishing take care of all the electrical related aspect of the house. Starting from concealed wiring, fixing switches, managing electrical safety to connecting main power supply – everything falls under electrical finishing.

What is Electrical Finishing?

Electrical Finishes pertains to identifying the individual electrical needs of the house and implementing them in the most efficient manner. Once identified, the electrical requirements with respect to each room is documented as an electrical drawing or electrical plan. Usually the Architect prepares the electrical plan. This document acts as the blueprint for the electrical finishes team to carry out the implementation.

Prior to the implementation of electrical finishes, the conduits and electrical boxes for concealed wiring are placed. This happens along with the blockwork and RCC, during the structure work.

The first step in electrical finishes is to pull wires from these conduits and connect it to the electrical supply. Next step is to fix all electrical supplies in the home like switches, fans, lights and fancy lights.

The entire process of electrical finishes happen step by step and needs thorough planning.

How to implement electrical finishes for your new home?

Planning for electrical finishes is a detailed process that takes care of all electrical elements in the house. If you do not perform the electrical planning well; new design issues may pop up during the commencement of electrical finishes work. This results in additional work and unforeseen troubles. Moreover, you will not get the expected experience in your home.

A thorough electric plan exhaustively deals with the following electrical aspects in a new construction:

• Switches and Plug Points

Every room in the house have switches either for light or fan or any other electrical appliance. The important thing while planning for switches is to decide what type of switches are required for each room. Moreover, the quality of switches is critical as it actually makes a huge difference in the quality of life in the house. Nobody would like a switch that jams or need replacement every now and then!

In a house, many of the electrical appliances connect via a plug point. The electrical plan talks about the location and count of these plug points. The position of plug points actually depends on the furniture plan of the room. For example, plug points near a table side and bedside serve as good reading and charging points.

Similarly, some part of the house may require double way switches (also called as 2 way switches), like in a staircase or the portico light. Likewise, for a ceiling fan in a room, the owner may opt for two switches – one next to the bed and another one in the main switch board. The type of regulators for fans also make an entry in the electrical plan.

A gadget friendly modern home also has options to have USB charging points. Further, to connect electronic devices like computer and its accessories, a single switch board with multiple charging points is ideal. All these are very much design oriented decisions. Therefore it is very important that the house owner is an important party in the decision making.

• Electrical Fittings

Kerala’s climatic conditions demand electrical lighting and ventilation within the house throughout the year. The requirement of number of light and fans within a room depends on the area and layout of the room. Electrical plan also covers lighting preferences in each room – whether it is tube light, CFL or incandescent bulb.

Another important point is the direction of lights in each room. For example, if it is a reading light, it has to be in the reading direction for the perfect reading experience. Similarly, a fan position in a bedroom has to be exactly over the bed or main usage area for a pleasant cooling for the occupants.

• Main Switch and Fuses

Main switch is the critical electrical component in a house. ELCB (Earth-Leakage Circuit Breaker) is a device that controls an electrical circuit. In a house, it controls the power input and features a good amount of security mechanisms to protect the house from electrical surges.

Fuse is another vital component of electrical circuits that protects the house in case of any short circuits. Electrical finishes plan talks about number of fuses and their usage locations. Furthermore, it explains in detail what all fuses need to be switched off in the event of short circuit.

Some house owner’s opt for a master switch that can control multiple lights and fans. The electrical plan takes care of the preference of master switch designs.

• Power Plug requirements

Each room vary with the power requirements for different appliances present there. In general, appliances like washing machine, grinder, mixie, iron box, and heater require power plugs.

Because of the variation of power requirements, there is a need for different voltage switches and power plugs. For example, 5A, 6A, 12A, 15A are standard power plug requirements. Electrical finishes plan comprise of such power plug requirements and takes care of corresponding wiring needs.

Similarly, most homes opt for Air Conditioning for summers. Electrical plan covers the points that require air conditioning and make provision for wiring requirements for the same. It also specifies the requirement of power plugs, switches and pulling of wires for AC. Otherwise, it will result in a lot of rework during installation of ACs.

• TV Points, Internet, Telephone, Satellite Cable

Modern life is so much dependent on electronic gadgets. With the advent of internet TV, a TV is not a mere entertainment device but a window of possibilities. Electrical finishes plan details down the possible TV points in a house.

Similarly, you should also identify the associated telephone, internet and satellite cable connections points. It is advisable to do the wiring for these connections in advance to avoid difficulties during usage of the same. Concealed wiring adds elegance to the house.

• Type of Electricity Connection

Getting electrical connection to the house from a nearby electric post requires a lot of care. One way is to directly connect the main power line to the house. Alternatively, you can opt for a special structure like junction box outside the house that connects to the main power line. And rest of the house draws power from this structure.

Electrical finishes plan covers which type of electricity connection is best for the house – direct or through a junction box. Location of the nearby electric post, advantages, disadvantages, cost considerations and utilities of both are the factors that determine which is the best for your home.

• Interior Lighting

Apart from the functional electrical requirements, interior design also requires ample lighting. Most of the modern houses use false ceiling and it often requires LED lighting. The electrical finishes plan talks about such LED lighting requirements in the interiors like in cupboards, almirahs, bathrooms, side of doors, false ceilings, and other locations that need extra lighting.

This complete electrical plan that considers all the above said elements makes it an efficient electrical drawing of the house. This has to be approved and finalised before electrical finishing work commence.

This finalised electrical drawing is then handed over to a team who is capable of executing it in a design oriented manner. Such a streamlined execution of electrical finishes lets you enjoy complete electrical utility of the house.

Contact the Electrical Finishing team at Viya Home Finishes for an efficient execution of your Electrical Finishing work.