Commercial Wiring Lab

The commercial wiring lab is a steel-framed environment consisting of 70+ lab stations where students install wiring and electrical devices for commercial complexes. The lab is designed to mimic a commercial building constructed by steel frames. Similar to the Residential Wiring Lab, the Commercial Wiring Lab focuses exclusively on applications of the NEC standards pertaining to electrical installation for commercial buildings, which usually require more switching panels and wiring sufficient for larger amperage.

Programs Using This Lab

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Lab Objective

The labs objective is to familiarize students with the NEC standards pertaining to commercial buildings. The NEC has specific commercial standards due to the larger supply of voltage and current delivered to the multiple offices that are housed within a complex. Commercial buildings usually have more complex switching panels and specific wiring organizations due to the flexibility needed to alter a commercial structures floor plan as tenants come and go. In addition, the electrical needs of certain organizations may be much higher than those of a typical household, opening to the door to alternate installation techniques required to meet those needs.

"National Electrical Code" and "NEC" are registered trademarks of the NFPA

Project Examples

Students complete multiple projects in the commercial wiring lab. Each project gets progressively more difficult and often cover multiple topics.
Projects typically include, but are not limited to, the following:

Main Panel Wiring

The main panel is the hub of commercial wiring. Students learn to how to install the wiring and components that make up the main panel.

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI)

The GFCI breaker detects electricity in places that normally are not intended to carry electricity (such as metallic enclosures and metallic raceways). Properly installing a GFCI will detect any leakage and prevent shock hazards.

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