SHORT CIRCUIT STUDIES

A short circuit study ensures that the electrical equipment in your facility is properly rated to handle a fault.

A short circuit study analyzes your facility's system to calculate the maximum available fault current at each bus and device in the system. The ratings of the equipment are compared to the calculated values to ensure that they are appropriately sized. The protective devices need to be sized so that they can interrupt the circuit during a short circuit and the buses need to be able to withstand the available fault current.

One issue that we often see during the life of a building is that devices sometimes get replaced with others that do not meet the original specifications. For instance, a 22kAIC rated device may fail and get replaced with a 10kAIC rated device. When this happens, anyone near this equipment could be exposed to a deadly arc flash and arc blast should a fault occur that exceeds the rating of this single device.