Describes the engine’s ceiling-route model, explicit option defaults, cut-stock rounding, and appropriate field measurement checks. This guide is part of FRELUX’s educational library. It explains how to interpret a preliminary calculator output and how to keep the assumptions visible. It is not a substitute for project specifications, professional design, supplier quotations, legal advice, or local approvals.
This is a simplified geometric model, not a full route optimizer. It does not search a building plan for obstacles, choose the shortest device order, distinguish circuit topology, calculate bends or pull-box limits, or validate a cable schedule against electrical code. The Manhattan metric is a useful first estimate when a route uses orthogonal horizontal legs. It adds the horizontal displacement in each axis, rather than the direct diagonal distance. Actual installation may require additional offsets, bends, vertical risers, access points, and service loops. Conversely, a real route may share containment with other runs. The estimator cannot resolve those installation details from endpoint coordinates alone. The calculation is useful when its input boundary is clear and its output is treated at the right project stage. It cannot establish facts that were never supplied, independently confirm a site condition, or grant approval for construction, procurement, payment, or compliance. A consistent formula can make the same result reproducible; it cannot make an unsuitable assumption valid.
Describes the engine’s ceiling-route model, explicit option defaults, cut-stock rounding, and appropriate field measurement checks. This is a simplified geometric model, not a full route optimizer. It does not search a building plan for obstacles, choose the shortest device order, distinguish circuit topology, calculate bends or pull-box limits, or validate a cable schedule against electrical code.
The Manhattan metric is a useful first estimate when a route uses orthogonal horizontal legs. It adds the horizontal displacement in each axis, rather than the direct diagonal distance. Actual installation may require additional offsets, bends, vertical risers, access points, and service loops. Conversely, a real route may share containment with other runs. The estimator cannot resolve those installation details from endpoint coordinates alone.
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A useful estimate begins by stating what decision it is meant to support. A concept-stage feasibility check, a quantity review, a tender comparison, a procurement schedule, and an issued-for-construction package have different evidence requirements. Write the intended stage and audience at the top of the worksheet. State what is included, what is excluded, who supplied the inputs, and which drawing or record revision was used. This prevents a preliminary calculation from silently acquiring the authority of a construction instruction. If the scope changes, preserve the earlier version and record what changed rather than editing history away. For this topic, apply that discipline to the relevant records and questions rather than treating a default as a project fact. Ask who owns the input, how current it is, what unit and scope it uses, and what evidence will close any uncertainty. If the record is missing, mark it as missing and assign an owner to obtain it. That practice makes the estimate easier to revise and safer to share.
Gather the primary source documents first: current drawings, schedules, specifications, surveys, supplier data, or financial records appropriate to the task. Check revision numbers, dates, units, naming conventions, and whether the information is approved or provisional. List missing inputs explicitly. Do not replace a missing dimension, rate, grade, or site condition with a plausible-looking default unless the interface clearly identifies it as an assumption and the reviewer accepts it. When several documents disagree, log the discrepancy and ask the responsible designer or project lead to resolve it before relying on the output. For this topic, apply that discipline to the relevant records and questions rather than treating a default as a project fact. Ask who owns the input, how current it is, what unit and scope it uses, and what evidence will close any uncertainty. If the record is missing, mark it as missing and assign an owner to obtain it. That practice makes the estimate easier to revise and safer to share.
For each assumption, record its value, unit, source, date, reason, owner, and status. Separate confirmed facts from estimates, defaults, and unresolved questions. The distinction matters because arithmetic can be exact while its inputs remain uncertain. A result with two decimal places does not become more reliable merely because it is formatted precisely. When an input is changed, document the reason and compare the old and new result. If the app supplies a default, make sure the person using the result understands that the default is a convenience for a preliminary scenario, not evidence of local practice or project approval. For this topic, apply that discipline to the relevant records and questions rather than treating a default as a project fact. Ask who owns the input, how current it is, what unit and scope it uses, and what evidence will close any uncertainty. If the record is missing, mark it as missing and assign an owner to obtain it. That practice makes the estimate easier to revise and safer to share.
Before comparing quantities, confirm that both sides use the same unit system and scope boundary. A length may be measured along a centreline or to an outside face; a cost may include or exclude tax, delivery, labour, or fees; a material volume may refer to compacted output or loose supply. Write down the conversion factor and keep the source quantity visible. Avoid mixing nominal labels with physical equivalence: standards, products, and quality classes require explicit specification review. Unit conversion can preserve a physical dimension, but it cannot reconcile different engineering criteria or procurement definitions. For this topic, apply that discipline to the relevant records and questions rather than treating a default as a project fact. Ask who owns the input, how current it is, what unit and scope it uses, and what evidence will close any uncertainty. If the record is missing, mark it as missing and assign an owner to obtain it. That practice makes the estimate easier to revise and safer to share.
Recalculate at least one representative line independently, preferably using a hand check or a second reviewer. Check whether totals reconcile to component lines, whether rounding is applied at the right stage, and whether a zero or blank has a clear meaning. Test a small and a large case to notice discontinuities caused by whole-package rounding or preset thresholds. Review warnings and missing inputs; do not hide them in a screenshot or export. Where possible, retain the unrounded intermediate values and show how the displayed purchase quantity was derived. A transparent worksheet is easier to correct than a polished total with no traceable path. For this topic, apply that discipline to the relevant records and questions rather than treating a default as a project fact. Ask who owns the input, how current it is, what unit and scope it uses, and what evidence will close any uncertainty. If the record is missing, mark it as missing and assign an owner to obtain it. That practice makes the estimate easier to revise and safer to share.
A quantity and a price answer different questions. A product price should identify the exact specification, supplier, market, currency, quotation date, tax treatment, delivery terms, and whether stock is actually available. A stale, unverified, or generic price should not be presented as a current local rate. Record price coverage separately from calculation coverage. If no defensible price is configured, leave the cost unpriced or request a dated quotation rather than multiplying a quantity by an unsupported placeholder. Keep labour, plant, transport, waste, taxes, and contingency visible as separate assumptions when they are relevant. For this topic, apply that discipline to the relevant records and questions rather than treating a default as a project fact. Ask who owns the input, how current it is, what unit and scope it uses, and what evidence will close any uncertainty. If the record is missing, mark it as missing and assign an owner to obtain it. That practice makes the estimate easier to revise and safer to share.
Give each calculation a project identifier, preparer, reviewer, date, source revision, and status. Keep an immutable exported copy for each decision gate, with the input assumptions included. If the design team revises a drawing or the sponsor changes a budget, create a new revision and explain the impact. Assign an owner to resolve open questions and set a due date. The review should ask not only whether the arithmetic is correct, but whether the inputs are authorized, the method is applicable, and the proposed use falls within the calculator’s limits. For this topic, apply that discipline to the relevant records and questions rather than treating a default as a project fact. Ask who owns the input, how current it is, what unit and scope it uses, and what evidence will close any uncertainty. If the record is missing, mark it as missing and assign an owner to obtain it. That practice makes the estimate easier to revise and safer to share.
Stop using an estimate as soon as it would be asked to make a design, life-safety, legal, payment, or compliance decision that the tool does not support. Escalate to the appropriately qualified professional or authorized commercial party. Provide them with the source documents, assumptions, units, calculation output, unresolved questions, and the intended decision. The purpose of a preliminary tool is to make a discussion more informed, not to bypass professional review. A conservative, clearly marked unknown is safer and more useful than an invented value presented as certainty. For this topic, apply that discipline to the relevant records and questions rather than treating a default as a project fact. Ask who owns the input, how current it is, what unit and scope it uses, and what evidence will close any uncertainty. If the record is missing, mark it as missing and assign an owner to obtain it. That practice makes the estimate easier to revise and safer to share.
Before the estimate leaves the preparer, ask a reviewer to identify one omitted input, one potential unit mismatch, one source that could have been superseded, and one conclusion that the calculator cannot support. Capture the responses in a short review log. This independent challenge is more informative than a generic statement that the spreadsheet was checked, because it shows what was tested and what remains open.
Height treatment assumes each endpoint rises to the configured ceiling and returns to its device elevation. That is one possible path model, not a universal rule. Some routes run in a floor zone, use a ceiling void, follow a perimeter trunking system, or branch at intermediate points. Confirm the containment elevation and record the intended vertical path before using the length as a purchase quantity.
A coordinated installation needs the electrical drawings, circuit and panel schedules, ceiling and wall conditions, containment type and size, conductor specification, support spacing, fire stopping, segregation, accessibility, earthing, and local code review. A qualified electrical designer or installer must validate the route and material list.
For consecutive points in the supplied order, the engine adds absolute x and y differences, then adds modeled endpoint rises to the selected ceiling height. It is an orthogonal-path estimate, not a route search. For a project-specific decision, confirm the applicable specification and evidence with the responsible professional or authorized supplier.
No. It connects the input points in array order. Arrange points by an intended route or separate distinct routes before interpreting the total. For a project-specific decision, confirm the applicable specification and evidence with the responsible professional or authorized supplier.
No. It does not design circuits or verify conductor size, protection, voltage drop, fault current, earthing, segregation, fire stopping, or local electrical code requirements. For a project-specific decision, confirm the applicable specification and evidence with the responsible professional or authorized supplier.
The model may omit offsets, route obstacles, service loops, branch paths, panel-to-circuit topology, conductor-specific routing, and installation constraints. Compare it with coordinated drawings and site measurements. For a project-specific decision, confirm the applicable specification and evidence with the responsible professional or authorized supplier.
The prototype uses three conductor runs over the overall route when relevant point types appear, then rounds to the configured coil length. This simplified rule is not a per-circuit wire schedule. For a project-specific decision, confirm the applicable specification and evidence with the responsible professional or authorized supplier.
Confirm the chosen route, containment type and size, standard lengths, bends, supports, access boxes, environmental requirements, fire barriers, and the design approved by a qualified electrical professional. For a project-specific decision, confirm the applicable specification and evidence with the responsible professional or authorized supplier.