ELV & Low-Current Systems Design
ELV is the core of our practice. We produce complete low-current design packages — from system architecture and device layouts through cable schedules, riser diagrams and containment routing to material take-offs your procurement team can price directly. We work from your concept or schematic design and issue in your title blocks, ready for your engineer of record to review and sign.
Scope of work
- CCTV and video surveillance: camera selection and coverage layouts, field-of-view calculations, storage and bandwidth sizing, VMS architecture
- Access control and intrusion detection: door schedules, reader and lock hardware selection, controller topology, integration interfaces
- Fire alarm and voice evacuation: detector and sounder coverage to NFPA 72 and EN 54, loop calculations, battery standby calculations, cause-and-effect matrices
- Structured cabling: horizontal and backbone design to TIA-568 and BICSI practice, rack elevations, patch panel schedules, pathway and space design to TIA-569
- Data networks and telephony: LAN topology, switch port counts, IP schemas, PoE budgets, SIP/telephony distribution
- Public address, AV distribution, master clock, nurse call and intercom systems
- BOQ and material take-offs with quantities traceable back to the drawing set
Where we fit in your workflow
Most of our ELV work starts after a consultant has fixed the concept design and needs the detailed design and shop drawing package produced at volume, on a schedule, without adding headcount. We take the concept, the architectural backgrounds and your standards package, and return a coordinated set that your engineers review rather than redraw.
For contractors, the entry point is usually different: an awarded package where the tender drawings need converting into construction-ready shop drawings, with containment coordinated against MEP services and quantities that survive procurement scrutiny.
What makes an ELV package review-ready
A package that comes back with fifty comments costs you more than it saved. We treat three things as non-negotiable before issue:
- Internal consistency. Every device on a layout appears in the cable schedule, in the riser, and in the BOQ. Quantities reconcile across all three.
- Calculations that back the drawings. Loop loading, battery standby, PoE budget, storage retention — computed and issued, not asserted.
- Your standards, not ours. Layer naming, title blocks, sheet numbering, symbol library and drawing conventions follow your template from the first sheet.
Coordination with other disciplines
ELV rarely fails on its own terms — it fails at interfaces. We coordinate containment routes against HVAC ductwork and electrical trays, check ceiling void allocations against architectural reflected ceiling plans, and flag clashes as written queries rather than absorbing them silently. Where the project runs in Revit, we work in your federated model and follow your clash-resolution process.
Need a elv / low-current systems package priced?
Send the scope — drawings, systems, approximate sheet count and dates. We come back with a fixed price, a team size and a delivery schedule, usually within one business day.