PD Power Distribution
Import your LV cable schedule, place the rooms and risers on the drawings, send each cable through its riser and draw its route along the containment. The tool then lists the cables in every riser, room and containment section, with a section ID for your drawings, on a plan, an elevation and a 3D view, and in a printed report and an Excel export.
This tool is part of the Engineering Toolkit. Your projects are saved in your account, so you can come back to them from any computer.
v1.30.0 · Beta
BS 8519:2020 clauses 7.1 and 7.3 for the checks on life safety supplies (diverse routes for the primary and the secondary supply; a dedicated support system). The tool lists the cables in each section for sizing in the Cable Tray Sizing Calculator to BS 7671.
- 25,286automated checks of the drawing and routing on 24/09/2026, each against an independent calculation
- 331equipment names read from the schedule against the owner's naming rules
- 35,560lines of wording shown in the tool read against the house rules
- 13levels of the test project aligned by grid names within half a unit of the owner's own alignment
- Last reviewed
- September 2026
- Data basis
- Cable overall diameters from the tool's cable data (the shared store of the Cable Tray Sizing Calculator, from published datasheets) or entered by hand in the tool. Everything else is read from your cable schedule and drawn on your own drawings.
- Validated against
Show the full record
26/09/2026 (1.30.0): the buttons "Start again" and "My saved projects" are replaced by "Start a new project" and "Open a saved project" in a new "Project" menu, with "Save to my account", "Import a cable schedule (Excel)", "Import a project file", "Export the project file" and "Schedule template"; the buttons in the header bar are now that menu, the "Export" menu, "Print the report" and "Recent messages", and the bar is one row in a browser window 1280 px wide. After a project is cleared with "Start a new project", the window to choose the cable schedule of the new project is now opened at once. When another project is open and a saved project is opened, you are now asked first, with the choice to save the open one; before, the open project was replaced with no question and no "Undo". When the page is reloaded, the tab that was shown is now shown again, and on the Plans tab the same level is shown at the same zoom and scroll position. This card is now shown on the Overview tab and no longer on the other tabs. In the guide, opening the "Project" menu and opening the "Export" menu are now actions of their own. The message "There is no project open." is now shown when "Export the project file" or "Print the report" is pressed with no project open. In the reminder "Save your work", pressing "Save to my account" now saves the open project in your account at once, whether or not it is already saved there, and no panel opens; before, the save panel opened and "Update" or "Save to my account" had to be pressed in it as well. Apart from these changes, the calculations, the checks, the counts, the routes and their lengths, the drawings, and the words of the printed report and the exports are unchanged; verified live after upload. 24/09/2026 (1.7.0 to 1.8.8): eighteen releases in one day, each from the owner's use of the tool on his 26004 project, and each checked on the live page in a fresh browser tab after upload: the served files identical to the build, the page at the new version, no console error. The scenario suite ran on the day's builds, 25,286 automated checks each time against an independent calculation, with the same nine findings as on 23/09/2026 (lines crossing a board on the level 11 elevation in crowded layouts); a comparison of the served 1.6.0 program file with 1.7.0 showed no change in the elevation code, so those findings are not from these releases. Checked on the live site: a section sent to the account as a Cable Tray report opened in the Cable Tray Sizing Calculator with its five cables filled in, and the report was then deleted; the account refused a two-page PDF with a message naming its two pages; the list of saved projects answers again after answering nothing from 1.7.0 to 1.8.6 (found on the 1.8.5 check and corrected the same evening). Checked in a private copy of the tool: a reference sheet drawn at its own size and aligned to the containment sheet by two points, then the plan exported on that sheet; a room moved to the pointer from the right-click menu; a riser aligned onto a level with no drawing; a sheet moved between slots and between levels, and removed; a two-page PDF refused at load and a one-page PDF loaded; the align wizard with its tick on kept a riser at the same point on the building while the drawing moved. The wording shown in the tool was read against the house rules on every build, 335 checks, no finding. 23/09/2026 (1.0.1): the first release on the site, from local version 0.75.0. Before it, a full scenario audit of the tool: 25,281 automated checks of the frame of each level, the aligning of drawings by grid names, by two points and by turning, the risers and rooms pushed apart on the elevation, the lines kept clear of boards, the room name leaders, the riser parts in the 3D view, the section IDs through route edits, and the 3D model, each against an independent calculation; 331 scenarios of equipment kinds read from the schedule; 35,560 lines of wording shown in the tool read against the house rules; every check is first given a known bad case and must catch it. The nine remaining findings are lines crossing a board on one level in crowded layouts, which do not occur in the owner's project. The owner walked the tool on his own 26004 project on 23/09/2026.
Scope and limits
- Each Project can be saved with new reference. Each Version can have one cable schedule, initially imported using the PD schedule template. With "Save as a new reference", a user can have several project versions, for example the consultant's design and a copy developed as the Stage 5 design.
- User can load to each Floor Plan a one-page PDF background drawing. HL (high-level containment) and LL (low-level containment) sheets are used to set the scale. All loaded drawings can be aligned. User has an option to also load the GA (general arrangement), lighting and small power drawings as a reference background, these will be aligned to the containment sheet with "Align this sheet".
- Drawings are stored in the browser they were loaded in and, when you save with "Store the drawings in my account too" ticked, in your account: 25 MB per drawing, 1 GB of drawings per account. Each saved reference retains its own copy, all within that 1 GB. The drawings are not in the file saved with "Export the project file".
- The 3D view is not a coordinated model. Heights are assumed. Levels line up only where their drawings are aligned with each other.
- Spacing and weight: cable run sections can be sent to Cable Tray Sizing Calculator with "Send to a Cable Tray report".
What's changed
- the buttons "Start again" and "My saved projects" are replaced by "Start a new project" and "Open a saved project" in a new "Project" menu. The other items of the "Project" menu are "Save to my account", "Import a cable schedule (Excel)", "Import a project file", "Export the project file" and "Schedule template"; before, "Export the project file" was in the "Export" menu. The buttons in the header bar are now the "Project" menu, the "Export" menu, "Print the report" and "Recent messages", and the bar is one row in a browser window 1280 px wide and two rows on a phone; before, it was two rows at 1280 px and five on a phone. With a project open, you are still asked first when "Start a new project" is pressed, as with "Start again". After the project is cleared, the window to choose the cable schedule of the new project is now opened at once; with no project open, it is opened as soon as "Start a new project" is pressed. If that window is closed, each way to start is now shown as a button under the heading "No project is open". When another project is open and a saved project is opened with "Open a saved project", by its name or by its link "Plans (PDF)" in the list, you are now asked first; before, the project in the browser was replaced with no question and no "Undo". Both projects are named in the question, a line in it states when the open project has changes that are not saved in your account, and its buttons are "Cancel", "Open it" and "Save to my account first". When the page is reloaded, the tab that was shown is now shown again, and on the Plans tab the same level is shown at the same zoom and scroll position; before, the Overview tab was shown. This applies only in the same browser tab: in a new browser tab, or for a project opened from your account, the Overview tab is shown first, as before. The card with the version, the figures, "Data basis" and "What's changed" is now shown on the Overview tab and no longer on the other tabs, so the page is shorter on the Plans and Elevation tabs. In the guide at the top of the page, and in "Order of work: all seven steps, for reading or printing" on the Overview tab, opening the "Project" menu is now an action of its own in step 1, before "Import a cable schedule (Excel)" is pressed, and opening the "Export" menu is an action of its own in step 7, before "Export the schedule (Excel)" is pressed. When the button for an action is in a closed menu, the guide's pop-up is now shown beside the menu button, with a note to open that menu first. When "Export the project file" or "Print the report" is pressed with no project open, the message "There is no project open." is now shown; before, nothing happened. The message shown when a project larger than 16 MB is not saved in your account now says to press "Export the project file" in the "Project" menu. In the reminder "Save your work", pressing "Save to my account" now saves the open project at once (with its drawings, unless "Store the drawings in my account too" was unticked when it was last saved from the save panel), and no panel or list opens; before, the save panel opened, "Update" or "Save to my account" had to be pressed in it as well, and the list "My saved projects" opened after the save. When the open project is already saved in your account, the saved reference is updated and a message states that it is updated; when it is not, the open project is saved as a new reference under its own name, filed under the project that would be chosen in the save panel, and a message names the reference and states how to change the reference name or the project it is filed under (pressing "Save to my account" in the "Project" menu still opens the save panel). The calculations, the checks, the counts, the routes and their lengths and the drawings are unchanged, and so are the words and pages of the printed report and the words of the exports.
- on the Plans tab, a riser outline copied to the other levels with "Align this riser on every level" in the panel of a riser, or with "Align every riser on every level" above the drawing, is now counted as placed; before, the copy was still marked as not placed, so the riser was listed under "Rooms and risers not placed yet" when the plan of one of those levels was right-clicked to move a room there. A project saved before 1.29.3 is corrected when it is opened: an outline counts as placed when it matches the placed outline of the same riser on another level, and an outline that was never placed is still listed. On the Plans tab, with a board or other item selected, pressing the space bar now turns it a quarter turn anticlockwise on the plan, and a further quarter turn at each press after that; pressing "Undo" turns it back. The outline of the item is turned about its point, and the item is turned with it in the 3D view, where its front is drawn from its outline. Pressing "Turn it a quarter turn" in the panel of the item now turns it anticlockwise too; before, the item was turned clockwise. When the pointer rests on that button, a note now states that the item is turned anticlockwise, and that pressing the space bar with the item selected turns it in the same way. Nothing is turned while the cursor is in a field of the panel, while another tab of the tool is shown or while a drawing tool is in use. An item shown as a point on the plan, such as an isolator or a rising busbar, has no outline, so it is not turned. An item has an outline only on a level whose drawing has a scale, so on a level with no scale it is not turned either. In these cases, and when the item is not on the plan of the level shown, a message states why it is not turned. In the panel of "Save to my account", after a saved reference is opened from your account, or a new project is made in the panel, the project the reference is filed under is now chosen in the list "Project"; before, the first project in the list was shown as chosen, so pressing "Update" could file the reference under the wrong project. When that project is no longer in your account, "No project" is chosen and a note states why. When the list of projects cannot be read, the panel still opens, with the reference's own project (when it is known), "New project" and "No project" to choose from and a note that names the error; before, only a message was shown and nothing could be saved. After an error page from the server, for example a 502 or a 504, the message shown now ends "The request did not go through."; before, an "Unexpected token" error was shown. When a new copy of a drawing is stored in your account and the record of it in the database cannot be written, the copy stored before is now kept and the new file is removed; before, the old copy was deleted first, so it was lost when the record could not be written. On the PD Power Distribution card of your account page, the size of the drawings of a saved reference, and of all the drawings in your account, is now shown to two decimal places when it is below 1 MB, as in the tool, for example 0.03 MB; before, a size under about 50 KB was shown as 0.0 MB. The name of the tool in the dark header bar is now the main heading of the page, with the same look; for a visitor without the Engineering Toolkit, the heading "PD Power Distribution" above the introduction is the main heading instead, in the site's own title style, so it is larger than before. On projectdesign.io, the headings inside the tool, for example those on the Overview tab and group headings such as "Between two items in one room", are now shown in the tool's own size, weight and colour; before, some were larger in the site's style, the smallest at 20 px in the site's font. In the note that begins "BS 8519 applies in this area", the sentence saying that the supplies to fire alarm, voice alarm, emergency voice communication and emergency lighting panels are taken out of these BS 8519 checks no longer ends "because there are no BS 8519 recommendations for installations to BS 5839-1, BS 5839-8, BS 5839-9 and BS 5266-1 (BS 8519:2020 clause 1)"; it is now followed by a sentence that quotes BS 8519:2020 clause 1, in the same words as the note in the panel of a cable that supplies such a panel. In the same note, clause 7.3 and Annex E are now cited as "BS 8519:2020 clause 7.3" and "BS 8519:2020 Annex E". The following were rewritten in plain UK English, in full sentences: the notes shown when the pointer rests on "Recent messages", "Save to my account", "My saved projects", "Import a project file", "Start again", the items of the Export menu, "Export this plan (PDF)" and the link "Plans (PDF)"; the introductions of "Recent messages", "My saved projects" and the save panel; the note under "Update" and "Save as a new reference"; the note on the drawings in your account, in "My saved projects" and on the account page; the question before a saved reference is deleted; the reminders to save; the messages on saving to your account and on drawings that are too large or have more than one page; the pop-up of "Export the report"; the note in the "Schedule template" workbook; and the note beside "Close means within" in the panel "Primary and secondary feeds". For example, the reminder choice in the save panel no longer reads "Remind me to save every never", "My saved projects" now states, when nothing is saved, that no PD Power Distribution project is saved in your account, and its column "Holds" is now headed "Contents"; a reference saved in 1.29.3 or later with one level or one cable is described as "1 level" or "1 cable". The tag "Primary and secondary on one line" is now a darker orange, #bf4400, so that its white text has a contrast of 5.20:1; before, it was #e65100, at 3.79:1. The orange line in the drawings is unchanged. On the Elevation tab, the line with no cables is still drawn in light grey, so that it looks different from an LV cable line, and its key tag, and the key tag "No cables" shown when "Each section" is chosen, now have dark text, with contrasts of 5.91:1 and 7.87:1. On the Plans tab, the line of a local run to the containment is now drawn in #a86400; before, it was #c77700. The drawings, the cards on the Overview tab, the marks on the checks and on the errors and gaps found in the cable schedule, and the plans PDF are in the new colours; a 3D view saved as a picture before 1.29.3 is printed in the old colours until that view is saved again. The green for a pass, the amber for a point to check or a warning, and the grey for a neutral mark are now darker, so that any white text on them has a contrast of 5.37:1 on the green, 4.68:1 on the amber and 5.93:1 on the grey, above the 4.5:1 that the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 require at level AA for text of 12 px; before, it was 4.38:1, 3.46:1 and 2.56:1. This change applies only to the colours, not to any calculation, result, wording or layout, in the tool or when printed. The calculations, the checks, the other counts and the route lengths are unchanged, and so are the words and pages of the printed report and the words of the exports; the wording and the colours change only as described above.
- in a room or riser where "BS 8519 applies here" is ticked, the check that begins "Both supplies to" is no longer shown for a changeover switch (ATS) in the room that holds it, or in the riser that holds it on the level of the switch, in line with the panel "Primary and secondary feeds", in which the final connection is not checked. In that panel, the two feeds are still checked in the room or riser that holds the switch, outside the final connection. The check that begins "Both supplies to" is still shown in every other room or riser where "BS 8519 applies here" is ticked, and, for a switch that has no room or riser, in every such room or riser. This applies in the panel of the room or riser, on the Report tab, in the printed report and in the column "Checks where BS 8519 applies" on the Containment runs sheet of "Export the schedule (Excel)", and the count in the column "Where BS 8519 applies" under "Rooms and risers on level ..." on the Sections tab changes in the same way, so a containment run in the room or riser that holds a switch, where this was the only check, now shows "0 to check". The other checks in the room or riser that holds the switch are unchanged. In the panel, the report and the Excel column, the check that begins "Both supplies to" now continues "The primary and the secondary supplies should be separated from each other throughout the installation by diverse cable routes (BS 8519:2020 clause 7.1).", then states that, where the two routes come together in the same area, outside the fire-resisting enclosure that houses the life safety and fire-fighting equipment, they should be separated by fire compartmentation with a fire resistance period of at least the fire survival time for the system (BS 8519:2020 clause 7.3), states the fire survival times in BS 8519:2020 clause 5, and ends "In the tool, the fire survival time is taken as 120 min for life safety and for other critical systems, so the separation is a 120 min fire-rated enclosure."; before, it continued "BS 8519:2020 7.1 recommends that the primary and the secondary supplies are separated from each other throughout the installation by diverse cable routes." and ended "..., 7.3 recommends fire compartmentation between them with a fire resistance of at least the fire survival time." On the Plans tab, in the panel "Primary and secondary feeds", the second paragraph now states that, where the two feeds of an ATS that serves life safety or other critical systems cannot be kept apart and come together in the same area, outside that enclosure, they should be separated by fire compartmentation with a fire resistance period of at least the fire survival time for the system (BS 8519:2020 clause 7.3), that the fire survival time is 30, 60 or 120 min for circuit category 1, 2 or 3 (BS 8519:2020 clause 5), and that in the tool the fire survival time is taken as 120 min for life safety and for other critical systems, so the separation is a 120 min fire-rated enclosure; before, it stated that the two feeds "shall be separated by a 120 minute fire-rated enclosure (BS 8519:2020, 7.3: fire compartmentation of at least the fire survival time in Clause 5, which is 120 min for Category 3)", although the verb in clause 7.3 is "should" and the clause states the period as at least the fire survival time in clause 5, not as 120 min. In the list of places in the same panel, the note shown when the pointer rests on a tick box in the column "Separated", for such an ATS, now reads "Tick once the two feeds are separated here by a 120 min fire-rated enclosure."; before, it ended "by a 120 minute fire-rated enclosure (BS 8519:2020, 7.3)". On the 3D tab, in the panel shown for a riser or a floor opening that both feeds of such an ATS rise in, the sentences after "The two feeds should take diverse routes (BS 8519:2020 clause 7.1)." now state what clause 7.3 recommends, the fire survival times in clause 5 and the 120 min taken in the tool, in the words of the second paragraph of the panel "Primary and secondary feeds"; before, they read "Where they cannot be kept apart, they shall be separated by a 120 minute fire-rated enclosure (BS 8519:2020, 7.3)." In the panel of a cable that supplies the panel of a fire alarm, voice alarm, emergency voice communication or emergency lighting system, the note that begins "This cable supplies" now states that the system is read from the reference or description of the item it supplies, in the words of the list "Panel of"; before, it said "read from the name of". In that note, and in the message shown after a choice is made in the list "Panel of", the sentence saying that the cable is taken out of the BS 8519 checks is now followed by a sentence that quotes BS 8519:2020 clause 1: the standard "does not give recommendations for those installations covered in BS 5839-1, BS 5839-8, BS 5839-9 and BS 5266-1"; before, that sentence ended "(BS 8519:2020 clause 1)", although clause 1 does not state that any cable is taken out of a check. In the note, the sentence after the quotation now begins "Everywhere else in the tool, the cable counts"; before, it began "Everywhere else in the tool, it counts". In the panel and in the board editor of a changeover switch, the third choice in the list "Serves" now reads "business continuity or resilience, not life safety and not required to remain operable during a fire", and the message shown after it is chosen now states that the systems the switch serves are not required to remain operable during a fire; before, the choice read "business continuity or resilience, not life safety", and the message used the same words. The note under the list in the panel now quotes the whole definition of other critical systems in BS 8519:2020 clause 3.6, beginning "systems, other than life safety and fire-fighting"; before, it quoted only "specified as required to remain operable during a fire for a predefined period". Clauses are now cited in one form, the standard and its edition, then "clause" and the number, for example "BS 8519:2020 clause 7.1", "BS 5839-1:2025 clause 35.5" and "BS 5266-1:2025 clause 8.2.6", in the checks for fire alarm, voice alarm and emergency lighting supplies, in the check that begins "Life safety cables share this containment", in the note that begins "BS 8519 applies in this area", in the panel of a section, in the panel "Primary and secondary feeds" and in the other notes and panels on the two feeds of an ATS; before, the number was also given without "clause", as in "BS 8519:2020 7.3", "BS 5839-8:2023 26.14" and "(BS 8519:2020, 7.1)". A period of 120 minutes is now written "120 min" wherever it is shown, for example "Ticked as separated by a 120 min fire-rated enclosure."; before, some notes read "120 minute". On the Overview tab, under "Errors and gaps found in the cable schedule", the link on the entry for the feed position of a busbar now reads, for example, "Choose the level of the feed position of BB3"; before, it read "Choose the level of BB3 feed position". On projectdesign.io, the note shown when the pointer rests on the "Export" menu at the top of the page now reads "You can export the schedule (Excel), the project file, the report or the plans (PDF)"; before, it read "The four things the tool exports: the schedule, the project file, the report and the plan markups", although the button in the menu reads "Export the plans (PDF)". On the Plans tab, the question shown after pressing "Align every riser on every level" now names the levels first: "On levels ..., each riser takes the outline and the position it has here, and the items in it move with it." ("the riser" where there is only one riser); before, it read "Each takes the outline and the position it has here on levels ..., and the items in it move with it." In the board editor, the note beside "Kind" now reads "as read from its reference or description", in the words of the lists "Rating" and "Panel of"; before, it read "read from the reference and the description". On the Elevation tab, the names of rooms and risers and the number of items in each room box, and, on the Plans tab, the dashed line and its end dot drawn from an item placed outside its room or riser to the outline of that room or riser, are now drawn in #5a6572, the grey used in the rest of the tool; before, they were drawn in #66717e, and a room name and its number of items in a room box on a grey row had a contrast of 4.33:1, below the 4.5:1 that the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 require at level AA for text of that size; it is now 5.18:1. The routes and their lengths and colours, the calculations, the other counts and the other checks are unchanged, and the wording shown in the tool, the printed report and the exports changes only as described above.
- 1
