Skip to content
Carelabs

IEEE 1584 · Engineering

Advanced Arc Flash Study Powered By ETAP

Carelabs delivers arc flash hazard analysis for industrial and commercial facilities across Singapore, identifying incident energy levels and PPE requirements in line with SS 638. Our engineers use ETAP modelling and the IEEE 1584 calculation method to map arc flash boundaries across your electrical distribution system.

Free Consultation

What the Licensed Electrical Worker is signing for

An installation above the prescribed capacity operates under a Licensed Electrical Worker who takes responsibility for its safe operation and maintenance. An unquantified arc hazard sits directly under that appointment.

What We Deliver

Incident energy per working position

Energy is calculated in cal/cm² to IEEE 1584-2018 from the electrode configuration, enclosure dimensions, gap and working distance recorded on site, each of which changes the answer enough that table values will not do.

THE APPOINTMENT

Responsibility without a number

A Licensed Electrical Worker is accountable for the safe operation of the installation. For an arc hazard that accountability is difficult to discharge, because nothing observable about a healthy switchboard indicates the energy present.

  • Assessment to IEEE 1584-2018 with the validity range stated and any extrapolation beyond it identified rather than quietly absorbed.
  • Fault current from a short circuit study to IEC 60909, using the fault level obtained from the licensed electricity supplier for the intake position.
  • Minimum source conditions assessed as well as maximum, since reduced fault current can fall below an instantaneous threshold and lengthen the arc.
  • Clearing times read from the installed devices, because settings schedules and relays diverge across the operating life of a building.
  • Installation findings referenced to SS 638, so remediation is expressed in the terms your LEW and contractor already work to.
Contact Us

DELIVERABLES

What you receive

A signed engineering report aligned to SS 638 and IEEE 1584, issued by the engineer who carried out the site work.

  1. 1Incident energy and arc flash boundary by equipment and working position
  2. 2Labels ready to apply, with a placement schedule
  3. 3PPE specification per position, referenced to calculated energy rather than equipment class
  4. 4Mitigation options for positions above the practical PPE limit, with the clearing-time change each requires
  5. 5The calibrated ETAP model, so the study is updated rather than repeated when the intake changes
Reach Out

How the study runs

01

Define energised work

We establish which equipment is genuinely accessed live, since that sets the assessed scope, and exclusions are recorded so the boundary is auditable.

02

Survey the switchrooms

Enclosure geometry, electrode configuration, gap and working distance are captured with nameplate data, because the result depends on each of them.

03

Establish fault current

Fault level at the intake is obtained from the supplier and a short circuit study gives bolted fault current at every board.

04

Protection review

Settings are read from the devices and clearing time is taken from the real characteristic at the calculated arcing current.

05

Calculate and label

Energy, boundaries and PPE are determined per position and labels are produced for application to the assessed equipment.

06

Brief the LEW and the team

Findings are ranked and handed over to the Licensed Electrical Worker and the maintenance team, so the results inform daily practice.

Frequently asked questions

Not as a named requirement. Workplace safety legislation requires the occupier to identify and control risks, and SS 638 governs the installation. Where a Licensed Electrical Worker is appointed, they carry responsibility for safe operation, and quantifying incident energy is the practical way an arc hazard is shown to have been understood.
The licensed electricity supplier, for your intake position, as both a maximum and a minimum figure. Maximum determines whether switchgear can interrupt the worst case; minimum determines whether protection picks up and therefore how long an arc burns. It is worth requesting early, since it can take time to obtain.
It can matter considerably. Where the calculated arc flash boundary extends beyond the available working space, the boundary reaches access routes and adjacent equipment. That is a finding about the room as much as the switchboard, and it usually pushes the answer toward reducing energy rather than managing distance.
Any change to its inputs: a supply reinforcement, a transformer replacement, added generation, a switchboard extension or a protection setting change. Where the calibrated model has been retained the re-run is short. Labels calculated against a superseded fault level are wrong while still carrying the appearance of authority.

Schedule Your Advanced Arc Flash Study Powered By ETAP

Tell us about your project.

Browse ServicesRequest a Quote