About How the Electrical Project Database Works

An electrical project database is required for any drawing that contains circuits. It can be specified at any time before or after circuits are created. If an electrical project database has not been specified and circuits are added to a drawing, you will be prompted to specify the name of an electrical project database file.

The electrical project database manages the circuit assignments in all linked drawings. As you create and refine electrical system drawings, you can use the Circuit Manager to view and manage panel and circuit information. Access the Circuit Manager from either the panel drawing or any of the linked drawings. As you work on electrical systems, you can view current circuit information, such as total load and number of devices assigned to each circuit.

By default, AutoCAD MEP 2022 toolset creates backup EPD files. These backup files are useful when the EPD files are corrupted or when files are incorrectly linked, ensuring no data loss. You can specify the number of backup files from the Electrical Preferences dialog box. You can create up to 99 backup files.

For construction documents, panel schedules are created using the electrical project database. Also, circuit data originates directly from the electrical project database.