Electrical Engineering Design
Vilano Engineering prepares signed and sealed electrical design for commercial, office, retail and condominium buildings across Palm Beach County. That covers new construction, renovations and tenant improvements, service and panel upgrades, standby and generator power, and lighting design.
Mechanical, plumbing and structural design is available alongside it where a project calls for it, so the full package can come from one firm rather than being assembled from several.
A permit-ready electrical package is drawings plus the calculations that support them: power and lighting plans, one-line diagrams, panel schedules, load calculations, and the specifications and details the installing contractor works from. Every sheet is signed and sealed.
What the package needs to contain beyond that depends on the scope and on the reviewing jurisdiction, which is worth establishing at the start rather than discovering at plan review.
Where a project calls for more than the electrical scope, the mechanical, plumbing and structural design can be delivered with it. That matters most on renovations and tenant improvements, where the disciplines have to agree with each other before the drawings reach plan review, and one coordinated submittal gives the building department a single point of contact for comments.
Palm Beach County does not have one building department. Each municipality runs its own permit process, with its own submittal requirements and its own review comments, and property in unincorporated areas is permitted through the County's Building Division.
Practically, that means a design that sailed through in one municipality can come back with comments in the next one over. Vilano Engineering responds to plan review comments and revises the drawings through to permit issue, rather than handing over a set and leaving the owner to deal with the review.
Existing buildings in this county are frequently being asked to carry loads their electrical service was never sized for — replacement air conditioning equipment, electric vehicle charging, kitchen and amenity build-outs, added mechanical equipment on the roof.
The design work starts with what the service can actually support, based on connected load rather than assumption, and moves from there to what has to change: the service, the feeders, the distribution equipment, or a combination. Where a utility service change is involved, the design has to account for what the utility will and will not do.
Storm season makes this a recurring subject in Palm Beach County, and it is more involved than choosing a generator. The design has to establish what is being backed up and why, size the unit to that load, work out where it goes and how it is fed, and handle transfer, fuel and the equipment's own protection.
For condominium and commercial property that usually means a conversation about which systems are worth carrying and which are not, before anything is specified.
Tenant work moves on a schedule set by a lease, and the electrical design is often on the critical path to permit. Existing conditions rarely match the drawings on file, so the work generally starts with establishing what is actually there — the available capacity, the condition of the equipment being reused, and what the new occupancy requires.
Lighting design forms part of most of this work, both for the space itself and for the energy requirements the permit set has to demonstrate.
Tell us about the project →Commercial, office, retail and condominium property. Clients are property owners and condominium associations.
Yes, where a project calls for it. The full package can come from one firm, which keeps the disciplines coordinated and gives the building department one point of contact at plan review.
The drawings are prepared signed and sealed for submittal, and the firm responds to plan review comments and revises through to permit issue.
Yes, along with property in unincorporated areas permitted through the County.
Yes, including sizing to actual load, transfer arrangements and how the equipment is fed and protected.
Across Florida, and in the other states where the firm is licensed — Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, New York, North Carolina and Texas.
Vilano Engineering, LLC is a licensed engineering firm providing building recertification and safety inspections, infrared thermography, electrical design, expert witness services, developer turnover, and property condition assessments.
Nicholas Strachan, PE
Licensed Professional Engineer — Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, New York, North Carolina, Texas
Certified Level II Thermographer
Licensed Plans Examiner — Florida
25+ years in engineering design, inspection, and quality assurance