How to read your documents
Every document WireEngine makes is drawn from the same design: one list of wires (runs), the equipment they connect, and every value with its source. Change the design and every document changes with it. You can download them at any stage. A document made from an unfinished design shows the gaps. It never hides them.
Which document is for whom
| Document | What it is for | Who reads it |
|---|---|---|
| Wiring schedule | The master list: one row per wire with its number, both ends, current, gauge, insulation, colour, length and fuse | You and your installer. If two documents ever disagree, the schedule wins |
| Wiring diagrams (sheet set) | The drawings: how the wires connect, sheet by sheet | Your installer, at the boat |
| Violations & open items | Every issue the checks found, every check that could not run, and every value still to confirm | You, while you finish the design |
| Bill of materials | Wire by gauge and length, fuses, terminals and parts to buy | You, when ordering |
| Commissioning checklist | The install in order, run by run, with tick boxes | Your installer, on the job |
| Handoff brief | What the design covers, the devices chosen, the open questions for a professional, and what still needs their sign-off | The marine electrician you hire |
| Surveyor appendix | Every value that is not confirmed yet, and every rule finding, listed for review | A surveyor or insurer |
| Design guide | The design explained in plain words: charging, distribution, protection | You |
| Settings register and config sheets | Charger, alternator regulator and battery monitor settings, each with its source | Whoever sets up the equipment |
| Vessel passport | Equipment, service history and what is still open | You, and the next owner |
| Inventory and spares | What is aboard, where it is stowed, and what to restock | You |
| Owner's manual | The whole set as one Word file | You |
The claim line
Near the top of the main documents is one sentence that says where the design stands. It is the same sentence everywhere, worked out the same way every time:
- Nothing to certify yet — no circuits are modelled. The design has no wiring yet.
- NOT clear for sign-off — N items open. Something is still open: an issue, a check that could not run, or a value to confirm. The count matches the Issues list in the design.
- No open items — clear for surveyor sign-off. Every check ran, nothing was found, and nothing is waiting to be confirmed.
Even the last one is design help referenced to ABYC E-11. It is not an inspection of your boat and not a certificate. Every file also carries a line saying so, along with its revision.
The tier chips
Every value shows where it came from:
| Chip | Meaning |
|---|---|
MANUAL | From a manufacturer's document. The page is cited |
FIELD | Checked on the boat: measured aboard or confirmed as built |
RULE | Set by an ABYC rule. The section is cited |
CALC | Worked out by the checks from your other values |
SEED | A fact about this exact device from a source we hold, still waiting to be checked against the manufacturer's own document |
UNVERIFIED | Recorded but not confirmed. Confirm or correct it before you rely on it |
A value worked out from other values can never rank higher than its weakest input. A gauge worked out from an unconfirmed current stays unconfirmed until that current is confirmed.
Reading the sheet set
The drawings are the printed set. The design shows the same sheets on screen.
The sheets. Sheet 1 is always the index and legend: the list of sheets, every symbol and line style used, the full title block, the revisions, and anything not drawn (with the reason). Sheet 2 is the System overview: the whole system on one drawing. After it come only the sheets your design has: power and charging (the batteries, switches, buses and chargers, with their negative cables; a large system gets two sheets, one for the batteries and distribution, one for charging), DC circuits, AC (on the power sheet when the AC system is small) and monitoring and data. A sheet with nothing on it is left out, and the index says what is not modelled.
DC circuits. Every branch circuit is one line, read left to right the way you trace it: the panel or bus it is fed from on the left, then its fuse, the feed wire, the load, the return wire, and the negative bus on the right. Circuits are grouped under the panel, bus or battery that feeds them. Circuits wired straight from a battery are grouped under that battery and marked "always-hot — not switched". When there are too many circuits for one sheet, they continue on "DC circuits (2 of 2)", starting a new group.
Line colours. Gold is DC positive. Dark is DC negative (the return). Grey is AC. Blue-grey dashed is data. Red marks protective and safety-critical wiring, such as bilge feeds and fused battery leads. A grey dotted line is a wire whose gauge is still pending.
Symbols. Each device is drawn in full on one sheet only. Anywhere else it appears as a small arrow-shaped connector reading "→ Sheet N", which tells you where to find it. A fuse or breaker with a dashed outline is recommended, not installed: the checks propose it, and it is not on your boat until you mark it installed.
Wire labels. Each wire carries a label in up to three lines:
- the run number and gauge, with its tier chip, for example "run 12 · 14 AWG
CALC", or "run 12 · gauge pending — needs circuit current, length" when the gauge cannot be worked out yet; - the length: "22 ft measured", "22 ft est" (an estimate) or "length not measured";
- the colour and any flags.
Flags. A ⚠ followed by a section number (for example ⚠ E-11.10.1) is a shall-level finding on that wire, its fuse or the load it feeds. A ⚠ naming a check, for example "⚠ 7″, insulation not checked", means that check could not run. A ⚠ starting "confirm", for example "⚠ confirm gauge, rating", means a value is waiting for you.
Tags. Where a full label will not fit beside its wire, the wire carries a small rounded tag with just its run number. The full text is in the conductor table on the same sheet. Nothing is ever dropped to make room.
The conductor table. The table on each sheet gives the full label text for every wire on that sheet that is shown as a tag or a short label. The index sheet carries the wire list: every wire in the set.
The title block. The full title block is on the index: the vessel, the drawing, "sheet N of M", the system voltage, the revision and its date, the number of open items, and how many wires are not drawn (when there are any). Every other sheet has a one-line strip along its foot with the vessel, "Sheet N of M", the drawing, the revision, the open items and the disclaimer. A sheet you download on its own, as an SVG or in the draw.io file, carries the full title block and its own legend.
Revisions
A document has a revision only once you commit one from the Documents page. Until then it is a working draft and says so. A committed document carries "Rev N — date" at the foot. That date is the day you committed it, and it is never made up. A revision changes only when its content changed.