Compare the items the section’s opening designer note sends to the drawings with the site electrical plan, duct bank sections, manhole and handhole details, and one-line, and confirm that every “as indicated” item in the issued Section 33 71 02 is actually indicated. Then check which runs are direct buried and which are concrete encased, which structures carry traffic or aircraft loading, where each feeder ends outside the building and hands off to Section 26 20 00, and whether the grounding, cable fireproofing, and acceptance test requirements match the sheets.
Assemble the review package
Gather the site electrical plan, the duct bank sections and profiles, the manhole and handhole details, the site one-line and cable schedule, the riser and pole details where an overhead line drops underground, the grounding details, the building service entrance drawings, the civil paving, road, railroad, and airfield crossing plans, the fire pump feeder routing if a site feeder serves a fire pump, and the issued Section 33 71 02 with Sections 26 08 00, 26 20 00, 33 71 01, 26 05 73, and the pad-mounted equipment sections. Review one feeder from its source to the building before assuming the others are drawn the same way.
WBDG publishes UFGS 33 71 02: Underground Electrical Distribution as a public guide-specification reference (accessed October 27, 2026). Use your project’s issued specification and amendments for the actual comparison; the guide specification does not automatically govern your project. The checklist below is an original suggested review workflow, not a reproduction of the UFGS requirements.
Eight checks to run against the issued set
Use one record per location or system. The CSV contains the same eight prompts plus fields for source revisions, observed evidence, the review owner, the decision, and closure references.
| Check | Sources to compare | Question to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Information the drawings must show | Opening designer note + site electrical plan + one-line + cable schedule | Are duct and cable locations, cable types, conductor number and sizes, ground rods and rings, faulted circuit indicator locations, and live end caps shown, and is every “as indicated” item in the section actually on the drawings? |
| Conduit and duct types | Conduit, Ducts, and Fittings articles + duct bank sections + riser details | Does each duct bank and riser use a conduit or duct type the edited section keeps, with primary and secondary types marked where the section says “as indicated,” and are bore segments shown if the directional boring paragraphs are kept? |
| Direct burial and encased duct | Direct Burial Cable System, Conduit and Duct Without Concrete Encasement, and Duct Encased in Concrete articles + plan + sections | Are direct buried conduit and concrete encased conduit distinguished on the drawings, as the designer note asks, and is reinforcing shown where duct banks cross roads, railroads, or airfield paving? |
| Cable types and conductor material | Low Voltage Insulated Conductors and Cables and Medium Voltage Cable articles + cable schedule + one-line | Does each cable labeled match the conductor material, insulation, shielding, neutral, and jacket the edited section keeps, with the type shown per cable where the project uses more than one insulation? |
| Manholes, handholes, and loading | Underground Structures, Manhole Frames and Covers, and Handhole Frames and Covers articles + structure details + paving plans | Are structures subject to aircraft loading identified on the drawings, is each structure in a drive aisle or road detailed for traffic loading, and are any standard manhole sketches used placed on the drawings rather than in the specifications? |
| Terminations, joints, and end caps | Medium Voltage Cable Terminations, Medium Voltage Cable Joints, Live End Caps, and terminating cabinet articles + equipment sections | Is each termination specified in only one section, as the designer note about pad-mounted equipment asks, are joints limited to manholes or handholes, and are live end cap locations indicated? |
| Feeders to buildings | Underground Feeders Supplying Buildings article + Section 26 20 00 + service entrance plan | Is the termination point outside each building shown, with the conduit type the section keeps, and does the building service entrance drawing pick up from that point without a gap or overlap? |
| Grounding, fireproofing, and testing | Grounding Systems, Fireproofing of Cables in Underground Structures, Cable Installation Plan and Procedure, and Field Quality Control articles + Section 26 08 00 | Are ground rods and manhole grounding shown, is fireproofing called for on cable in underground structures, and do the test plan and schedule cover the medium voltage, low voltage, and grounding acceptance tests before new cable is connected to existing circuits? |
Worked example: a nontraffic handhole in a drive aisle
Illustrative example: a new medium voltage duct bank runs from a pad-mounted switch to three buildings. The site plan places one handhole in a parking lot drive aisle, but the handhole detail is a nontraffic type, the duct bank sections do not say which segments are concrete encased, and a spare circuit left energized for a later phase has no live end cap location on the drawings.
Ask the electrical engineer to change the drive aisle structure to a traffic-rated type or relocate it, to mark which duct bank segments are encased and reinforced at the road crossing, and to show the live end cap location for the spare circuit. Confirm that the cable installation plan and acceptance tests in the issued section cover the new pulls between structures.
Avoid a false conflict
Section 33 71 02 stops outside the building, where Section 26 20 00 picks up the service entrance, and Section 33 71 01 covers the overhead line above a riser. Pad-mounted transformer and switch sections may carry their own termination paragraphs, so confirm which section furnishes each termination before raising a conflict with the overhead or interior distribution guides. Telecommunications duct sharing a duct bank may follow separate telecommunications requirements.
When requirements disagree, follow the project’s document-control and clarification process. Do not assume that drawings always override specifications, or the reverse. Identify the exact sources and request an authorized decision.
Close the issue across the affected documents
Record the location or tag, drawing and specification references, issue dates, observed difference, and the decision needed. Assign an owner and keep the item open until the response identifies the governing requirement. Check the revised drawings and specification references together; a response email alone may leave the issued package inconsistent.
For the overall process, use the guide to drawing and specification conflicts. Mark an inapplicable checklist row with a reason, and distinguish a verified correction from a question that still needs design information.
Where Groundbook fits
Groundbook’s drawing and specification review helps investigate potential disagreements in the documents you supply. Include the relevant specification sections and drawing references, then verify the cited evidence with the responsible reviewers before acting on a finding.