08_Build Your Panel Schedule: Creating Panels Manually and with IQ (3:48)

Overview

Panels are the backbone of a project's electrical takeoff — until they exist in the project, you cannot assign them to devices or assemblies while detailing. This video shows the two paths to the same outcome: building the panel schedule by hand in Panel Settings, and letting the Auto Detect Panels IQ skill read every file in the project and build the list for you. It also shows where those panels surface during detailing so you can confirm your work before you start placing devices.

What you'll learn

• Why panels belong in your project setup rather than mid-detailing
• How to add a panel manually in Project Settings → Panel Settings
• How to set a panel name and voltage and make the panel available to all assemblies
• Where to verify your panels inside the Assemblies tab
• How to activate IQ Skills and run Auto Detect Panels
• How to remove unwanted panels from the detected list before saving
• How to save an IQ-generated panel list straight into the project

Before You Begin

Create your panels near the beginning of the project, as part of project setup. Panels can be created at any time, but doing it up front means you are not stopped mid-detailing to go back and build a panel that should already exist.

If you plan to use the IQ method, IQ needs to have been run on the project first. The recommended sequence is to run IQ as soon as your documents are uploaded, so the panel detection skill has files to search. Getting IQ going is covered in the earlier IQ videos in this series.

Choosing Your Method: Manual vs IQ

Both methods write to the same panel schedule and produce panels that behave identically downstream. Pick based on how many panels the project has.

Best practice: On a large project, run Auto Detect Panels first and use manual creation afterward only for panels IQ did not pick up or panels added later in the job.

Part 1 — Create a Panel Manually in Panel Settings

1. Open your project and click the Project Settings tab.
2. Click Panel Settings.
3. Review the existing panel schedule. This screen is also where you adjust panels and panel names on panels that already exist.
4. Click Add New Panel. This adds a line onto the panel schedule.
5. Type the panel name into the new line.
6. Select the voltage you want that panel to be at.
7. Click Save.
8. Click the Assemblies tab on the upper left side.
9. Open In-Wall Assemblies.
10. Navigate to the Duplex Receptacle assembly, or any of the in-wall assemblies.
11. Scroll down to the Electrical section.
12. Locate the Panel drop-down. Every panel you created in Project Settings appears here.
13. Head into IQ.
14. Wait for IQ to load in the prompt window.
15. Click IQ Skills to activate skill mode.
16. Confirm you are in skill mode — the background turns blue.
17. Select the top IQ skill, Auto Detect Panels.
18. Let the skill run. It searches through all the files in your project and identifies all the panels and voltages.
19. Navigate through the returned list and review all the panels IQ identified on the project.
20. For any panel you do not want to include, click the delete button on that row. This takes it out of the list to be created — it does not delete anything from the project.
21. Scroll to the bottom of the list.
22. Click Save Panels. This is an IQ function that saves directly to your project.
23. Confirm the success message: "Panel name saved successfully."
24. Click the Project Settings tab.
25. Click Panel Settings.
26. Confirm your complete panel schedule — the full panel list for the project — is now populated.

Note: Saving makes the panel accessible for all of the assemblies. Anything you create in Project Settings shows up in the panel drop-down during detailing.

Part 2 — Confirm Panels in the Assemblies Panel Drop-Down

Use this as a checkpoint to verify your panels were created before you start detailing.

Note: This drop-down is not just a checkpoint — it is where you assign a panel when you are placing devices or assemblies manually.

Part 3 — Run the Auto Detect Panels IQ Skill

On a large project with multiple panels, filling in panels manually takes real time. Hand the job to IQ instead.

Note: When the search completes, IQ returns a list of panels. Nothing is written to the project yet — you choose which panels to create and which to omit before saving.

Part 4 — Review, Remove, and Save the Detected Panel List

Best practice: Review the whole list before saving. Removing a panel from the list is a single click; cleaning up panels that were created in error is more work.

Part 5 — Verify the Completed Panel Schedule

With the panel schedule built, the project is ready for detailing.

Quick Reference

Troubleshooting