DIN 18015-4:2014-05

This standard applies to residential buildings and buildings to be erected for office use and similar purposes (small businesses, doctor's surgeries) which are fitted with home and building electronic systems or prepared for their installation. It also applies analogously to existing buildings. It describes which specifications shall be agreed upon between the client (customer) and the electrical systems designer and defines minimum requirements for the installation of BUS technology. When planning the home and building electronic system it is appropriate to consider possible changes of use. The body responsible for this standard is NA 005-09-85 AA "Elektrische Anlagen in Wohngebäuden" ("Electrical installations in residential buildings") at DIN. The purpose of the exterior building envelope of a building often remains unchanged over many generations whereas the use of the building can change several times within a single generation. In the past, changes in the technical building installation and in many cases alterations were necessary in order to adapt the building to the changed use or changed needs of the residents. In contrast, with sophisticated home and building electronic systems it is possible to adapt the building to modified requirements without the need to perform constructional measures. This implies that locations for accommodation of sensors and actuators are created to connect them with a BUS line and that a power line to the locations for accommodation of actuators is installed. In certain cases and taking into account some restrictions, wireless transmission or the power line can be used for data transmission instead of the BUS line between sensors and actuators. These data transmissions are able to reach installations to which no new line can or shall be fed. Data transmission via the power line reaches devices to which a power line leads and requires additional provisions to prevent that the data telegrams leave the own apartment and disturb neighbouring systems or react in an unintentional way to messages of neighbouring systems. Furthermore, data transmission can lose its function when certain equipment is connected to capacitors. Wireless data transmission requires additional provisions to prevent that data telegrams are disturbed from the outside or disturb neighbouring systems. Parts of buildings can affect data transmission function and range. DIN 18015-4 describes the minimum requirements for the planning and installation of electrical installations in residential buildings, where home and building electronic systems for a higher-quality and flexible electric installation are desired or ordered. In the context of the installation principles (see Clause 4), minimum requirements for line installation, dimensioning of circuit dividers, installation sockets as well as positioning and arrangement of components are stated. Planning requirements for lighting according to 5.1 are included in Clause 5 "Operational functions and functional areas", Clause 6 "Display and control units" and Clause 7 "Interfaces". These clauses describe what shall be specified at the planning stage in agreement with the owner's requests and specifications. In the clauses, possible functions and characteristics are identified which should be considered in the planning stage. These lists shall provide orientation for the planner and owner for each object to be planned individually. The planning result shall also be entered in a configuration scheme in which the desired functions for the execution are contained. With careful planning, the configuration scheme is designed so that future functions are already provided. The configuration scheme, on the one hand, serves as a basis for the configuration by the planner and electrical engineer (electrician), on the other hand as a documentation of the system functions. An example of configuration and addressing scheme is given in Annex A as an orientation for the planner and for the electrical engineer.