How to assemble a complete PDF document set: step-by-step guide

What the complete PDF set contains

A PDF document set is the deliverable that leaves the design office. It bundles the answers every other party needs: what is specified, which cables run where, what the works cost and how each board is built. When the drawings, the specification and the estimate are produced from one model, the set is a snapshot of a single design instead of a folder of files that quietly disagree.

A typical set is made of four documents, each answering a different question:

The value of the set is consistency. A specification, a schedule and an estimate that were prepared separately will drift apart with every revision, and the party who reads them last inherits the mismatch. Generating all four from one model removes that risk at the source.

This article is about producing those four as one coherent pack. The broader question of which documents a project needs at all is covered in the electrical documentation guide; here the focus is the step-by-step build.

Step 1: Freeze the model before you export

A document set is only as consistent as the model behind it. If circuits, cross-sections or loads are still changing, every export is a moving target. Before generating anything, bring the design to a state you are willing to sign off.

Design data

Confirm that every final circuit exists with a tag, a connected load and a protective device. Cross-sections should already pass the heating and voltage-drop checks, because those same values are printed in the schedule. A circuit that is still flagged as incomplete will carry that gap into the document set.

Layout data

Make sure routes are traced on the plan and lengths are measured, not guessed. Length drives voltage drop, and a rough figure distorts the schedule and the estimate that follow it. If a cable has no route, its row cannot be trusted.

Project and standards data

Set the standard that applies to the project — IEC, IS, ANSI or BS — and the project details that will appear in the document headers. Fixing this now avoids a set that cites the wrong basis.

Treat this step as a gate rather than a formality. A few minutes spent confirming the model saves a full regeneration later, and it is far cheaper than discovering the mismatch after the set has been sent to a contractor.

Step 2: Generate the documents from one place

With the model frozen, the set is generated rather than retyped. GorkyCAD builds single-line diagrams, plans, panels and cable journals from one model, and the same data feeds the specification, the schedule, the estimate and the panel passport.

1. Open the export view for the project and choose the PDF document set.
2. Select the documents to include: specification, cable schedule, estimate and panel passport.
3. Confirm the standard and project metadata that will be printed in the headers.
4. Generate the set — each document is filled from the live model, not typed into a template.
5. Review the preview and note anything the system flags as incomplete.

Because the set is generated, the four documents describe the same design at the same moment. That single property removes most of the mismatches that creep into hand-assembled packs, where each file has its own revision history and nobody is sure which copy is current.

If a document also needs to travel in an editable form, export the same data to XLSX alongside the PDF. The sheet and the signed PDF then come from one source, so procurement and the reviewer are looking at the same numbers.

Step 3: Check the specification

The specification states what the installation is made of. Read it as a checklist, not as a formality:

• Every item has a type, rating and quantity that matches the drawings.
• The standard named in the header is the one the project must comply with.
• Voltages, phases and supply characteristics match the design.
• Equipment shown in the panel layouts appears in the specification, and the reverse also holds.

The most common gap is silent omission: an item that exists in the drawings but never reached the specification. Reading the two side by side, methodically, is what catches it before the material is ordered.

Step 4: Check the cable schedule

The cable schedule is the picking list, and it must agree with the single-line diagram row for row:

• One row per cable, with no orphan rows and no missing circuits.
• Type, cores and cross-section present for every run.
• Lengths taken from the routed plan, since they drive the voltage-drop result.
• The protective device and its rating recorded for each circuit.
• Tags in the schedule equal the tags on the drawings and the panel labels.

Because the schedule is generated from the same model as the diagrams, a change to a circuit updates both. The check here is not to retype anything, but to confirm that no circuit was left unfinished before export.

Step 5: Check the estimate

The estimate turns quantities into cost, and its numbers should be traceable to the other documents in the set:

• Quantities match the specification and the schedule, with no double counting.
• Units are consistent — metres, pieces and hours are not mixed.
• Every item that appears in the drawings is priced; nothing is quietly omitted.
• The estimate carries the same project reference as the rest of the pack.

An estimate assembled by hand is where double counting hides: the same length counted once in the schedule and again in a material list. Deriving quantities from one model eliminates that class of error entirely.

Step 6: Check the panel passport

The panel passport is the document the assembler and the inspector work from, so it must describe the board as it will actually be built:

• Each board has its own passport with a clear identifier.
• Incoming and outgoing devices match the single-line diagram.
• Labels and circuit references match the cable schedule.
• Space for test results and sign-off is present for handover.

A passport is only useful if it matches the physical board. When the device list and the labels are pulled from the same model, the document on the bench and the design on screen cannot disagree.

Common mistakes and a final checklist

Most weak document sets fail for the same reasons: an export older than the last design change, an estimate edited outside the model, a passport that no longer matches the board. Run this short check before the set leaves your desk:

1. The model was frozen and signed off before export.
2. All four documents are present and dated.
3. The standard and project metadata are correct on every page.
4. Specification items match the drawings.
5. The cable schedule agrees with the single-line diagram.
6. Estimate quantities match the specification and the schedule.
7. Panel passports match the boards and the cable schedule.
8. The whole set was generated after the last design change.

If a document looks wrong, fix the model and regenerate the set instead of editing a PDF. Editing an export only hides the inconsistency until the next change, and by then the set may already be in someone else's hands.

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FAQ

How many documents are in a PDF set?

The core set is four: the specification, the cable schedule, the estimate and the panel passport. They are generated from the same model, so their numbers stay consistent.

Can I edit the PDF after export?

You can, but avoid it. Edit the project model and regenerate the set so every document remains consistent with the design.

Is the estimate a separate file per board?

The estimate is one document covering the works. Its quantities are derived from the same model as the specification and the schedule.

What if a document is flagged incomplete?

Resolve the flagged item in the model — a missing rating, length or device — then regenerate the whole set before release.

Related

• Electrical documentation guide
• Generate a cable schedule automatically
• GorkyCAD features
• Pricing and plans