Management and Planning

Management and Planning — Field Notes

Introduction

The Management and Planning domain (1.5.1) tests two things: your ability to communicate accurately and ethically about work you perform, and your command of the correct names and units for the electrical quantities, devices, and tests you work with every day. On a closed-book exam, these are pure recall — there is no calculation shortcut and no context clue, so you either know the SI unit symbol or you do not.

The Four Core Electrical Units

Commit these exactly — including the symbol case:

Metric Prefixes (smallest to largest)

Ohm's Law

V = I × R → I = V/R → R = V/I. Units: Volts, Amperes, Ohms. Always state the full unit on a test report.

Key Device Names

• Transformer — transfers energy by induction, steps voltage up or down
• Current transformer (CT) — steps down primary current proportionally for relay/metering input (not the same as a potential transformer)
• Relay — senses abnormal conditions, trips a breaker or initiates alarm; does not itself interrupt current
• Circuit breaker — makes, carries, AND interrupts fault current; resettable
• Fuse — one-time interruption device; must be replaced after operation
• Busbar (bus) — uninsulated distribution conductor inside switchgear/switchboard
• Equipment grounding conductor — bonds non-current-carrying metal parts to ground (not the neutral/grounded conductor)

Key Test Names (exact wording matters)

NICET Code of Ethics — Reporting Obligations

1. Report accurately — record results exactly as observed, regardless of what a supervisor expects or requests
2. Work within your level — Level I requires direct supervision; stop work if the supervisor leaves
3. No misrepresentation — never sign off on work you did not perform; never falsify or alter records
4. Disclose conditions — record calibration status, ambient conditions, and any factors that could affect result validity; a bare "PASS — 850 MΩ" with no context is insufficient

Exam Traps

• Symbol case matters: Hz not hz, Ω not ohm in unit symbols, A not amp, V not volt
• Mega vs milli: M (mega, ×10⁶) vs m (milli, ×10⁻³) — the same letter, opposite case, wildly different magnitude
• CT vs PT: current transformer steps down current; potential transformer steps down voltage — do not swap
• Relay vs circuit breaker: relay senses and signals; circuit breaker interrupts — a relay alone does not interrupt the main current path
• Primary vs secondary injection: primary = full current path including CTs; secondary = CT secondary circuit only

Practice Questions

1. A test report records 0.0035 MΩ. Express this in Ohms and kilohms. → 0.0035 × 1,000,000 = 3,500 Ω = 3.5 kΩ
2. I = V/R. A 120 V source across 24 Ω. Current = ? → 120/24 = 5 A
3. A supervisor asks a Level I technician to record "no anomalies" for a test the technician was not present for. What must the technician do? → Refuse — recording work not personally performed is misrepresentation under the NICET Code of Ethics

Summary

Management and Planning tests two skills: (1) exact recall of electrical unit names, symbols, and prefixes — know them cold including case; (2) ethical reporting — accurate, complete, honest, with all relevant context documented.