For whom · Specifiers
For architects and specifiers: specifying 1Home in your projects
Home automation is either specified or endured. Specified, it fits in a few lines and three technical reservations. Endured, it arrives at the end of the site with no board space and no network — and the client pays the difference.
You do not need to become an integrator to specify well. Three decisions are enough, and they are taken early: where the board lives and how wide it is, where low-voltage routes run, and who owns commissioning.
01Physical constraints
- Board width: a wired installation consumes modules — plan a free row.
- Enclosure ventilation: a server generates heat.
- Wired network to the board: Wi-Fi does not replace a cable for board equipment.
- Back boxes for wall panels: depth, height, power and network in the same box.
02What to write in the specification
- Provide a gateway opening the installation to third-party platforms, with modules and power in the board.
- Provide an IP interface or router on the bus, and a wired network socket at the board.
- Require handover of the installation configuration file to the client at completion.
- Require function naming in plain language, structured by rooms.
- Require room-by-room acceptance before completion.
03Where 1Home sits in the electrical and low-voltage package
The gateway is a board module: it occupies DIN-rail modules, needs a power supply and a network point. It belongs to the electrical and low-voltage package, not to the audio-video one.
| Item | Package | Reservation to plan |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway / server | Electrical — low voltage | DIN-rail modules + power + network |
| IP interface or router for the bus | Electrical — low voltage | DIN-rail modules |
| Wall panel | Electrical — second fix | Back box + power + network |
| Platform controller (home hub) | Low voltage | Socket and network in the technical room |
04Coordinating with the smart-home integrator
Responsibilities deserve to be written down before works start: projects are lost at the interface between packages, not inside them.
| Topic | Who decides | When |
|---|---|---|
| Ecosystem choice | Client + integrator | Concept / design development |
| Technical reservations | Architect | Design development / detailed design |
| Gateway sizing | Integrator + distributor | Detailed design / site |
| Naming and structuring | Integrator | Site |
| Acceptance | Architect + client | Before completion |
05Datasheets and specification material
Dimensional and electrical characteristics for each reference appear on its sheet in the catalogue. We supply the manufacturer's current technical documents on request, in a format usable as a specification appendix.
05Five lines worth carrying into the specification
A specification that mentions « smart home » and nothing else transfers the entire decision to the installer, late, when the walls are closed. These five lines cost nothing to write at design stage and protect the project afterwards.
- The bus route. State that a dedicated bus cable runs to every point that may become controllable, whether or not it is used on day one.
- Board space. Reserve modular width in the distribution board for the gateway and its power supply — retrofitting a full board is the single most expensive surprise.
- A network point at the board. A gateway needs a wired network connection where it lives, not where the router happens to be.
- Handover of the project file. Require that the ETS project, or its equivalent, be delivered to the client. Without it, any later change means rediscovering the installation.
- Named responsibility for commissioning. Say who programs and who receives — it is the line that prevents the classic gap between the electrician and the integrator.
None of these lines names a brand, and that is deliberate: they keep the project open rather than locking it to a supplier chosen at sketch stage.
Frequently asked questions
At which project stage should home automation be decided?
At concept stage for the principle, at design development for the technical reservations. After that, every decision costs a chase or a workaround.