All of ES Schémas, step by step

Getting started

First steps

ES Schémas draws the electrical installation of a building and produces its dossier from it: layout plans, single-line diagrams, RGIE checks and PDF.

A project is built in four steps, in the order of the “STEPS” bar: you draw the building, place the components in it, set up the boards, then link each component to its circuit. The documents (“Calculations”, “Checks”, “Dossier”) and the PDF, single-line diagrams included, are derived from this model: there is nothing to redraw.

The path of a project:

1. On the home screen, tap “New project”. The first time, sign in with Google, Microsoft or your email address: every project belongs to your account. Then start your company’s trial (“Licence”). Only the name is required; the client, the site and the EAN can be filled in later.
2. “1 Building”: draw the walls, place doors and windows, add the floors. Rooms are detected automatically.
3. “2 Components”: place sockets, light points and switches from the palette, then link the switches to what they control with the “Control” tool.
4. “3 Boards”: fill in the distribution network, add a board and its protective devices (RCDs, circuit breakers).
5. “4 Assignment”: choose a circuit in the palette, then tap everything on the plan that works with it.
6. Look at “Checks”, then generate the dossier with “PDF”.

Everything is saved automatically on the device with each change: there is no “Save” button. The status bar, at the bottom of the studio, shows “Saved · rev. N”.

In this guide, “tap” also means clicking with the mouse or the trackpad on Mac and Windows.

Projects, archives and trash

The home screen lists the projects on this device. Each card has a “…” menu to manage them.

• “New project”: name (required), installation type (dwelling, tertiary, common areas), client, site and meter EAN. The project starts with an empty ground floor.
• “Search for a project, client or address” filters the list, ignoring accents.
• A card’s “…” menu: “Rename”, “Duplicate” (creates “… — copy”), “Export the archive”, “Move to Trash”.
• “Trash” shows the projects you removed; “Restore” puts them back in the list.
• “Import an archive” opens an .esschema file. Importing always creates a copy named “… — import”: it never overwrites an existing project.
• “Default installer”: your signature, used in the title block of every new project. The printed name, enterprise number and contact details are those of your licence (“Licence”).

An .esschema archive contains the whole project. It serves as a backup, or to pass a project to another device without going through sync. On iPad and Android, exporting opens the share sheet; on Mac and Windows, a save window.

Finding your way around the studio

Once a project is open: the header, the steps and documents bar, the page, then the status bar.

• Header: “Projects” closes the project; “Undo” and “Redo”; “Version history” goes back to an earlier version; “PDF” generates the dossier; “Laser distance meter”, “Room scan”, “Orientation” (tablets), “Inspector” and “Help”.
• “STEPS” bar: “1 Building › 2 Components › 3 Boards › 4 Assignment”. Changing step puts the tool back on “Selection”.
• “DOCUMENTS” bar: “Calculations”, “Checks”, “Dossier”.
• Tool rail to the left of the plan, with the zoom and “Centre” at the bottom.
• Inspector on the right: properties of the selection, displayed layers and list of rooms.
• Box at the bottom left of the plan: what the active tool expects (for example “Choose the second point · Esc to cancel”).
• Status bar: saving, number of levels, circuits and devices.

Each step edits a single layer of the project. At the Building step, the electrical layer is shown read-only; at steps 2 to 4, it is the building. A padlock above the plan reminds you of this: you won’t move a wall by mistake while placing a socket.

The steps

1 · Building

Walls, doors and windows, staircases, guardrails, dimensions, rooms and floors.

Drawing the walls:

1. Choose the “Wall” tool and, above the plan, the “Wall thickness” (7 to 30 cm).
2. Drag from one point to the next: the walls follow on from each other. “Snapping” attaches to ends, to walls and to alignments.
3. After each wall, the “Last wall” box lets you type the exact “Length (m)”, measured on the left or right face, then “Apply”. The starting point stays fixed: the next wall starts again from the new end.
4. “Selection” or Esc ends the drawing.

Editing a wall:

• Dragging an end handle moves that end; dragging the body of the wall moves it with the walls connected to it.
• Tap the green dimension of a selected wall to enter its length.
• The inspector offers: “Parallel wall…”, “Thickness (m)”, “Axis offset (m)”, “Split the wall in two”, “Detach wall”, “Merge walls”, “Lock movement” and “Delete the wall”.

“Door” and “Window”: tap a wall to place the opening; it is selected straight away, with the inspector open. Width, height, sill height, opening direction and roller shutter are set in the inspector; the ring of actions around a selected opening lets you resize it, flip it, centre it or place an identical one. Drag it along the wall to move it.

“Staircase” and “Guardrail”: drag a model from the catalogue onto the plan, or tap the model then the plan. The catalogue shows in the inspector (“Inspector” button if it is hidden). A guardrail is extended by pulling an end; pulling a segment adds a vertex. “Dimension” adds a measurement between two points.

“Multi-selection” (above the plan): draw around an area or tap the elements, then drag the group, rotate it, flip it, duplicate it in columns and rows, lock it or delete it.

Rooms: they are recalculated with each change to the walls. Tap inside a room to give it a type and a name, set its height and whether its area is shown. “Detect rooms”, in the “Floors” menu, runs the detection again.

Floors: “Displayed floor” chooses the level. The “Floors” menu lets you rename, move, delete or add a floor. “Add a floor…” can copy the displayed floor: walls (or outer walls only), openings, staircases, dimensions, texts and even electrical components (they arrive without a circuit), and create the stairwells.

2 · Components and controls

Place sockets, light points, switches and appliances, then link the controls.

Placing a component:

1. In the palette at the bottom of the plan, choose a family (“Common”, “Lighting”, “Switches”, “Sockets”, “Appliances”, “Energy”, “Other”) then a symbol.
2. Tap the plan: the component is placed, attached to the nearest wall if snapping is on. The tool goes back to “Selection” and the component stays selected.
3. Set its properties in the inspector: “Symbol”, “Quantity” (lamps, multiple sockets), “Designation”, power, manufacturer, model, “Splash-proof”…

Around a selected component, a ring of actions lets you rotate it by 45°, edit its text, open its properties, duplicate it or delete it. Drag the symbol to move it.

Linking a switch to what it controls:

1. Choose the “Control” tool.
2. Tap the switch, then the lamp it controls (or drag from one to the other). Two linked lamps form a group that lights up together.
3. You can change floor in between: a control can link two levels.

A link is removed by double-clicking it with the “Control” tool, or with “Unlink” in the inspector. If the two components are on different circuits, the app asks you to choose a single circuit for the group.

“Cable” draws the route of a cable: first choose the “Cable circuit” in the inspector, then tap two points per section.

The palette’s “Boards” family places the project’s boards on the plan: choose one, then tap its location. Its symbol can then be dragged like a component; “Remove from the plan” in the inspector takes it off the plan without deleting the board. Automatic cable lengths start from this point.

Earthing plan: place the earth electrode and the earth disconnector (“Device” tool, “Other” family: Earthing, Earth disconnector; only one disconnector per installation, it is not copied with a floor), then choose the “Earth” tool. Tap the earth electrode to start, then the route point by point: tapping the earth disconnector ends the conductor there. Both symbols attract the tap and are circled as long as they can be tapped. Esc or “Finish conductor” ends it at the last point. The conductor appears in green/yellow, with its cross-section, on the layout plan and in the PDF (“Earthing and safety” layer); select it to change its cross-section or delete it.

3 · Boards and circuits

The distribution network, the boards, their protective devices and their circuits.

Setting up an installation:

1. In the “Distribution network” banner, choose the “Network” (230 V L–N, 3N400 V…), the “Earthing system”, the “DSO”, the “Service connection (A)” and the “EAN”. These values feed the main board and the title block.
2. “+ Board” adds a board. Tap its header to rename it or choose its supply (network incomer, or outgoing circuit of another board for a sub-board).
3. “+ Add a module” adds an RCD, a circuit breaker, a surge protective device, a meter, an impulse relay, a dimmer or a home automation module: rating, poles, curve, sensitivity and outgoing cable are set in its properties.
4. Tap an outgoing circuit row for its actions: “Downstream” (adds a module protected by this one), “Properties”, “Move”, “Delete”.

References (A, B, C… or A1, A2…) are assigned automatically and recalculated when the order changes; a “Forced reference” is kept. The format is chosen in “Installation”. A circuit’s description can stay automatic: it is derived from the assigned components and the rooms served.

Organising:

• Dragging a row onto another places it downstream (long press first on a tablet). The target turns green if it can be dropped there.
• “Move”: up, down, or “Move to a board…” keeping the upstream device and the assignments.
• “Edit several”: tick outgoing circuits, then “Edit the selection…” to change the cable or the protection in one go.
• “Layout”: the arrangement of the modules on the DIN rail, used in the PDF dossier.

“Auto (layout plan)” length, in a circuit’s properties: the cable length is derived from the plan and follows every change. It is the longest route from the board to the component furthest away on the circuit (or to the sub-board it supplies), at right angles along the walls. Added to it are one ceiling height per floor, counting the board’s floor, then the height of the component: switch at 1.20 m, socket at 25 cm, light point on the ceiling. The total is rounded up to the next 10 cm; the “Vertical rises” and “Spare cable length” entered are added. First place the board on the plan (“Board on the plan” in its properties, or the palette’s “Boards” family); components that are not placed are not counted. “Edit several” switches several outgoing circuits to Auto in one go.

4 · Circuit assignment

Link each component on the plan to the circuit that supplies it.

1. In the palette at the bottom, choose the board then the current circuit (search helps on large boards).
2. Tap everything on the plan that works with this circuit. Tapping a component of the circuit again removes it.
3. Move on to the next circuit. The “N unassigned” counter shows what is left; it becomes “Everything is assigned”.

Colours and rules:

• Green: current circuit. Orange: no circuit. Grey: another circuit.
• A component already on another circuit: the app offers “Move to …” or “Remove from circuit …”.
• Components linked by a control always change circuit together.
• For a home automation module, choose the output used.

“Edit the circuit’s points” lists the points in order: you can reorder them (the references are renumbered), remove one or show it on the plan.

5 · Tertiary documents

External influences, escape routes and safety installations of a tertiary project.

Step 5 only appears for a “Tertiary” project. Each document of the dossier has its section there: on the left, its status (complete or items to complete); in the centre, its content; on the right, its sheets as they print. Changes apply straight away and can be undone as elsewhere.

The three documents:

• Table of external influences: name the locations, tick “Public” for those open to the public, then choose a “Preset” taken from the RGIE examples or the codes one by one. Without specific influences, the non-specific influences of table 9.1 apply.
• Escape routes: the role of each location (escape route, public of 50 people or more, difficult evacuation), the exits door by door and the assembly point.
• Safety installations: each installation with its autonomy, its source and its reference standard, the critical installations, and the conclusion, written yourself or drafted from the evacuation time.

The same information can also be edited in the inspector of a zone (influences, public, evacuation) and of a door (exit).

Documents

Calculations

Estimated load, current and voltage drop for each circuit.

For each circuit: the “Load” (W), the “Current” (A) and the “Voltage drop” (%). “Unknown” means that a piece of data is missing: the power of the appliances, or the length or cross-section of the cable. Enter it in the component’s inspector or the circuit’s properties.

An “Auto (layout plan)” length goes straight into the voltage drop. It stays unknown as long as the board is not placed on the plan or no component of the circuit is.

Checks

The dossier’s RGIE checks: what needs fixing, then what needs checking.

Findings are sorted by urgency: “To fix” first, then “To check” (missing information or professional review needed), then what complies. Each finding cites the article concerned.

A finding tied to an element shows “Show on the plan”: tapping it opens the plan at the Components step with the element selected. Findings about the project as a whole (identification of the site, labelling…) are corrected in the title block or the boards.

Dossier and PDF

Title block, page layout, choice of sheets, export of the PDF and the archive.

1. “Dossier” page: tap “Title block information…” for the installer, the inspection body, the site, the client, the signatures and the logo.
2. Set the “Dossier layout”: A4 or A3 landscape, “Dossier language”, enlarged symbols, lower floor as reference, control links, optional appendices. The dossier can be written in French, Dutch or English whatever the app’s language: by default, it follows the app.
3. In “PDF sheets”, tick the sheets to include and change their order: numbers and cross-references follow.
4. Tap “PDF” (header) or “Open the PDF”: the dossier is prepared then opens in the device’s PDF viewer (Preview on Mac, Quick Look on iPad, the default viewer on Windows and Android), from where you can print, share or save it.

The dossier can contain:

• Layout plans (one per floor), single-line diagrams, board layouts and terminal blocks.
• Connection to the network and controls.
• Optional: functional links and terminals, symbol legend, checks and calculation notes.
• Tertiary project: table of external influences, plans and list of escape routes, list of safety and critical installations.

Tertiary project: these three documents are completed at step 5, Tertiary documents. When something is missing from them, the Dossier page says so and “Complete” opens the document concerned.

The single-line diagrams (“Single-line diagram · board”) show all the circuits and their continuations, generated from the electrical model: to change them, edit the boards (step 3) or the assignments (step 4). Upstream protective devices repeated from one sheet to the next are the same devices.

“Save the .esschema archive” exports the complete project; “Import an archive” opens a copy of one.

Tools

Laser distance meter

A Bosch Bluetooth laser distance meter sends its measurements straight into the app.

1. Switch on the meter and turn on its Bluetooth.
2. Tap “Laser distance meter” in the header, then “Search for a laser distance meter” and “Connect”.
3. Measure: the value fills the length field you are editing. With no active field, it becomes the length of the last wall drawn.

Supported models: Bosch GLM or PLR with Bluetooth (GLM 50 C, GLM 100-25 C, PLR 30 C…). The meter is remembered and reconnects on its own. “Forget this meter” erases it.

Room scan (iPhone)

Import a room scanned with the iPhone’s LiDAR (ES Schémas Mobile).

1. On an iPhone with LiDAR (12 Pro or later), open ES Schémas Mobile, Scans tab, and scan the rooms.
2. In the studio, open the level and tap “Room scan”. On iPad, the iPhone sees this iPad as long as the window stays open: in the scan, tap the iPad to send it. On Mac, Windows or Android, share the scan file to this device, then “Choose scan files…”.
3. Check the preview: orientation, “Straighten on the walls”, outer wall thickness, names of the recognised rooms.
4. Tap “Import”. Walls, openings and room names arrive on the displayed floor, selected: drag them to adjust them.

The import is undone in one go with “Undo”. Doors and windows too far from a wall are ignored. No Internet connection is needed: the iPhone and the iPad talk to each other directly, over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

Sync between devices

Find your projects on Mac, iPad, Android and Windows with your Google, Microsoft or email account.

1. On the home screen, tap “Sign in”, then “Continue with Google”, “Continue with Microsoft” or enter your email address and your password.
2. If there is no account for this address, the app offers to create one: choose a password of at least 8 characters, then enter the six-digit code received by email (valid for 15 minutes).
3. Projects then sync on their own, a few seconds after each change and every minute. Only the changed parts are sent: moving a wall transmits a few kilobytes, even in a project with heavy attachments. “Sync” forces an immediate upload.

• What is synced: projects, their names, duplicates, imports, the trash and restores.
• What is not: the default installer’s signature, kept on each device for your account.
• “Versions”: the synced versions of a project (all those from the last 30 days, then one per day); “Restore” makes it the most recent version, the current version staying in the history.
• “Sign out” stops sync and hides the projects: they stay on the device, linked to your account, and come back when you sign in.
• Each account has its own space: nobody else sees your projects. A Google account, a Microsoft account and an email account stay separate, even with the same address. Your projects are linked to your account: sign in to see them. Once signed in, everything also works offline, even after closing the app.

In case of a conflict (the same project changed on two devices without a sync between the two), no version is lost: yours is kept in a copy “… — local conflict” to compare.

Gestures and shortcuts

Get around the plan with your finger, the mouse and the keyboard.

Tablet:

• Move the plan: with “Selection”, drag from an empty area; or drag with two fingers.
• Zoom: pinch; or “Zoom in” / “Zoom out”; “Centre” fits the whole floor.
• Move an object: hold it for a moment (a small vibration), then drag. A quick drag from an object moves the plan.
• Putting down a second finger cancels the editing gesture in progress.
• Long press at the Assignment step: add a missing component to the current circuit.
• Boards page: long press on an outgoing circuit to drag it.

Mouse and trackpad:

• Move the plan: scroll wheel or trackpad scrolling, or drag from an empty area.
• Zoom: pinch on the trackpad, or ⌘ + scroll wheel (Ctrl + scroll wheel on Windows).
• Right-click at the Assignment step: add a missing component.
• Ctrl-click in multi-selection: remove an element from the selection.

Keyboard:

• Esc: end the drawing in progress and go back to “Selection”; close a form.
• Backspace or Delete: delete the selection.
• ⌘Z / Ctrl+Z: undo. ⌘⇧Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z (or Ctrl+Y): redo.
• ⌘= / Ctrl+= and ⌘- / Ctrl+-: zoom; ⌘0 / Ctrl+0: fit the plan to the window.
• Arrows: move the selection (Shift for a fine step). ⌘D / Ctrl+D: duplicate; ⌘A / Ctrl+A: select everything on the level.
• In a text field, these shortcuts act on the text, not on the project.
• ⌘W / Ctrl+W: close the project.
• F1 (fn + F1 on a Mac laptop keyboard): open the help.
• Enter: confirm a form.

Good to know

Licence

Your company’s trial, the printed identity, your devices and your team.

Starting the trial:

1. Sign in, then tap “Licence” on the home screen.
2. Enter the “Enterprise number (CBE)”, then tap “Look up in the CBE”.
3. Choose the “Name to print” and the “Address to print” among the official data, fill in the phone number and e-mails, confirm that you are authorised to represent the company, then tap “Register the company”: the free trial starts, or as soon as the check is complete when the official data is incomplete.

• The company’s name, enterprise number, address, phone number and email are printed on every document. They are locked from the subscription on: write to us to change them. Signature, date and logo stay specific to each project.
• Company already registered: send a request to its manager, who accepts it in “Licence” › “Team”. There the manager also chooses, among colleagues, the users of the company’s licences.
• Each user works on two devices in total, whatever they are (Windows PC, Mac, iPad, Android tablet); ES Schémas Mobile on a phone is not counted. To move to another device, remove one in “Licence” › “Devices” (three times per 30 days at most).
• The licence is checked each time the app opens when the network allows it. Offline, it stays valid for 7 days; after that, connect again and tap “Check now”.

Without a valid licence (trial over, subscription stopped, offline for too long), projects open read-only: you can view them, export their archive and manage the trash, but you can no longer change them and the PDF is no longer generated. The “Read-only” banner gives the reason; “Licence” shows how to fix it.

Alpha version and limitations

What the app does, and what it does not guarantee yet.

• Sharing a project with other people is not available yet: use the .esschema archive.
• Importing a plan image as a background is not possible yet.
• Hiding a layer on screen does not remove it from the PDF.

Frequently asked questions

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