What is a Commercial Electrician?

A commercial electrician is one that works primarily in the commercial space and has the experience and expertise for this type of installation work.

Commercial buildings are generally arranged into six main areas

1. Industrial
2. Retail
3. Offices
4. Healthcare
5. Leisure
6. Data Centres

Industrial Electrical Installations

These type of buildings generally include warehouses and factories. The works are a combination of standard installations such as office power, containment and lighting. However there is usually also the added complication of installation in large, high open spaces such as a warehouse floor. In addition there might be a dense population of equipment, machinery or plant. Industrial electrical installations usually require additional expertise and experience due to the increased level of danger in some areas

Retail Electrical Installations

Retail generally refers to shops and stores. This can be a stand alone store or part of a larger shopping centre. Retail electrical installations can range from very small shops to the larger department style stores. The larger installations being the actual shopping centres themselves.

The challenge with retail spaces are the additional ceiling heights in many shops and the lack of accessible routes. For aesthetic reasons most of the routes are hidden permanently behind decorative walls or above solid ceilings. In addition the stores have set operation schedules that cant be changed so the majority of works is usually undertaken out of hours

Office Electrical Installations

The office electrical installation is the one that most people are familiar with. The majority of the works is within a low level open space that serves employee desks, meetings room and welfare areas. The routes consist of either false floor. false ceiling or plastic trunking mounted on the walls. Furthermore offices are generally installed with a dense amount of sockets due to the collection of desks used to maximise the space

Healthcare Electrical Installations

The buildings in this sector consist of Hospitals, Care Homes, Medical Centres and Clinics. Due to the wide range of buildings employed in the healthcare sector the sector covers almost every electrical installation you can imagine. For example a clinic may be very similar to an office with false ceilings and great access. However a care home might be a combination of old houses with solid walls, ceilings and no routes at all

However the common factor in healthcare electrical installations is that it always contains the public who are in the care of the building. Working around the staff and patients or care home residents is always a challenge. Furthermore schedules are not easy to change and in some cases residents cant be moved from their rooms easily.

Leisure Electrical installations

The buildings in this sector include Hotels, Pubs, Restaurants, Cafes, Stadiums, Cinemas and Entertainment venues. In a similar manner to healthcare these buildings ranges in almost unlimited possibilities. These buildings are the type where you would least expect to find easy access and installation routes. The sector is based around ambience and desirable spaces so electrical installation works in the leisure sector has to work around this

Data Centre Electrical Installations

The data centre sector involves a highly populated set of offices, rooms and data centre halls. Each hall will contain hundreds of individual cabinets. In addition each cabinet will require a high specification of electrical requirements. Furthermore the installation will require connection to a range of backup and fail safe systems. Although densely populated the data centre installation projects are at times the simplest to design plan and undertake

What do I need to know when hiring a commercial electrician?

As you can see from the above commercial and residential electricians are not the same. Thus they are hired to complete different types of electrical jobs.

The experience in each of these sectors is what sets apart a commercial electrician. Furthermore not only their experience of installing but knowing the requirements and expectations of clients in each of these sectors

When hiring a commercial electrician to complete a job they can take care of the following:

• Bigger scope of work. Commercial electricians generally deal with more complex jobs that deal with more extensive electrical work. If you have a bigger electrical job that needs to get done for your business, a commercial electrician is who you will want to hire.
• Wiring location. Homes and commercial buildings have different wiring locations. You can usually find electrical wiring in the ceiling, walls, and attics of homes. However, for commercial buildings, the wiring can be found running through plastic or metal tubing along the walls. This wiring location in commercial buildings are different in every situations so a wider range of knowledge is required
• Power requirements. Commercial buildings have more extensive power requirements compared to residential projects. While a home might have power running through one wire, a commercial building will commonly require three “legs” at a higher voltage.
• Specific training. Commercial electricians receive specialized training in order to complete complex commercial electrical jobs properly and safely. This training is different than the training a residential electrician will receive. This is why you will want to be sure to hire a properly trained commercial electrician. The training and certification is certified under the Institution of Engineering and Technology

Commercial Electrician Summary

As the above explains there is a wide range of possibilities when it comes to commercial electrician installations. Our team is able to advise you on the best approach and requirements for your specific project

If you have a requirement in the above sectors please call us and we will be happy to assist

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