Electrical Wiring & Commercial Electrical Rough-In
As a business owner, you have many things to keep track of. Between managing your employees, keeping inventory, and meeting with vendors to plan for future expansions, you probably don’t have much time left over to focus on electrical wiring & commercial electrical rough-in. However, if you neglect the electrical needs of your commercial space, it could put both your employees and visitors at risk. Fortunately, if you hire an electrician for your rough-in project, you won’t have to worry about any of these things.
An electrician will be able to see the big picture of your commercial space and identify all the places that require new electrical services or circuits. They can also handle everything from installing new circuit breakers in a subpanel to running new electrical cables through walls and ceilings. Read on to learn more about what an electrician can do for you when it comes to your commercial electrical rough-in project.
Identify New Services and Circuits
When you start building a new commercial space, you’ll need to install new electrical services to power the lights, appliances, and other electrical devices in your building. However, you may not always know what types of services you’ll need to install. For example, if you’re planning to install a new retail space and have a designated area for a cashier, you’ll likely need to install a new circuit for their register.
If you don’t hire an electrician to identify your services and circuits during the rough-in phase, you’ll have to shut down your construction site and hire another contractor to come in and do the job after the walls are up.
Install New Breaker Panels and subpanels
During the electrical rough-in phase, your electrician will install new subpanels or breaker panels throughout your commercial space. A subpanel is a smaller panel that handles just a few circuits. Breaker panels, on the other hand, are large panels that control the power for an entire section of the building.
If you’re building a new space from the ground up, you may want to consider installing a subpanel for each section of the building. That way, if one section fails, you can shut off that subpanel and keep the other areas running.
Install New Wiring
Whenever you’re building a new space, it’s a good idea to replace all the electrical wiring in the walls and ceilings. This will prevent any power issues that could be caused by aging wiring. If you want to keep your building safe, you’ll want to make sure the wiring adheres to current building codes. Your commercial electrician can help you choose the right wiring type, like CL-2 or CL-3 wiring, depending on your local building codes.
Wiring is typically covered in rubber or metal sheathing to protect it from damage. However, when workers are sawing through ceilings and drilling into walls, these areas become exposed, which makes them vulnerable to short circuits. Your electrician can install new wiring and include surge protectors to help protect it from short circuits.
Install Surge Protection
You may have surge protectors installed on your circuit boards that are protecting your circuits from surges in power. However, these circuit boards are not protecting the rest of your building. Your commercial electrician can install new surge protectors throughout your building. These surge protectors will help protect your circuits from surges caused by nearby lightning strikes and utility company issues. They will also help your circuit boards from overheating, which could cause a fire.
Install Existing Equipment Grounding
If you’re converting a space or building out a new section of your building, you’ll need to install grounding to protect your electrical equipment. If you neglect to install grounding, your equipment will be at risk of being damaged by power surges or even causing a fire in your building. You will want to install grounding on the electrical panels, breakers, and equipment, like your refrigeration units. Your commercial electrician can help you decide where to install grounding and how to do it.
Conclusion
An electrician can help you select the right wiring type, install new circuits and subpanels, and install grounding to protect your electrical equipment. If you are in the process of building out a new commercial space, you should hire an electrician for your rough-in project. An electrician will be able to see the big picture of your commercial space and identify all the places that require new electrical services or circuits.
