When a Commercial Property Owner Should Call an Actual Electrician

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As a commercial property owner, you probably have maintenance personnel on staff to address some electrical issues, including light bulbs that need replacing, tripped circuits, and the like. While your staff may be very capable of handling many electrical issues on your property, there are times when you want to have an actual electrician fix certain problems instead. Note when this is and why calling a professional in these cases can be the recommended choice.

1. Parking lot lights

When parking lot lights go out, these need to be fixed immediately, as a safety issue and to ensure you don't face fines or fees from your city. However, parking lot lights are usually connected to outside utilities and public streetlights, and any electrical work that is done improperly can cause damage to the public systems. If your maintenance worker wires parking lot lights improperly or replaces the bulbs with something that pulls too much electricity to the lamp, this could cause shorts and other such damage to the other streetlights and their wiring. To avoid the cost of fixing those and any resultant fines for such damage, have an electrician manage any repair work on your parking lot lights.

2. New switchboards installed

When your company has a new switchboard installed, you want to have an electrician manage the wiring to the switchboard equipment as newer systems may require upgraded wiring that can provide the power they need to operate. An electrician can also work with the cabling to the internet provider, as many switchboards today are connected to the internet to send text messages to a person's email. This type of work may be outside the area of expertise of your maintenance worker, and a short in the switchboard may interrupt communication to your business and cause work stoppages and slowdowns.

3. Meter installations

When you need a new meter installed for your building, you want to have an electrician manage this for you, as any mistakes with the wiring or connection can cause the meter to read your energy consumption incorrectly. In turn, this can mean being charged for electricity that you're not actually using, or the meter may shut off the power supply if it cannot operate properly. The meter needs to be connected to the outside power supply and the circuits of your building, and it needs to be grounded properly as so much electricity is running through it at once. This, too, may be outside the area of expertise for your maintenance workers and should be left to an electrician.


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