Choosing a commercial electrician requires some special attention for a variety of reasons. The work can easily get very large in scope, and it’s likely you will want to establishing a good rapport with a professional, reliable electrician who you can call on in the future. The right electrician commercial properties and organizations choose can make the difference in creating a safe, modern, and well-functioning work environment.
Identify Your Commercial Electrician Needs
When beginning the search for an electrician commercial property managers and business owners should first take a few moments to think about the short-term and long-term goals they may have. Will you need ongoing, general work in the future, or are you really just focusing on one specific project right now? Do you expect to develop a working relationship with the electrician—and if so, what sort of personality and communication style would make you feel most confident in the work? It helps to identify your expectations and needs before contacting the electrician, commercial work especially making this a significant decision.
Electrician Commercial Expertise
While it helps to look for all-around knowledge and skill in an electrician commercial and otherwise, many professionals have some strong areas of experience or particular areas of expertise. The best electrician for commercial purposes may vary depending on your needs, especially if you mostly want to hire someone for a specific purpose like installing audio/video components, a network infrastructure, or security alarm systems.
In particular, you can search for experts in a field in several ways:
- Ask electricians about how often they do the type of work you need done
- Check references and see if the area of electrical work is mentioned in reviews
- Search the electrician’s website to see if the area of expertise is referenced
- References and Reputation
Take a moment to research candidates and actually call on references. This will save you from the unwanted surprise of hiring an electrician who turns out to lack experience doing the work.
Word of mouth remains a popular way to find your residential electrician, but businesses need to do an even greater amount of due diligence in researching the background of an electrician, commercial work being specifically verified.
Ask potential electricians about their licensing and insurance, conduct a thorough check online, and make sure to call on previous commercial clients to ask about their experience.
Interviewing Candidates
The electrician you hire will be at your place of business performing valuable and important work. As the person who made the hire, you could bear some responsibility and credit for the quality of work performed. For the best working relationship, you should call or meet with the electrician and their staff—if various employees of theirs will be doing the actual work, you may even want to find a way to talk to multiple people at the company instead of just the one person who answers the phones.
Have a Plan for Accountability
Part of your hiring process should include establishing a plan for checking up on the work to be performed. This can be especially important if you plan on retaining the electrician for commercial work on an ongoing basis. Talk about what sort of communication you can expect leading up to, during, and after the work.
