Commercial Electrician for Berkshire & the Thames Valley
I look after the electrics in shops, offices, workshops and mixed-use property across Slough, Windsor, Maidenhead and the surrounding towns. Three-phase boards, fit-outs, inspection reports and PAT testing — planned around your trading hours and certified to BS 7671.
Commercial Work I Take On
Commercial premises fail differently to houses. The installation is usually older than the business occupying it, it has been altered a dozen times by whoever was cheapest at the time, and nobody has the paperwork. So the first thing I do on a commercial job is find out what is actually there — the supply, the board, the earthing and bonding — before I quote a single new circuit.
From there it is straightforward. I do the work, I test it, and I hand you certification you can give to an insurer, a landlord or an inspecting officer without it being sent back. If something needs the power off, we agree when — normally outside your trading hours.
Every commercial job is carried out and certified to the current edition of BS 7671 by a NAPIT approved, fully insured electrician.
What That Covers
- Three-phase and single-phase distribution boards
- Sub-mains, isolators and dedicated plant circuits
- Shop, office and unit fit-outs and strip-outs
- Commercial lighting, LED upgrades and controls
- Power for tills, servers, kitchens and machinery
- Commercial EICRs and remedial work
- Portable appliance (PAT) testing and asset registers
- Fault finding and out-of-hours breakdown cover
Who I Work For
Most of my commercial work comes from small businesses and the people who own the buildings they sit in. The job is rarely a clean new-build — it is nearly always working with what is already there.
Shops and Salons
Retail units, takeaways, barbers and salons — extra power where the layout changed, lighting that actually sells the space, and boards brought up to standard at a changeover.
Offices and Studios
Desk power and data containment, lighting and controls, and board work planned around the working day so nobody loses a morning to a shutdown.
Workshops and Units
Three-phase machine supplies, isolators, sub-mains and the earthing checks that older industrial units usually need before anything else gets added.
Landlords and Agents
Commercial and mixed-use portfolios kept compliant — inspection reports, remedials and certification handed over in a form your insurer will accept.
Three-Phase Supplies and Distribution Boards
A lot of commercial units in Slough and along the Bath Road trading estates run on a three-phase supply feeding a board that has been added to for twenty years. New machinery goes in, a circuit gets borrowed, and eventually the board runs out of ways or the protection no longer matches what is downstream of it. That is usually the point somebody calls me.
I survey the incoming supply, the main switch and the existing distribution board, measure the earth fault loop impedance and check the earthing and bonding arrangement, then tell you plainly whether the board can take what you want to add or whether it needs replacing first. Where a board change is the answer, it is the same discipline as a domestic fuse box replacement — just larger, and planned so the shutdown lands when you are closed.
Balancing loads across the phases, fitting the right isolators, and getting the protective device sized to the cable rather than to the machine's badge are the things that stop nuisance tripping later. If circuits are already tripping and nobody knows why, that is fault finding work and I will trace it properly rather than swap a breaker and hope.
PAT Testing for Business Premises
PAT testing — properly, in-service inspection and testing of electrical equipment — covers the things that plug in rather than the fixed wiring: kettles, computers, extension leads, power tools, salon equipment, kitchen appliances. It sits alongside an EICR, which covers the fixed installation. You generally want both, and they are not substitutes for one another.
There is a lot of nonsense talked about this, so to be clear: there is no law that says every appliance must carry a sticker and be tested every twelve months. The duty comes from the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, which requires electrical systems and equipment to be maintained so far as is reasonably practicable to prevent danger. The IET Code of Practice then sets out inspection and testing intervals based on risk — a hire company's power tools and an office printer are not on the same schedule, and pretending otherwise just costs you money.
What I will do is agree a sensible interval with you for each class of equipment, test to it, and give you a register that proves it. Most sites are done in a single visit.
Asset Walk-Round
I list every portable and movable appliance on site so nothing gets missed and you know exactly what is being covered.
Formal Visual Inspection
Plugs, flexes, casings, fuses and strain relief checked by eye — this is where the majority of real faults are actually found.
Electrical Testing
Earth continuity, insulation resistance and, where appropriate, functional checks on each item that needs them.
Register and Labels
You get a written asset register with each item's result and test date, and pass labels on the equipment so staff can see it at a glance.
Inspection, Certification and Compliance
A commercial EICR is the same instrument work as a domestic one, but the reporting matters more because more people rely on it — your insurer, your landlord, your licensing officer and whoever signs off your health and safety file. I test the fixed installation circuit by circuit, code every observation as C1, C2, C3 or FI, and give you an unambiguous satisfactory or unsatisfactory verdict with the readings behind it.
There is no universal inspection interval for commercial premises. Offices and shops are commonly done every five years and busier or higher-risk premises more often, but your lease, your insurance policy or your licence may impose a shorter one — and if it does, that is the interval that binds you. Check those documents before you assume five years.
Where a report comes back unsatisfactory I can carry out the remedial work and reissue certification once it is safe, so you are not chasing two trades and two sets of paperwork. If the failure is urgent and the premises cannot trade, that becomes an emergency callout and I will get to you as fast as I can.
If your building has residential units as well as commercial space — flats over a shop, a converted unit, a mixed-use block — tell me at the quote stage. The rules that apply to the residential part are different, and it is far cheaper to plan for that than to discover it afterwards.
Why Businesses Use Me
Work Around Your Trading
Shutdowns planned for evenings and weekends so the business keeps running.
Certified to BS 7671
Every circuit tested and signed off to the current wiring regulations by a NAPIT approved electrician.
Paperwork That Stands Up
Certificates, reports and asset registers written so an insurer or inspector can act on them.
One Electrician Throughout
You deal with me from the quote to the certificate, not a rotating crew who each need briefing.
Common Questions
How much does commercial electrical work cost?
There is no fixed price and I will not give you one over the phone. A commercial job depends on the size of the installation, whether the supply is single or three-phase, how much of it can be done live-adjacent versus needing a shutdown, and how much out-of-hours work you want to avoid disruption. Tell me what the premises is and what you need doing, and I will come out and give you a free, no-obligation quote in writing.
Do you work on three-phase supplies and distribution boards?
Yes. Three-phase boards, sub-mains, isolators and dedicated machine or plant circuits are normal commercial work. I check the incoming supply, the existing board and the earthing arrangement before I quote, because on a lot of older commercial units the board is the limiting factor rather than the supply itself.
Can you work outside opening hours so we do not have to close?
Yes. Most of the disruptive work — board changes, sub-main alterations, anything needing the power off — can be done in the evening, overnight or at a weekend. I would rather plan the shutdown around your trading hours than have you lose a day's business.
How often does a commercial property need an EICR?
There is no single interval that covers every building. Offices and shops are commonly inspected every five years, and higher-risk or heavier-use premises more often than that. Your insurer, your landlord or your licence conditions may set a shorter interval, so check those first — if they do, that shorter interval is the one that applies to you.
Is PAT testing a legal requirement?
PAT testing itself is not written into law, and there is no legal rule that says every appliance must be tested every twelve months. What is law is the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, which puts a duty on employers and those in control of premises to keep electrical systems and equipment maintained so far as is reasonably practicable to prevent danger. In-service inspection and testing is the accepted way of showing you have done that, and the IET Code of Practice sets out risk-based intervals rather than one blanket frequency.
What paperwork do I get at the end of a job?
It depends what the work was. New circuits and board changes get an Electrical Installation Certificate. Alterations to an existing circuit get a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate. An inspection gets a full EICR with every reading and any coded observations. Portable appliance testing gets an asset register listing each item, its result and its test date. All of it is written, and all of it is yours to hand to an insurer, a landlord or an inspector.
Are you registered and insured for commercial work?
I am NAPIT approved, fully insured, and every job is carried out and certified to the current edition of BS 7671, the UK wiring regulations. I am also Part P registered, which is the scheme that covers notifiable work in dwellings — that matters if your portfolio includes flats above a shop or residential units as well as commercial space.