Once a commercial construction project has kicked off, it quickly becomes expensive to change direction on electrical decisions. Walls close up, conduit is run, and inspections are scheduled around a plan that’s in motion.
The businesses that manage to avoid change orders, schedule delays, and budget overruns aren’t lucky—they’re the ones that make five key electrical decisions before the first wall ever goes up.
5 Electrical Decisions to Make Before a Commercial Construction Project
There are a few critical decisions impacting cost, functionality, and project timelines that you’ll want to make early in the design process:
1. How much power does the building actually need?
The size of your electrical service is one of the most impactful electrical decisions for any commercial building, and it’s also one of the most difficult to retrofit once you’re behind the drywall.
Upsizing your service later, once walls are built and conduit is in place, can mean significant rework and unexpected costs to accommodate a larger panel, additional feeder capacity, or other infrastructure upgrades.
The exact size of your service will be based on more than just square footage. It depends on what you’ll run in the building, including your HVAC load, kitchen equipment, production machinery, server rooms, EV charging stations, and any future growth you anticipate for the space.
Getting the service sized right for your immediate needs is crucial, but you’ll still want to consider what business could look like five or ten years down the road.
2. Where will the equipment and fixtures actually go?
Electrical rough-in happens very early on, well before furnishings, equipment, and finishes are brought into a space.
This means where workstations go, where the kitchen equipment will be placed, and where machines will sit are critical layout decisions that must be made before the walls go up, not after they are sealed. Failing to nail down your layout before rough-in can lead to misplaced outlets, circuits run to the wrong locations, and duplicate electrical work.
For specialized equipment in commercial kitchens, manufacturing floors, or medical offices, you’ll want to have all of those specific power needs addressed and locked down well ahead of the rough-in process.
3. What level of backup power does your business need?
Planning and installing backup power sources during construction is significantly less expensive and less disruptive than adding it later on.
Having a clear plan before you break ground for a standby generator or other backup solutions makes it much easier for the electrical contractor to include the transfer switch, generator pad, and dedicated circuits in the original scope of work.
A business that decides only after they are open that they need backup power may face much larger costs when wall openings need to be created, circuits re-routed, and specialized work added to a finished space.
4. How might the space change down the road?
Few businesses build a space with no intention of ever modifying it. Whether you anticipate additional equipment, expansion, the addition of tenants, or even a change in use for the space, a smart electrical design can accommodate this flexibility from the outset at a fraction of the cost compared to retrofitting later.
This could mean installing conduit to future areas, oversizing panels with additional breaker space, or simply accounting for future growth in your overall service capacity. In other words, you don’t need to overbuild the entire system. You just need to start thinking about the possibilities.
5. Who is responsible for permitting and code compliance?
Electrical code requirements can vary significantly by occupancy type, and the city of Denver has its own permitting and inspection timeline that needs to be planned for, not discovered mid-stream.
Establishing early on who will take responsibility for securing necessary permits and coordinating inspections can prevent major delays to your project. This is particularly true if your business is in a specialized occupancy category such as a medical facility or a restaurant, which can have more complex code requirements.
Ready to Discuss Your Commercial Construction Project?
No matter which of these decisions you might be wrestling with, make them before commercial construction begins. It’s far cheaper and easier to address issues during pre-construction planning rather than trying to figure them out along the way. You can also avoid change orders, delays, and budget surprises by being proactive.
MV Power Solutions works with Denver-area businesses to plan electrical systems from the ground up, taking into consideration the day-to-day needs and future possibilities for the space. Contact us today to speak with our team.