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For UK electriciansHow to get commercial electrical work
Fewer customers, bigger jobs, work that repeats every year. Here is who buys commercial electrical work, what they are really worried about, and how a small firm gets in front of them.
James Dewane, electrician and founder of My Electricians ToolBox
•Updated 22 August 2026
•4 min read
Domestic work pays the bills and eats your evenings. One customer, one job, one price argument at a time, then you start again on Monday looking for the next one. Commercial work is different. Fewer customers, bigger jobs, repeat visits, and invoices that do not need a friendly reminder every fortnight.
The reason most electricians never make the jump is not skill. It is that nobody ever told them who actually buys commercial electrical work, or how those people choose. So here it is.
What commercial work really means for a small firm
You do not need to chase hospital rewires. The commercial work that suits a one or two van outfit is the unglamorous stuff on the high street and the industrial estate.
- Shops, salons, cafes and takeaways. Fit outs, lighting, fault finding, emergency lighting tests.
- Offices and small units. Small power, data containment, remedial works from an EICR.
- Landlord and letting agency portfolios. EICRs, fire alarm and emergency light servicing, remedials.
- Care homes, nurseries, gyms and village halls. Testing schedules that repeat every single year.
- Facilities and property management companies. Reactive call outs across a list of buildings.
How commercial buyers choose, and why it is good news
A homeowner picks on price and gut feel. A facilities manager or a letting agent is not spending their own money, so they are buying something else entirely: not getting in trouble.
| They worry about | So you show them |
|---|---|
| Being let down on a deadline | Response times in writing, and hitting them |
| Paperwork that fails an audit | Clean certificates, sent the same day |
| Insurance and compliance | Scheme membership, public liability, RAMS |
| Chasing a tradesman | Answering the phone and confirming in writing |
| Surprise invoices | Agreed rates and a call before extra work |
Every one of those is admin, not ability. Which means a small, organised electrician beats a bigger, scruffier one regularly. That is the opening.
Get your credibility pack together first
Before you approach anyone, have one PDF ready that answers everything they are going to ask. Public liability certificate, scheme registration, a sample certificate with the details blanked out, a sample risk assessment and method statement, your rates, your response times, and three jobs with photos and a line about each.
Most electricians turn up with a business card and a good handshake. Turning up with the pack makes you look like the safe choice before you have said a word.
The one page that wins the meeting. A schedule of rates. Hourly rate in normal hours, out of hours rate, minimum charge, call out charge, and what your EICR costs by property size. It lets them compare you without a conversation, and it stops price being renegotiated on every job.
How to actually get in front of them
1. Start with the buildings you already work near
You are already on that industrial estate or that parade of shops. Walk in, ask who looks after the electrics, and leave the pack. Ten minutes between jobs, no cost, and you are a local face rather than a cold caller.
2. Letting and estate agents
Every agent has a landlord list and every landlord needs an EICR every five years. Agents change contractor for one reason: the last one was slow or messy. Ask what they wish their current electrician did better, then do that.
3. The trades already on the site
Shopfitters, builders, plumbers, air conditioning engineers and kitchen installers are standing in commercial buildings all week, and they all get asked if they know a sparky. Be the one they name.
4. Facilities management companies
They keep approved contractor lists and they are usually short of reliable small firms for reactive work. Find the local ones, ask what it takes to get on the list, and send the pack.
5. Be findable for the searches they actually make
Commercial electrician plus your town, EICR for commercial property, emergency lighting testing near me. These are low volume searches with very high intent, and a page written for each one is far easier to rank than the general domestic terms.
The templates for the pack, the schedule of rates and the approach scripts are inside My Electricians ToolBox, along with members already running commercial contracts.
Join the ToolBoxGet the money side right before you start
Commercial work usually means payment terms rather than payment on the day. Agree them in writing before the first job, thirty days from invoice as standard, and invoice the moment the work is signed off. Ask for a purchase order number and put it on everything. Half of all late payment in this trade is caused by a missing PO number, not by an unwilling customer.
For anything sizeable, stage the payments. A deposit for materials, a payment part way, the balance on completion. You are not being difficult, you are doing what every other contractor on that site does.
Turn a job into a contract
The real prize is not the first job, it is the schedule that follows it. Emergency lighting needs testing monthly and annually. Fire alarms need servicing. EICRs come round on a cycle. Portable appliance testing repeats. Once you are the one who holds that schedule and reminds them it is due, you stop selling and start being booked.
Write the dates in your calendar the day you finish the job, and contact them a month before. Most electricians wait for the phone to ring, which is how contracts quietly move to somebody else.
If you want the short version of getting found locally while you build this up, the free marketing cheatsheet covers it on one page.
Common questions
Do I need extra qualifications for commercial work?
For most small commercial jobs, no. You need the same competence, the right scheme registration and adequate public liability cover, usually £2 million or £5 million depending on the client. Specialist areas like fire alarms or three phase distribution may need extra tickets.
How much public liability cover will they ask for?
£2 million is common for shops and small units. Larger managing agents and facilities companies often ask for £5 million. Check before you quote, because upgrading cover mid job is awkward.
Is commercial work more profitable than domestic?
Usually, but not because the rate is higher. It is because the jobs are bigger, they repeat, and you spend far less time and money finding the next customer.
How do I handle thirty day payment terms when I need cash weekly?
Stage the payments, invoice the same day the work is signed off, and never let a second job start while the first invoice is overdue. Get the PO number up front and most of the friction disappears.
What does it cost to join the ToolBox?
£127 a month is the published price. It is £97 a month through the link on this page, and it stays at £97 for as long as you are a member. No contract, cancel any time.
What if it is not for me?
There is a thirty day money back guarantee. Tell us it is not right and you get a full refund, no questions asked.
Build the kind of work that repeats
Normal investment £127 a month
£97 a month
Through the link on this page. No contract, cancel any time.