Best way to hire an electrician or contractor for your building, property or facility. Ask several questions up front: What is your hourly rate? Require them to submit their insurance and license information (State or Local). Get referrals or a list of clients similar to you and what you need to be performed for you.
Real simple, all properties, facilities, and buildings need electricity to run. Unless you were around during construction, you might not know who did the original work. In most times, that is the case, and you need to bring in a contractor to make repairs and upgrades to the system that when running the building.
Unless you have a background in the field, knowing who to hire for you and the property can be a challenge. Like most construction fields contractors are different in the following categories:
Size – How large of a contractor are they? Up to what size projects can they handle, How many men would they have to fill your needs when you have a problem? Their annual volume also affects what they can handle in the way of your payment terms and their purchasing power for the needed equipment and supplies needed.
Structure – Do they have a reliable office staff, can they handle the insurance and paperwork needed to work with you, or do they write invoices and proposals on napkins. Seems like a small issue but could cause problems.
Accreditations – Most areas require an electrical contractor to be licensed. Make sure your candidate is up to date on licensing and codes to prevent you from having to pay twice for the work, plus fines for a service. Check the list below to the states that require some form of license or accreditation to perform work in each particular state.
Specialty – Can they handle all aspects of the building. Remember you want to help with the current need but can you rely on them when other issues come up. This is a great discussion to have before hiring. You want to make sure that after this project, when you have another need that you are not starting over with another contractor because your current vendor can’t handle an aspect that you figured he could.
Portfolio – Are they able to handle commercials clients. Some residential contractors dabble in the commercial side, but they are not used to immediate nature of your needs vs. Aunt Jenny’s outside lights are not working. Check and see if they have similar clients and if you can talk with them.
Price – Many electricians work on a time and material basis since there can be many unknowns of what is existing or the duration of the work, contractors or individual electricians, keep their time and submit a bill when the work has been completed. It is best to negotiate the hourly rate before any work being performed. A contractor is much willing to knock off 5% to 10% off their rate to get the work, but once the work has been completed, it is a much harder conversation and leads to a contractor not eager to come back and work for you again.
Reminder: ask for the rates of each of their positions, some contractors may use a blanket rate that gives you the same price of an electrician as a laborer to help with their bottom line.
- Laborer
- Journeyman
- Foreman
Another item to clear up before any work bis performed. While the billing for the labor and material, some contractors tack on other “fees.”
- Inspection charge
- Service charge
- Mobilization fee
- Demobilization fee
- Transportation fee
In some cases, if you are aware of the fees, you can negotiate them before work starts, or at least know that this is part of the bill and as long as the contractor can provide a reasonable explanation, you, in turn, can relay that to whoever might question their bill.
The exact labels may differ from area to area. When speaking with the contractor, it is great to throw out different what-if scenarios to the contractor to see how they respond to the questions, see if they pass you BS tester. I know it would not be the first time a contractor trying to get a job embellished their capabilities.
The complete guide for state License by State
A list of the states that require state licensing and the Governing body, so that you know that the license is legit and not out of a box of cereal
| State | License | Governing Department |
| Alabama | Yes | Alabama Electrical Contractors Board |
| Alaska | Yes | Alaska Department of Labor |
| Arizona | Yes | Arizona Registrar of Contractors |
| Arkansas | Yes | Arkansas Department of Labor |
| California | Yes | Department of Consumer Affairs |
| Colorado | Yes | Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Electrical Board |
| Connecticut | Yes | Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection |
| Delaware | Yes | Delaware Division of Professional Regulation |
| District of Columbia | Yes | Board of Industrial Trades |
| Florida | Yes | Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation |
| Georgia | Yes | Georgia Construction Industry Licensing Board |
| Hawaii | Yes | Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs |
| Idaho | Yes | Idaho Division of Building Safety |
| Illinois | No licensing at the state level | Check local municipal requirements |
| Indiana | No licensing at the state level | Check local municipal requirements |
| Iowa | Yes | Iowa Division of Labor |
| Kansas | No licensing at the state level | Check local municipal requirements |
| Kentucky | Yes | Department of Housing, Buildings, and Construction, Electrical Division |
| Louisiana | No licensing at the state level | Check local municipal requirements |
| Maine | Yes | Electricians’ Examining Board |
| Maryland | Yes | Maryland Board of Master Electricians |
| Massachusetts | Yes | Board of State Examiners of Electricians |
| Michigan | Yes | Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) |
| Minnesota | Yes | Department of Labor and Industry |
| Mississippi | Yes | MS State Board of Contractors |
| Missouri | No licensing at the state level | Check local municipal requirements |
| Montana | Yes | Montana Department of Labor and Industry, State Electrical Board |
| Nebraska | Yes | Nebraska Electrical Division |
| Nevada | Yes | Nevada State Contractors Board |
| New Hampshire | Yes | Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, Electrician’s Board |
| New Jersey | Yes | Department of Law and Public Safety, Division of Consumer Affairs |
| New Mexico | Yes | New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department |
| New York | No licensing at the state level | Check local municipal requirements |
| North Carolina | Yes | State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors |
| North Dakota | Yes | North Dakota State Electrical Board |
| Ohio | Yes | Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board |
| Oklahoma | Yes | Oklahoma Construction Industries Board |
| Oregon | Yes | Department of Consumer and Business Services |
| Pennsylvania | No licensing at the state level | Check local municipal requirements |
| Rhode Island | Yes | Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training |
| South Carolina | Yes | South Carolina Department of Labor |
| South Dakota | Yes | South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, Electrical Commission |
| Tennessee | Yes | TN Department of Commerce and Insurance, Board for Licensing Contractors |
| Texas | Yes | Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation |
| Utah | Yes | Utah Department of Commerce, Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing |
| Vermont | Yes | Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety |
| Virginia | Yes | Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation |
| Washington | Yes | Washington State Department of Labor and Industries |
| West Virginia | Yes | West Virginia Fire Commission |
| Wisconsin | Yes | Department of Safety and Professional Service |
| Wyoming | Yes | Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety |
How to get this info…easily
How to easily ask for this information, sometimes it is great to ask if a contractor is licensed, but if you press the contractor should have no problem giving their credentials to you. If they took the time and passed the exam, they should be proud to show you that they are legit if a contractor is shy or sheepish about supplying the information. The way to ask in a non-threatening way is to state… We require that information for our file along with your insurance information before starting work. Now if it is an emergency, keep that in context, but before starting any schedule repairs and or maintenance, you should have this information up front, and if they can’t supply it, that should be a red flag and possibly need to go in another direction.
Union labor vs. non-union labor
Depending on several factors, you may be utilizing union labor for the work at your building, property, or facility.
- If the area predominantly uses union labor, this is more typical with larger cities, but not all cities follow this.
- If the building has union workers in the building
- If the project is in part or wholly funded by the government, they may have requirements on the type of labor or rate used. In some instances, they may require “prevailing wages” or union labor to perform the work.
Hopefully, this helps when you are in the market for an electrical contractor. A partnership with an excellent electrical contractor can make a huge help in the running of your building property or facility.
If you have questions or need help with something that has come up in your process of hiring an electrical contractor, email us at editor@facilityvip.com