Commercial Electrical Repair & Emergency Service in Chatham-Kent
Emergency Commercial Electrical Repair
Postma provides 24/7 emergency commercial electrical service across Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton and Windsor-Essex. Outages, tripping breakers, failed circuits and equipment that will not start, diagnosed by ECRA/ESA licensed electricians and quoted before the repair proceeds.
Power out, or something smells hot? Call our commercial line, 24 hours a day, weekends and holidays included.
519-354-9491
Stop and Call Immediately If You See These
Most electrical faults can wait until morning. These cannot.
- A burning or acrid smell near a panel, outlet or piece of equipment
- Smoke, sparking, or a buzzing or crackling sound from a panel
- A panel cover or breaker that is hot to the touch, or visibly discoloured
- Scorch marks around an outlet, switch or connection
- Water reaching electrical equipment, panels or outlets
- A shock from a piece of equipment, a fixture or a metal surface
Do not reset a breaker that has tripped in any of these situations, do not open the panel, and keep people away from the area. If you smell burning or see smoke, treat it as a fire risk. Water near electrical equipment means staying out of the area entirely until power is isolated by someone qualified to do it.
Before You Call: What Helps Us Diagnose Faster
| Check | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| How much is out | One outlet, one area, half the building or all of it. A partial outage usually means a breaker or a circuit, while a full outage points upstream to the service or the utility. This changes what we bring and who we send. |
| Are your neighbours out too | If the block is dark it is a utility outage, not your building, and the call goes to your local distribution utility first. Worth thirty seconds of checking before anyone is dispatched. |
| A tripped breaker, once | If a breaker has tripped and nothing is hot, smells wrong or looks damaged, resetting it once is reasonable. If it trips again, stop. It is protecting you from something, and repeated resets are a fire risk. |
| What changed recently | New equipment, a renovation, a storm, work by another trade, or a piece of equipment that has been acting up. Faults rarely appear on their own, and knowing what changed often points straight at the cause. |
| What is affected | Tell us if refrigeration, a server room, life safety systems or production equipment is on the dead circuit. That changes the priority and whether we plan a temporary supply while the repair happens. |
Common Commercial Electrical Faults
What the symptom usually indicates. This is direction rather than a diagnosis, because the same symptom can have several causes and electrical faults are the ones you least want to guess at.
| Symptom | Usual Causes |
|---|---|
| A breaker that will not hold | A short or ground fault on the circuit, an overloaded circuit carrying more than it was designed for, a failing motor or compressor drawing excess current, or a worn breaker that has weakened from repeated tripping. |
| Partial outage with no breaker tripped | A failed breaker that has not tripped but is no longer passing current, a loose connection at a termination, a broken neutral, or a lost phase on three phase service. The last one damages equipment while it runs. |
| Equipment will not start | A failed contactor or motor starter, a blown control fuse, a tripped overload, a disconnect switched off during other work, or a control circuit fault rather than a power problem. Frequently diagnosed as a mechanical failure when it is not. |
| Flickering or dimming | Voltage drop when large equipment starts, a loose neutral, a failing connection, or service capacity that no longer matches the building load. A loose neutral is the one worth chasing quickly, because it can damage connected equipment. |
| Motors failing repeatedly | Often a supply problem rather than a motor problem. Voltage imbalance on three phase, undersized conductors, or a failing starter that is not delivering clean power. If you are replacing the same motor for the third time, the motor is not the fault. |
| GFCI or ground fault tripping | Moisture in a device, box or connection, a deteriorated appliance cord, damaged wiring, or a device at end of life. Common on exterior circuits, kitchens and washdown areas, and it is a genuine safety device rather than a nuisance. |
| Lights out in a large area | A failed lighting contactor, a control or timer fault, a tripped circuit feeding a bank of fixtures, or driver failures across a group of fixtures installed at the same time. Group failures usually mean age, not coincidence. |
| Nothing works after a storm | A utility supply issue, a surge that has damaged equipment or control boards, water ingress at the service, or a tripped main. Storm calls need the cause found before anything is re-energized. |
What We Repair
Panels & BreakersFailed and worn breakers, loose or damaged terminations, main disconnects, feeders and sub feeds, obsolete panel replacement. |
Circuits & DevicesDead and faulted circuits, shorts and ground faults, receptacles and switches, GFCI devices, junctions and damaged wiring. |
Equipment PowerContactors, motor starters and overloads, disconnects, control circuits, VFD wiring, and power to HVAC, refrigeration and pumps. |
Lighting & SafetyFailed fixtures, drivers and ballasts, lighting contactors and controls, emergency lighting and exit signs, exterior and parking lot lighting. |
Electrical faults often present as a mechanical problem. A rooftop unit that will not start, a pump that is dead, a walk-in cooler losing power. Because we cover HVAC, plumbing and electrical on the same number, the technician who finds the cause is licensed to fix it rather than telling you to call someone else and wait another day.
Commercial Electrical Repair FAQ
Do you offer 24/7 emergency commercial electrical service?
Yes, at 519-354-9491, including weekends and holidays. Maintenance agreement customers receive priority dispatch and reduced after-hours rates.
Our breaker keeps tripping. Can we just keep resetting it?
No. A breaker that trips repeatedly is protecting you from an overloaded circuit or a fault, and each reset sends current back into whatever is causing it. If it trips a second time, leave it off and call. If anything is hot, discoloured or smells wrong, do not reset it at all.
How do we know if it is our building or the utility?
Check whether neighbouring buildings have power. If the block is dark it is a utility outage and the call goes to your local distribution utility first. If it is only your building, or only part of it, the fault is on your side of the meter.
Will I know the cost before work starts?
Yes. We diagnose first, then quote the repair for approval before proceeding. Where a fault is a symptom of something larger, such as a panel at end of life or a service that no longer matches the building load, we will tell you and quote both options rather than repeating the same repair.
Do you repair equipment installed by another contractor?
Yes. We repair commercial electrical systems regardless of who installed them, and we document what we find so there is a record going forward.
Can you get power back temporarily while a repair is planned?
Often, depending on the fault. Where refrigeration, a server room, life safety systems or production equipment is affected, restoring a safe temporary supply to critical circuits is usually the first priority while the permanent repair is scheduled. Tell dispatch what is on the dead circuit when you call.
Our motors keep failing. Is that electrical?
Frequently, yes. Voltage imbalance on three phase supply, undersized conductors or a failing starter will shorten motor life repeatedly, and it usually goes undiagnosed because the mechanical contractor replaces the motor and moves on. If you are on the third motor, the supply is worth testing.
Do you pull ESA permits on repair work?
Yes, where the work requires one. We are an ECRA/ESA licensed electrical contractor and arrange inspection as part of the job rather than leaving it with you.
See all commercial electrical services, or our commercial electrical maintenance program to find these faults before they take a circuit down.
Electrical emergency? Call 519-354-9491, answered 24 hours a day including weekends and holidays. If a breaker has tripped twice, leave it off and call rather than resetting it again. Priority dispatch for maintenance agreement customers across Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton and Windsor-Essex.