Commercial Electrical Service & Panel Upgrades in Chatham-Kent
Commercial Electrical Service & Panel Upgrades
Postma upgrades electrical services, panels and distribution in commercial buildings across Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton and Windsor-Essex. ECRA/ESA licensed, permits pulled and inspection arranged, scheduled around your operating hours.
Most commercial buildings were wired for the business that was in them originally. Then equipment gets added, a tenant changes, production expands, EV chargers go in, and at some point the service that was adequate in 1998 is running at its limit. The building usually tells you before it fails.
Signs Your Service or Panel Needs Attention
| What You Notice | What It Usually Points To |
|---|---|
| No spare breaker spaces | The most common reason buildings call us. A full panel means every new circuit turns into a tandem breaker, a sub panel, or a conversation nobody wants to have mid project. If you are planning equipment, find this out first. |
| Lights dip when equipment starts | Voltage drop on motor startup, pointing to service capacity, an undersized feeder or a loose neutral. Common in buildings that added refrigeration, compressors or production equipment without touching the service. |
| Breakers tripping under normal load | Circuits carrying more than they were designed for, usually because equipment was added to whatever circuit was closest rather than to a circuit sized for it. |
| Obsolete panel or breakers | Older commercial panels reach a point where replacement breakers are no longer manufactured. Once that happens every repair means sourcing used parts, and insurers start asking questions. |
| Warm panel or discoloured breakers | Loose or corroded connections generating heat. This is a call today, not a project for next quarter. |
| A change of use is coming | New tenant, added production line, kitchen going in, EV chargers, or a building being subdivided. All of them change the load calculation, and all of them are cheaper to plan for than to retrofit around. |
What We Upgrade and Install
Service UpgradesService capacity increases, mast and meter base work, coordination with the local utility, and main disconnect replacement. |
Panels & DistributionMain and sub panel replacement, added sub panels, breaker and fuse changes, feeders and sub feeds, transformers. |
Circuits & EquipmentNew circuits and outlets, three phase connections, disconnects, motor starters, contactors and VFD wiring. |
Tenant & Space ChangesRelocating panels and devices around a renovation, separating or metering subdivided space, low voltage and data rough-in. |
Ask before you buy the equipment. The most expensive version of this conversation is the one that happens after a compressor, production line or set of EV chargers has already been ordered. We will assess your existing service against what you plan to add and tell you whether the building supports it, which takes a site visit and costs a great deal less than finding out on install day.
How a Service Upgrade Works
| Stage | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Load assessment | We look at what the building actually draws today, what is being added, and what capacity the existing service and panels have left. This is where you find out whether you need a service upgrade or just a sub panel. |
| Utility coordination | A service capacity increase involves the local distribution utility, and their timeline is usually the longest item in the project. We start that conversation early rather than after the equipment is ordered. |
| ESA permit | We pull the electrical permit and arrange inspection. This is not optional on service and panel work, and it is a common place for a cheaper quote to be cheaper because it is not included. |
| Scheduling the shutdown | Panel and service work means power off for a window. We plan that around your hours, which for most commercial buildings means overnight, a weekend or a scheduled shutdown rather than a business day. |
| Installation | Old equipment removed, new panel or service installed, circuits transferred and identified, connections torqued to specification, and everything labelled properly rather than left for the next person to guess at. |
| Inspection and documentation | ESA inspection, a labelled panel schedule, and documentation for your records, your insurer and any future prequalification package. |
What Drives the Cost
| Cost Driver | What It Depends On |
|---|---|
| Panel swap vs service upgrade | The biggest single fork. Replacing a panel within the existing service capacity is a contained job. Increasing the service itself brings in the utility, the meter base, and potentially the incoming feed, which is a different scale of project entirely. |
| Number of circuits to transfer | Every circuit has to be identified, moved and labelled. On an unlabelled panel a significant share of the labour goes into working out what each circuit actually feeds before anything is disconnected. |
| Shutdown window | Overnight and weekend work costs more in labour than weekday work, and less than closing your business. On buildings that cannot lose power during hours it is usually the cheaper option overall. |
| Conduit and cable runs | Distance from the service to the panel, and whether the route is open ceiling or requires core drilling, trenching or reinstatement. Access drives more cost on electrical work than the material does. |
| Code items triggered | Replacing a panel can bring current code requirements that the original installation predated, including clearances, grounding and bonding, and arc fault or ground fault protection on certain circuits. We identify these at quote, not at inspection. |
| Permit and inspection | ESA permit and inspection are included in our quotes. It is worth confirming they are included in any quote you compare against, because leaving them out is one of the easiest ways for a number to look lower than it is. |
Service & Panel Upgrade FAQ
How do I know if my building needs a service upgrade?
The usual triggers are a full panel with no spare spaces, lights dipping when large equipment starts, breakers tripping under normal load, or a planned addition such as new production equipment, refrigeration, a kitchen or EV chargers. We assess the actual load and existing capacity rather than guessing from the panel size.
Can you tell us whether our service supports new equipment before we buy it?
Yes, and this is the right time to ask. A site visit and load assessment before you order tells you whether the building supports the equipment as is, needs a sub panel, or needs a service upgrade with a utility timeline attached. Finding that out after delivery is the expensive version.
Will the building lose power, and for how long?
Panel and service work requires a shutdown window. How long depends on the scope and the number of circuits being transferred. For most commercial buildings we schedule it overnight, on a weekend, or during a planned shutdown so the building is running normally during business hours.
Do you pull the ESA permit?
Yes. We are an ECRA/ESA licensed electrical contractor, and permits and inspection are included in our quotes on work that requires them.
How long does the utility take on a service increase?
It varies by utility and by what is involved, and it is normally the longest lead item in the project rather than anything on our side. That is the main reason to start the conversation before the equipment is ordered rather than after.
Our panel is not labelled. Is that a problem?
It costs you money on every future job, because identifying circuits comes before any work can start. It is also a safety issue during an emergency, when someone needs to isolate a circuit quickly. We label and document panels as part of any upgrade, and as part of an ongoing electrical maintenance agreement.
Can you do the electrical work as part of an HVAC or plumbing project?
Yes. Disconnects, feeders and breaker changes on a rooftop unit changeout or a water heater replacement are handled by our own crews on the same schedule rather than waiting on a separate trade. See commercial HVAC replacement.
Do you install EV chargers?
Yes, for staff, customer and fleet parking. Service capacity is the deciding factor on most EV projects, so the assessment comes before the charger selection rather than after. See lighting and EV charging.
See all commercial electrical services, or our commercial electrical repair and emergency service.
Planning new equipment, or running out of panel space? Call 519-354-9491 and we will assess your existing service against what you want to add. Postma handles service upgrades, panel replacement, new circuits and equipment connections across Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton and Windsor-Essex, with ESA permits and inspection included.