Commercial Tenant Improvement Electrical: A Valley Business Owner's Guide

Commercial tenant improvement (TI) electrical is a different animal from residential. Different code requirements, different inspectors, different stakes. If you're opening a restaurant, salon, medical office, gym, or retail space in the San Fernando Valley, getting the electrical right is usually on the critical path — it's the difference between opening on time and pushing back 6 weeks. Here's how commercial TI actually works.

Typical Scope of Commercial TI Electrical

• Service and panel assessment (does existing infrastructure support the new use?)
• New subpanels or feeder upgrades if needed
• Dedicated circuits for specialty equipment
• Lighting design and installation (general, task, accent, emergency)
• Exit signs and emergency egress lighting
• Fire alarm tie-ins
• Low-voltage: data, POS, phone, security, AV
• HVAC power connections
• Code compliance for the new occupancy classification

Landlord vs Tenant Responsibilities

Read your lease carefully. "Vanilla shell" spaces typically include basic service to the unit, HVAC, some lighting. Everything from the subpanel out is usually tenant's responsibility. "As-is" spaces mean you inherit whatever the previous tenant left — which can be great (turnkey restaurant equipment) or terrible (a mess of unpermitted work that needs to be torn out).

Before you sign: have a C-10 electrician walk the space. We do pre-lease walks for commercial clients and give a written assessment of what the space needs. That number often influences lease negotiations.

Permitting

Commercial TI electrical always requires permits, and usually requires plan check. That means:

1. Licensed engineer or electrical contractor prepares plans
2. Plans submitted to LADBS or local AHJ (Burbank, Glendale, and Simi Valley have their own departments)
3. Plan check returns comments (2–4 weeks typically)
4. Revisions and resubmittal (add 1–2 weeks)
5. Approved plans, permit pulled
6. Construction
7. Rough inspection before ceiling closed
8. Final inspection before occupancy

Total timeline from design to final: 6–12 weeks for a moderate TI. Don't let a salesperson tell you "2 weeks and you're open" — that's a red flag.

Common TI Gotchas

Existing service too small

Your landlord's 200A service might have been plenty for the previous flower shop. It won't be enough for a restaurant with a hood, conveyor ovens, and walk-in refrigeration. Service upgrades in commercial buildings often require coordination with the landlord and the utility — and they take weeks.

277V vs 120V lighting

Most commercial lighting runs on 277V for efficiency. If your space has a 120/240V single-phase panel, you may need a transformer or a different lighting spec. This is often overlooked until after bids come in.

Emergency and egress lighting

Title 24 and local fire code require emergency lighting on battery backup, illuminated exit signs, and sometimes photoluminescent path markers. Not optional.

ADA compliance

Switch heights, outlet heights, audible alarms — ADA applies to electrical just as much as ramps and door widths.

Hood exhaust and make-up air interlocks

For restaurants, code requires the hood exhaust and make-up air unit to be interlocked with the cooking equipment. This is a whole sub-project within the electrical scope.

Timeline by Use Type

• Small retail (under 2,000 sq ft): 2–3 weeks construction after permit
• Office TI (3,000–5,000 sq ft): 3–5 weeks
• Restaurant / salon / medical: 5–8 weeks (more equipment, more coordination)
• Gym / specialty: 4–7 weeks

Cost Ballpark

Flat rate quoted, but for reference:

• Basic office TI: $8–$18 per sq ft electrical
• Retail TI: $10–$22 per sq ft
• Restaurant TI: $30–$60 per sq ft (huge range based on equipment)
• Medical TI: $25–$45 per sq ft (dedicated circuits, backup power)

Working Around Your Open Date

We've done many TIs where a restaurant had a hard opening date, or a retail client had a lease starting date they couldn't move. Our approach: split the scope. Critical path items (service, rough-in, inspection-gating work) happen first and fast. Finish work (fixtures, trim, low-voltage) can compress at the end if needed. But we're honest when a timeline isn't realistic — we'd rather lose the job than set you up for failure.

Experience in Commercial Work

See our commercial electrical services page for more on our commercial capabilities. We've wired out restaurants, medical offices, gyms, salons, and retail spaces across the Valley. Owner is on every commercial job.

Opening a new space? Call 818-852-4910 for a pre-lease walkthrough or TI quote.