The electrical division of Arnold Electric, Inc. specializes in two categories of electrical contracting- commercial and industrial. While at first glance it may seem that they are the same, industrial electrical contractors have some unique challenges and must have specialized skills.

Commercial electrical contracting is involved with facilities like retail stores and municipal buildings. The electrical involvement typically is done on new construction or when remodeling the building (or a portion of the building). There could also be calls for a commercial electrician to deal with some issues within a functioning business. Overall, commercial electrical work is somewhat straightforward.

However, industrial electrical contracting involves not only the industrial facility but is also heavily tied to the equipment. Unlike basic commercial buildings that run a couple of standard voltages that homes use, industrial operations will probably have some unique power requirements. There could be machines that operate on non-standard voltage requirements which takes a skilled industrial electrician to bring power to it.

Also, industrial plants will draw a lot of power. This means that a lot of different things have to take place at one time. There are the different power panels which are industrial grade and sized to control the power. There are also different power cables that will be needed to carry enough electricity safely. These cables could have different materials that compose their make-up, shielding and insulation variances, and thicknesses. An industrial electrician has a lot more variables that he has to keep in mind.

Then there is an added level of complexity for industrial electrical contracting. Unlike new construction or remodeling, most industrial projects have to take place while the industrial plant is operational. Many times an industrial electrician does not have the luxury of being the sole person working that day. It could be very dangerous for them, for instance when they shut off power that power must stay off. An industrial facility employee could inadvertently turn power back on while an electrician is working at another location in the plant. At other times an industrial electrical contractor may only be able to work when a plant is shutdown like during the weekend or overnight. This would mean the industrial contractor must complete their work within the allotted timeframe. When the plant is scheduled to come back online everything must be completed and ready for the plant to restart.

All of this necessitates that the electrical contractor has specialized knowledge in working in an industrial setting. Truly, there is no school that will teach an electrician how to be an industrial contractor; the only real training available is experience. This means when one is looking for an electrical industrial contractor they need to look for and verify extensive work experience. Any electrical contractor that states they do industrial work will have a long list of references that they can supply.