Electrical office maintenance
Maintaining your office space is very important for businesses and managing electrical issues is a key part of that. There are a lot of common electrical problems for offices that must be dealt with so you can avoid expensive downtime and keep your staff safe.
After all, when you experience electrical faults in your office, it can bring things grinding to a halt. Your business is losing money every minute until you can get things back up and running again.
Commercial electrical challenges
Electrical systems in commercial buildings can be more complicated than what you would find in a residential property, which means that they are more prone to going wrong. A typical office will have lighting, emergency lighting, fire alarms, security alarms, air conditioning units, heating circuits, data and comms (phones, servers, power floor boxes) and so much more to consider!
If you want to keep your business up and running and avoid any problems, you need to be aware of the potential electrical problems you will face, so you can take preventative measures and, when necessary, call in a professional electrician to deal with them for you.
Common Electrical Problems For Offices
Power Loss
Unexpected power loss can be devastating to your business. All of the computers go down, which means that nobody can get any work done until the power is back online. It can also cause serious issues with data loss if you are storing sensitive data on local servers and you don’t have a good backup system in place.
There are a number of potential causes of power loss in your office. Often, it is due to the weather damaging power lines or it could be due to a fault at a power station that supplies the area. In this case, you will have to wait for the relevant authorities to make repairs.
However, the problem can be localised to your office building if there are issues with the fuse or circuit breaker operation or something has caused your electrical systems to short circuit.
When you lose power to the office, you should try flicking the fuse switch before you do anything else. Often, this will solve the problem and the power will come back online right away.
But if that doesn’t work, there may be a more serious problem and you will need to call a professional electrician to diagnose and solve the fault.
Flickering and Dimming Lights
Good lighting has an impact on productivity in the office. Unfortunately, flickering and dimming lights are one of the most common electrical problems for offices and there are a number of potential causes.
Before doing anything else, check whether the bulbs need replacing. However, old bulbs will usually stop working altogether rather than flickering, so it is likely that there is another cause.
This is a problem that often gets ignored, especially if it is in an area like a hallway where it doesn’t have too much impact. But if you don’t rectify it quickly, it can lead to long-lasting damage that costs you more money to deal with in the future as the entire fixture may need to be replaced.
Usually, flickering and dimming lights are caused by a loose connection, which is relatively easy to fix but you need to call an electrician as soon as you notice the problem.
Keep an eye on your fixtures too and watch for any discolouring. This is a sign that there is a problem and the fixture needs to be replaced to avoid complete electrical breakdown.
Tripping Breakers
When a breaker trips, it is because it has detected a fault and cut the power to stop wires from overheating and becoming a fire hazard. If this is happening on a regular basis, it’s likely that there is a serious fault somewhere in your electrical systems.
It could be due to overloaded circuits, ground fault or a short circuit somewhere in the building. It may be tempting to flip the breakers and continue working as normal to avoid any downtime. However, this can be incredibly dangerous and could lead to a fire if there is a serious fault.
The best thing to do in this situation is to leave the power switched off and call an electrician right away.
Sparking Fixtures
If you notice sparks when plugging in appliances, this can cause wires to melt and burn, which is a serious fire hazard. You should also watch out for plugs that get very hot when they are in use. This can be a common problem if you are overloading fixtures with extension cords and putting too much pressure on your electrical systems. .
Proper planning is important if you want to avoid this issue and you may need to have more outlets fitted by an electrician.
On the other hand, if you are using fixtures responsibly and you still have a problem with sparks or overheating, it could be a fault with that specific fixture.
Don’t ignore the problem because it can be a fire hazard, so stop using that fixture right away and call an electrician to diagnose the problem. This is usually a quick fix but one that can avoid some big disasters in the future.
Heavy Use Appliances
Businesses often rely on heavy use appliances, which can increase the chances of electrical faults.
In warehouses and manufacturing facilities, for example, heavy-duty equipment draws a lot of power and puts pressure on the electrical systems.
If too many of these appliances are running at once, it can cause the breaker to keep tripping over and over.
Even though this is more of an issue in industrial settings, it’s also one of the more common electrical problems for offices. Things like copiers and printers, for example, draw more power than the average appliance and in a large office that has a lot of this kind of equipment, it can become an issue.
How To Prevent Common Electrical Problems For Offices
Whenever you experience an electrical fault in your office, safety should always be your key concern. Don’t ignore the issues because they could create a fire hazard and cause extensive damage that is expensive to repair. You should always call out an experienced electrician to diagnose and fix issues immediately.
However, you should also take steps to prevent electrical problems in the office so you can keep everybody safe and save money on maintenance. These are some of the most important steps to take.
Keep up with PAT testing
PAT (portable appliance testing) is one of the best ways to ensure that electrical appliances are working safely and efficiently, so it’s important that you keep up with it.
It is possible to conduct PAT tests yourself, but it is advisable to have a professional electrician do it for you to guarantee accuracy.
There are no legal guidelines about the frequency of PAT testing but it is recommended that appliances are tested every two years, at the very least. However, in an office setting with lots of appliances running at once, it’s best to do it more regularly.
Train staff on safe practices
The way that you use electrical appliances and fixtures has a big impact on safety and responsible use will reduce the chances of electrical failures.
Make sure that your staff understand how to use things like extension cords safely without overloading them, and they switch off appliances when they are not in use.
Simple training can go a long way to protecting your electrical systems.
Schedule regular inspections
Identifying potential issues early is the key to maintaining your electrical systems.
Scheduling regular inspections with a qualified electrician is the best way to assess the overall health of electrical systems in your office.
During the inspection, any problems will be picked up and dealt with before they cause more issues. Ideally, you should have an inspection once a year.
Taking these preventative measures can help you maintain your electrical systems and avoid some of the common electrical problems for offices.
However, even with the right maintenance program in place, it is still likely that you will experience faults at some point. When this does happen, it is crucial that you take steps to avoid any potential fire hazards and then call an electrician to diagnose the problem immediately.
Do you need a commercial office electrician team?
Here at Like Electrical, we have over 40 years of experience providing services to a number of sectors.
We are on hand for any electrical emergencies and we will deal with any problems in a timely manner, so you can get your business back up and running again.
We can also carry out regular inspections and help you upgrade your electrical systems to make your office as efficient as possible.
Get in touch today to learn more about how we can help your business manage your office electrical needs.
