What are a business's legal duties for electrical safety?
Under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, employers and anyone in control of business premises must keep electrical systems safe and maintained to prevent danger. The law doesn't set a fixed inspection date, but regular inspection and testing is the usual way to show you've met that duty.
Guidance commonly recommends a periodic inspection (EICR) every five years for offices and shops, and more often for some premises, such as workshops or places with heavy public use. Your insurer or landlord may also set their own interval, so check your lease and policy.
We carry out the repairs and upgrades that an inspection calls for, priced as one fixed price from the report. All work follows the current Wiring Regulations (BS 7671, 18th Edition).
Keep each report and the certificates for any work done afterwards together. If there is ever an incident or an insurance claim, that paper trail is usually the first thing anyone asks to see.
- Keep systems safe
- A legal duty under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
- Periodic inspection
- Commonly every 5 years for offices and shops, shorter for some premises.
- Emergency lighting tests
- Monthly function test and annual full-duration test under BS 5266.
Do you test emergency lighting?
We repair and replace failed emergency fittings and exit signs, and can swap older fluorescent units for LED versions with longer-lasting batteries when they reach the end of their life.
Under fire safety law, the responsible person for the premises, often the employer or the owner, must make sure escape routes are lit and the lighting is maintained. If a test shows a failed fitting, it is worth getting it fixed quickly rather than waiting for the next annual check.
Can you install three-phase power for a workshop or unit?
Yes. Workshops, commercial kitchens and industrial units often need three-phase power for compressors, lathes, ovens and larger air conditioning units. We install three-phase distribution boards, circuits and equipment connections, and check the existing supply can take the load before we price.
If the incoming supply itself needs upgrading, that goes through the network operator, which in Leicester is National Grid Electricity Distribution. We can help you work out what to ask for. Photos of the board and the equipment rating plate are a good start.
- Machinery
- Compressors, lathes, saws and other workshop equipment.
- Commercial kitchens
- Ovens, fryers and extraction that need a three-phase feed.
- Larger air conditioning
- Units too big for a single-phase supply.
Is it worth switching to LED lighting?
For most shops, offices and units, yes. LED fittings typically use much less electricity than fluorescent tubes or halogen spots, last far longer, and cut the time spent replacing tubes and starters.
We convert whole premises or one area at a time, from office panels and shop spotlights to high-bay lights in warehouses. Send photos of the ceiling and a fitting close up and we'll price the job, with the option to add sensors or emergency fittings at the same time.
How quickly the savings pay back depends on your opening hours and how many fittings you have. Premises with lights on all day, such as shops and warehouses, usually see the biggest difference. We can do the work out of hours or in sections so trading carries on.
Can you do the electrics for an office fit-out?
Yes. When an office or shop changes layout, we add and move sockets, lighting, switching and data points to suit the new plan. A floor plan or photos of the empty space are usually enough to start, followed by a survey visit for larger jobs.
New circuits and board changes are notified to building control as the law requires. If the fit-out also needs plumbing, door repairs or furniture assembly, that can go on the same request.
- Sockets and floor boxes
- Placed where the desks and equipment will actually go.
- Lighting and switching
- LED panels, sensors and separate zones for each area.
- Data points
- Network cabling to desks, printers and wall-mounted screens.
Can the work be done without closing the business?
Usually, yes. We're open every day from 8am to 8pm, so we can start before you open, work into the evening or come at weekends. Bigger jobs can be split into phases, one area at a time, so the rest of the premises keeps trading.
Where the power has to go off, we agree the timing with you in advance and keep it as short as we can. The fixed price is the same whichever slot you choose.
For a restaurant that might mean a morning before service. For a shop on a busy Leicester high street it might mean a Sunday, when footfall is lower. Tell us what works and we'll plan around it.
How does regular maintenance work without a contract?
We work job by job, with no contract and no monthly fee. When something needs doing, call or WhatsApp us. If you want recurring checks, such as monthly emergency lighting tests or an annual look over the premises, book them when you want them. Each one is a fixed-price job agreed before work starts. We're open every day from 8am to 8pm and come the same day when the diary allows.
You get one contact for electrical, plumbing and handyman work, from a tripping circuit to a leaking tap or a sticking door. If something unexpected turns up, we stop, show you and price it separately. Businesses in Leicester, Loughborough, Hinckley and the towns between can send jobs as they come up.
- Recurring checks
- Lighting, sockets, boards, fans and fittings checked when you book, each at a fixed price.
- Reactive jobs
- Faults, leaks and breakages sent in as they happen.
- One fixed price
- Agreed per job or per visit before any work starts.