If you are considering a career as an electrician, then bear in mind that you will often have to undertake installation work. This differs somewhat from the sort of work that many electricians do, which can be focussed on safety inspections and fault finding. Electrical contractors often do the sort of large-scale installation work that is required on new developments, although a lone single electrician might be used on a new build home so long as it is not a very large one. Read on to discover the sort of installation work you would be expected to carry out as a qualified employee of an electrical contracting firm.

Electrical Wiring

Running the power distribution wiring around a new building—or one that is being extensively renovated—is one of the key jobs that any electrician will so in their work as an installer. Often, the plans for where the wiring will need to go will already have been drawn up by an electrical engineer. The electrician in question needs to be able to read these plans fully and to work out practical ways of making sure they are met in full. Installing electrical wiring often needs to take place in partially constructed buildings before returning later to complete the job.

Data Cabling

Alongside a new electrical wiring installation, electricians are often employed to run a structured cabling network into the infrastructure of a building. This sort of work is frequently carried out in commercial premises and often means installing trunking to protect the data communications wiring from exposure to the sort of magnetic fields that nearby power cables produce.

Electrical Fittings Installation

Only qualified electricians should be employed to install electrical fittings too, such as power outlets and light switches in a new installation. One of the most important parts of any electrical installation work is the electrical control panels, which often act as a fuse box. Modern ones connect the mains supply to a building with the various ring mains that run from it. These usually have RCDs, which act as switch-off points if any of the circuits in an installation become overloaded or suffer from a short circuit.

Electrical Product Installations

As well as the infrastructure that goes into an electrical installation, some electrical contractors will also undertake work that involves fitting new electrical products. Rather than consumer products, these tend to include things like commercial ovens and telecommunications equipment, which require fused spurs to power them rather than conventional plugs.

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