You’ve found premises that tick the important boxes. Good location, reasonable rent, enough space for what you need. The viewing went well. The landlord seems professional. You’re ready to move forward.
But somewhere in that due diligence process, there’s a conversation that probably isn’t happening. Nobody’s asking detailed questions about the electrical installation. Nobody’s checking whether the supply can actually handle the equipment you plan to run. The distribution board in the corner gets barely a glance.
This oversight has cost Irish businesses thousands. Sometimes tens of thousands. And it’s almost entirely avoidable.
Why the Electrical System Should Be Part of Your Due Diligence
The electrical infrastructure determines what you can actually do in a space. It dictates what equipment you can run, what your energy bills will look like, and whether you’ll face costly upgrades before you can even begin trading. A premises that photographs beautifully might have an installation that’s undersized, outdated, or non-compliant with current standards.
This isn’t just about convenience. Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, employers have obligations to provide safe workplaces. Taking on premises with deficient electrical systems creates compliance issues from day one. And “we didn’t know” won’t carry much weight if something goes wrong.
The time to discover problems is before you’ve signed a five-year lease, not three weeks before your planned opening date.
Capacity: Can This Building Actually Power Your Business?
This is the fundamental question, and it’s the one most frequently overlooked. Every premises has a maximum electrical capacity, determined by its connection to the grid. Exceed that capacity and you’re looking at tripped breakers, equipment that won’t run, or expensive upgrade projects.
Start by understanding what type of supply the building has. Single-phase supplies are common in smaller premises but may prove inadequate for businesses running commercial kitchens, large air conditioning systems, or industrial equipment. Three-phase supplies offer more capacity and are standard for larger commercial operations. The landlord should be able to tell you the supply type and the Maximum Import Capacity. If they can’t, ESB Networks can provide this information for any premises.
What happens if the capacity isn’t sufficient? Upgrades are possible but rarely quick or cheap. Increasing supply capacity requires application to ESB Networks, potentially significant infrastructure work, and can take months to complete. Costs vary enormously depending on what’s required. And crucially, who pays for this work depends on your lease terms.
For businesses serious about understanding their electrical requirements before committing, the team at Testers.ie can provide guidance on testing equipment and what to look for during assessments. Getting proper advice upfront costs far less than discovering problems after you’ve signed.
Age and Condition: Reading Between the Lines
You don’t need to be an electrician to spot warning signs, though you should absolutely have a qualified professional inspect any premises before committing. Still, a basic understanding helps you know what questions to ask.
Request the most recent Electrical Installation Condition Report. Commercial properties should have these completed every five years as standard practice. The report classifies any defects found: C1 indicates danger requiring immediate action, C2 means potentially dangerous and requiring urgent remediation, C3 suggests improvement would be beneficial but isn’t immediately critical. A premises with outstanding C1 or C2 observations needs those addressed before you take occupation, and the lease should be clear about who bears that responsibility.
Visual indicators matter too. Old-style rewireable fuse boxes rather than modern consumer units suggest an installation that hasn’t been updated in decades. Dated wiring colours, absence of RCD protection, and socket circuits festooned with extension leads all point to systems running beyond their intended capacity or age.
Any electrical work should have been completed by a contractor registered with Safe Electric. Ask for certificates for recent work. If they’re not available, that’s a concern worth investigating further.
Who Pays for What: Understanding Electrical Responsibilities
Commercial leases vary significantly in how they allocate maintenance and repair responsibilities. Understanding this before signing is essential.
Full Repairing and Insuring leases, common for longer terms, place extensive obligations on tenants. You may find yourself responsible not just for your own equipment and modifications, but for maintaining and repairing the landlord’s fixed installation as well. Other lease structures split responsibilities differently, with landlords retaining obligations for the building’s core infrastructure.
The dilapidations position matters too. If you modify the electrical installation during your tenancy, adding circuits for new equipment or upgrading distribution boards, what happens at lease end? Many leases require reinstatement to original condition, meaning you could pay to install improvements and then pay again to remove them. Understanding these clauses before you sign prevents expensive surprises later.
Get the lease reviewed by a solicitor familiar with commercial property. The electrical provisions might seem like minor details compared to rent and break clauses, but they can have significant financial implications over a typical lease term.
Energy Efficiency: What the Bills Will Actually Look Like
Rent is the headline figure, but operational costs determine the true expense of occupying a premises. The electrical installation plays a significant role here.
Older installations often lack sub-metering, making it impossible to understand where energy is actually being consumed. You’ll know your total bill but not whether the culprit is lighting, heating, equipment, or something else entirely. This makes efficiency improvements difficult to target and savings hard to verify.
Lighting deserves particular attention. Premises still running old fluorescent fittings cost significantly more to light than those with modern LED installations. The difference can be substantial across a year’s trading. If you’re evaluating a space with dated lighting, factor upgrade costs into your calculations. For a deeper look at identifying energy waste in facilities, understanding where consumption occurs is the essential first step.
Check the Building Energy Rating where available. Ask about heating and cooling systems. A premises with attractive rent but poor energy efficiency might prove more expensive overall than a higher-rent alternative with modern, efficient systems.
Future-Proofing: Will This Space Grow With You?
Your needs today aren’t necessarily your needs in three years. The electrical infrastructure should accommodate reasonable growth, or at least not prevent it entirely.
Electric vehicle charging is an increasingly common requirement. Staff expect charging facilities. Customers may too, depending on your business. Retrofitting EV charging requires adequate supply capacity and typically needs landlord approval. If the supply is already running near capacity, adding charging infrastructure may not be possible without expensive upgrades.
Data and communications infrastructure matters more than ever. Is there adequate provision for modern networking needs? Are there sufficient data points, or will you be running cables across ceilings from day one? These aren’t strictly electrical questions, but they’re part of the same infrastructure assessment.
Consider sustainability requirements that may become relevant during your tenancy. Could the building accommodate solar PV if you wanted to install it? Would the electrical system handle generation equipment? Landlord consent and lease terms matter here too, but there’s no point exploring these options if the infrastructure fundamentally can’t support them.
The Questions to Actually Ask
Take these to your next viewing. They’re not designed to make you popular with letting agents, but they might save you from an expensive mistake.
What is the supply type and maximum capacity? When was the last Electrical Installation Condition Report completed, and what were the findings? Who is responsible for maintaining and repairing the fixed electrical installation under the lease? What electrical modifications have previous tenants made, and what’s the reinstatement position? Are there any known issues with the electrical system, or planned works? What’s the building’s energy rating? Is sub-metering installed, or could it be?
Some landlords will have ready answers. Others won’t, which tells you something in itself. The willingness to investigate and provide documentation reflects how the landlord approaches property management more broadly.
None of this means you should walk away from premises with older electrical systems or outstanding questions. It means you should understand what you’re taking on, factor any necessary works into your negotiations, and ensure the lease reflects appropriate allocations of responsibility. Informed decisions are better decisions. And when it comes to electrical infrastructure, the cost of being uninformed tends to arrive as an unpleasant invoice at exactly the wrong moment.