Do you need an industrial electrician or a commercial electrician? Sometimes it can be tough to know the difference, but, it is imperative to hire the correct one!
Commercial electricians work primarily in buildings that like office buildings or semi-commercial/residential buildings that are condos. They work on construction sites and repairing
They tend to work longer-term jobs than industrial electricians. Sometimes, they can stay on certain projects for years, depending on the size of the assignment. For example, a commercial electrical company spent years building and handling the World Trade Center in New Orleans. Commercial electricians do not do industrial work.
Industrial electricians are usually much more highly trained than commercial electricians because they are qualified to do both industrial and commercial work. They have undergone extensive education and typically work in places like factories, chemical plants, mines and more! They often work with complex and expensive machinery and systems. Industrial electricians are also line workers that run electrical lines. These types of electricians tend to work on short-term projects.
As for the work environment, industrial electricians work in plants, factories, and shipyards. These types of workplaces often require a TWIC card to access the site because of sensitive materials, such as in a chemical plant. Commercial electricians work in places like commercial buildings, sometimes like retails stores or restaurants to guarantee all of the electrical components and wiring are safe and operating efficiently.
Their scope of work also varies. Commercial electricians work within the same band of electricity for the most part. For example, they would do work for electricity that runs through a home or office. In contrast, industrial workers can work with anything from micro-currents all the way up to huge, high-voltage manufacturing plant-level lines.
Although different, both types of electricians require training. Electricians usually go through electrical trade school or start at the “helper” level for a company. Then, they are either put through an apprenticeship or the company pays for them to go to school. Louisiana requires licenses for both options.