What Electricians Do
Welcome
Hello, and welcome. This is Super Structures General Contractors — a national general contractor headquartered in Powhatan, Virginia — here to help you and your clients build something that lasts. We're glad you're with us, and we look forward to connecting with you.
Alright, What Electricians Do. Don't let the plain title fool you. Here's the part that actually matters on the job: Electricians install and maintain the systems that carry and control electrical power — from the utility service to the last receptacle — and the trade splits into residential, commercial, industrial, and low-voltage work that all run on the same code and the same physics. Learn it well and you'll understand why no building gets a certificate of occupancy without one.
An electrician takes power from where the utility hands it off and distributes it safely through a building: the service (meter and main disconnect), the panelboard with its overcurrent devices, the feeders and branch circuits, and the devices and equipment at the end — receptacles, lighting, motors, HVAC, and controls. The work is governed by the National Electrical Code (NFPA 70), inspected by the local authority having jurisdiction, and done by people licensed to do it.
Where electricians work
- Residential — new homes, remodels, service upgrades, and the growing load of EV chargers, heat pumps, and solar. Mostly nonmetallic cable and 120/240-volt single-phase systems.
- Commercial — offices, retail, schools, hospitals. Conduit and MC cable, three-phase systems (208Y/120 and 480Y/277 volts), lighting controls, fire alarm interface, and coordination with every other trade in the ceiling.
- Industrial — plants, water treatment, warehouses. Motors, drives, PLCs, instrumentation, and medium-voltage distribution. Troubleshooting as much as installation.
- Low-voltage and systems — data cabling, fire alarm, security, access control, and building automation (NEC Chapters 7 and 8).
- Line work — utility distribution and transmission, a separate trade with its own training.
- Specialties — solar and storage, EV infrastructure, elevators, signs, health care, hazardous locations.
A day in the trade
On new construction the work moves in phases. Layout from the drawings: where every box, panel, and fixture goes. Rough-in: mounting boxes, running conduit or cable, pulling conductors, and setting the service and panels before walls are closed. The rough inspection. Then trim-out: devices, fixtures, breakers, labeling the panel, and testing every circuit. The final inspection and the utility's release of power. On service work the day is troubleshooting — a meter, a print, and a method — and repair.
The skills
Reading electrical drawings and the code; the math behind Ohm's law, power, and load calculations; bending conduit cleanly and to dimension; pulling and terminating conductors without damage; working from ladders and lifts; using test instruments and interpreting what they say; and the discipline to de-energize, lock out, and verify before touching anything.
Going Deeper (Intermediate)
The trade is organized around the NEC's structure, and knowing it is what separates a wire-puller from an electrician. Chapters 1 through 4 apply to everything: definitions and general requirements, wiring and protection (branch circuits, feeders, services, overcurrent protection, grounding and bonding), wiring methods and materials, and equipment for general use. Chapters 5 through 7 modify those rules for special occupancies, equipment, and conditions — hospitals, hazardous locations, emergency systems. Chapter 8 covers communications, and Chapter 9 is tables. An electrician who knows where to look works faster and passes inspection.
Advanced / Pro-Level
Pros understand power systems, not just circuits: how a utility transformer's secondary creates the voltage the building sees, why a 480Y/277-volt system needs a step-down transformer for receptacles, what available fault current at the service means for the equipment ratings downstream, and how selective coordination keeps a fault on one branch from blacking out a whole floor. They read the one-line diagram the way a superintendent reads a schedule.
From the contractor's side, the electrical subcontractor is typically one of the largest trade packages on a commercial job and is on site from footings to the last day. A GC who understands the sequence — underground, slab, rough, above-ceiling, trim, energize — schedules the job without starving the trade or paying for it to wait.
Practice Challenge
A contractor is building a small medical office. The electrical bid comes in from a residential electrician who has done dozens of houses. What should give the contractor pause? (Answer: the work is commercial and a health-care occupancy — three-phase distribution, conduit rather than cable, NEC Article 517 requirements for patient care spaces, fire alarm interface, and inspection under a different set of rules. The license may be identical, but the experience is not; ask for comparable commercial and health-care projects.)
In Practice
A contractor who knows the electrician's phases schedules the slab pour after the underground inspection and the drywall after the rough inspection. A contractor who doesn't finds the drywaller covering boxes the inspector has never seen.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Treating residential, commercial, and industrial electricians as interchangeable
- Closing walls or pouring slabs before the electrical rough inspection
- Forgetting that low-voltage systems are still electrical work under the code
- Hiring on price alone without checking the license, insurance, and comparable experience
Takeaway: Electricians install and maintain the systems that carry and control electrical power — from the utility service to the last receptacle — and the trade splits into residential, commercial, industrial, and low-voltage work that all run on the same code and the same physics.
Educational overview only — not code-specific technical training, a safety program, or a substitute for work under a licensed electrician. Follow the NEC edition adopted in your jurisdiction, NFPA 70E, OSHA, your state licensing board's rules, and your employer's procedures.