A restaurant build-out's electrical scope comes down to three things: a complete equipment schedule with real nameplate data, a service big enough to carry the kitchen at its busiest hour, and clear hand-offs with the hood, suppression, refrigeration and plumbing trades. Get those right on paper and the inspections that stand between you and opening day become routine.
This checklist follows the order the work actually runs in a South Florida kitchen, from the lease stage to the final walk-through. It is written for owners, operators and the GCs building for them. For the full scope, see our restaurant electrical contractor page. For how a restaurant fits into a wider commercial remodel or tenant improvement, start there.
1. Build the equipment schedule first
Every electrical decision in a kitchen flows from the equipment list. A vague list ("two fryers, a walk-in, a dish machine") produces a vague design. Then the change orders start once the real equipment shows up on site. Before anyone draws a circuit, the schedule should have:
- Make and model for every piece, with the cut sheet attached, not just a category.
- Nameplate data: voltage, phase, amps or kW, and whether the unit needs a neutral.
- Connection type: cord-and-plug (and the exact receptacle configuration) or hardwired, and whether a local disconnect is needed.
- Location and height on the kitchen plan, because a receptacle behind a fryer that ends up six inches off is a callback.
- Who furnishes it: owner, kitchen equipment dealer or GC. Owner-furnished items are the ones most often missing from the drawings.
- Future equipment you already know is coming, such as a second combi oven or an ice machine for the bar.
2. Check the service before the lease is final
Second-generation restaurant space is attractive because the kitchen infrastructure is "already there." Sometimes it is. Often the previous operator ran a different menu on different equipment, and the service, panel and circuits reflect their kitchen, not yours.
- Confirm the service size, voltage and phase. A 208-volt three-phase kitchen line-up will not run on a single-phase 120/240-volt service. Our guide to three-phase power explains how to tell what a space has.
- Count the spare breaker spaces and check the panel's condition, not just its label.
- Compare your equipment schedule against what the service can actually deliver. If it will not fit, our post on when a business outgrows its service covers the options.
- If a service increase is needed, bring the utility in early. Their side usually sets the schedule. See planning a new commercial service with the utility.
3. Decide gas versus electric cooking early
The cooking fuel is a menu and budget decision. It is also the single biggest variable in the electrical load. An all-electric line (fryers, griddles, combi ovens, induction, holding cabinets) can require far more capacity than the same line on gas. That may be the difference between using the existing service and upgrading it.
- List which appliances are gas and which are electric before the load calculation is done.
- Remember that gas equipment still needs power for many controls, igniters, fans and timers.
- If the plan is to switch later (gas now, induction in two years), size the service and feeders for the later plan while the walls are open.
4. Dedicated circuits and equipment connections
Most commercial kitchen equipment needs its own circuit sized to its nameplate. Sharing is how breakers trip at the dinner rush. Our dedicated circuits and equipment connections page covers the general approach; in a kitchen the checklist looks like this:
- A dedicated circuit for each fixed cooking appliance, the dish machine and its booster heater, ice machines, and beverage and espresso equipment.
- Receptacle configurations that match the cords on the equipment actually being delivered, confirmed from cut sheets.
- Disconnects where the equipment and drawings require them, located where staff can reach them without moving equipment.
- Circuits for the water heater, grease trap pumps or controls if any, and the hood's control panel.
Walk-in coolers and freezers
- Separate circuits for the condensing unit and the evaporator, per the refrigeration manufacturer's data.
- Power for door heaters, box lighting and any defrost or alarm controls the manufacturer specifies.
- A condensing unit on a roof or an exterior pad in coastal South Florida sits in salt air. Specify disconnects and fittings for corrosion, not just for "outdoor."
- The refrigeration contractor sets the unit and runs the refrigerant and control wiring. Agree on paper where their scope stops and the electrical scope starts.
5. Hood, exhaust and fire suppression: coordinate, do not assume
The kitchen hood's fire suppression system is a specialty trade. It is designed and installed by a fire suppression contractor, not the electrician. But it touches the electrical scope in several places, and this is where restaurant inspections most often go wrong.
- Exhaust and makeup air fans: power, controls and the location of the hood control panel.
- Hood lights: fixtures supplied with or listed for the hood, wired to the hood panel.
- Shutdown on discharge: electric cooking equipment under the hood has to shut down when the suppression system discharges. Whether that is done with a shunt-trip breaker or a contactor, and what the fans do at that moment, is set by the fire code, NFPA 96 (the commercial cooking standard), the hood's listing and the suppression design. Get the sequence in writing from the hood and suppression submittals before rough-in.
- Fire alarm tie-in: if the building has a fire alarm system, connecting the suppression system to it is fire alarm contractor work. The electrical sub provides whatever power the drawings show.
- Test day: the suppression contractor's acceptance test checks the shutdowns. Have the electrician available that day.
6. GFCI protection, water and grease
Kitchens are wet, hot and greasy, and they get hosed down. The electrical code treats them that way. Recent editions of the National Electrical Code require GFCI protection for personnel on receptacles in kitchens outside dwelling units. That covers much more than the ordinary 120-volt outlet: it can include 208- and 240-volt single-phase receptacles and many three-phase receptacles within the code's voltage and amperage limits, as a state fire marshal's written interpretation of the NEC kitchen rule lays out. Which edition applies depends on your permit, so confirm it with the building department.
- Plan GFCI protection so a nuisance trip on one device does not take down a whole line, and so staff can find the reset.
- Keep receptacles and boxes above splash height near sinks, prep tables and the dish area.
- Use enclosures suited to wash-down areas, and weather-resistant, in-use covers outdoors.
- Avoid floor boxes in wet zones, and keep conduit runs clear of grease-laden air where possible.
7. Front of house: POS, low voltage and lighting
- POS and network: dedicated circuits for terminals, printers and network equipment, with surge protection at the panel and the equipment. A register that reboots every time the compressor starts is a wiring problem.
- Data and AV cabling: drops for POS, kitchen display screens, Wi-Fi access points, music and TVs. Pull them during rough-in, before ceilings close. See low-voltage cabling.
- Lighting: dimmable, zoned dining lighting; bright, cleanable fixtures in the kitchen; exterior, patio and sign power.
Emergency and exit lighting
Egress and emergency lighting are part of the fire inspection. The Florida Fire Prevention Code adopts NFPA 1 and NFPA 101 (Florida editions), and the fire inspector will look at exit signs, emergency lighting and the path out. Our life-safety electrical page covers emergency and exit lighting and alarm power. Monitored fire alarm systems themselves are specialist work.
8. Permits and inspections before you open
A restaurant has more sign-offs than most tenant spaces, and they are sequential. One missed inspection can hold up everything behind it.
- Know which building department has jurisdiction. In Miami-Dade and Broward, many cities run their own building departments. Broward's Building Code Division covers unincorporated Broward and the cities it contracts with. Our commercial electrical permits page covers the tri-county picture.
- Electrical rough and final inspections, scheduled so the rough inspection happens before walls and ceilings close.
- Fire inspections for the hood suppression, emergency lighting and egress.
- State food service licensing. Florida requires new food service establishments, including converted and remodeled ones, to go through plan review with a scale floor plan showing the equipment. Owners must also get a license from the Division of Hotels and Restaurants before operating, which includes an opening inspection. Keep the equipment schedule and the floor plan in sync so the state reviews the kitchen you are actually building.
- Utility release if the service is new or upsized. FPL requires a local inspection of every new electric service installation before it energizes, so the electrical final comes before power.
Where to start
If you have a space in mind, the most useful first step is a site visit with your equipment schedule in hand. Bring the list, even if it is rough, plus a photo of the panel label. We will tell you whether the space can carry your kitchen and what the electrical scope looks like. KRW Electric (Florida license EC13012832) handles restaurant and food service electrical work across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Learn more on our restaurant electrical page, then send us the details, or call (305) 359-7312.
Reviewed by Kyle White, KRW Electric Company LLC — licensed electrical contractor EC13012832.
