Commercial Remodel and Tenant Improvement Electrical in South Florida

Build-outs, renovations and TIs, EC13012832

Tenant Improvement Electrical, Start to Closeout

What tenant improvement electrical work includes

A tenant improvement (TI), build-out or commercial remodel takes an existing space and makes it work for a new use. The building, the service and usually the main distribution are already there; the electrical job is to fit a new layout, new equipment and new lighting into what exists, and to leave the space safe, inspected and documented. A typical TI electrical scope includes:

• Demolition of circuits, devices and fixtures that no longer fit the layout, made safe back to the panel.
• A capacity check of the unit's service and panel against the new equipment list.
• New or relocated panels, and feeders where the existing panel cannot carry the load.
• Branch circuits for receptacles, workstations, point-of-sale and specialty equipment.
• Dedicated circuits and disconnects for HVAC, kitchen, refrigeration or medical equipment.
• New lighting, lighting controls, and emergency and exit lighting to suit the new layout.
• Pathways and boxes for data, security and AV cabling.
• Sign power and exterior lighting where the lease allows it.
• Permits, inspections, updated panel schedules and closeout records.

KRW Electric (license EC13012832) does this work for GCs, landlords, property managers and tenants across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. It sits within our wider commercial electrical contractor work.

Vanilla shell, turnkey or second-generation space

How much electrical work a TI needs depends mostly on what the landlord delivers.

• Cold or gray shell: structure and a utility point of service, sometimes no more. The tenant's scope may include the service equipment, meter, panel and everything downstream.
• Vanilla shell or white box: usually a panel sized for a generic use, code-minimum lighting, and sometimes emergency and exit lighting and a few receptacles. The tenant's scope is everything the specific business needs beyond that.
• Turnkey: the landlord builds the space to the tenant's plan, and the electrical contractor usually works for the landlord's GC.
• Second-generation space: the previous tenant's build-out is still there. It can save money if the layout and loads are close, or cost more than a shell if old circuits have to be traced, removed and made safe before new work starts.

Those labels are not standard terms across leases, so read the work letter, not the marketing sheet. Our guide to vanilla shell versus turnkey electrical goes line by line through what each usually includes.

Landlord and tenant scope, and the work letter

The lease's work letter (or construction exhibit) decides who pays for which electrical items and who controls the work. Items worth checking before signing:

• The service size and panel delivered to the unit, stated in amps and voltage, and whether three-phase is available.
• Whether the landlord's delivered electrical is to code for the tenant's use or only for a generic one.
• Who pays if the capacity delivered cannot carry the tenant's equipment.
• Whether the tenant may choose its own electrical contractor, or must use the landlord's.
• Building rules for shutdowns, after-hours work, roof access and core drilling.
• How the tenant improvement allowance is paid, and which electrical items count toward it.

We can review the electrical side of a work letter against the tenant's equipment list before it is signed. See the tenant improvement allowance and electrical scope guide and the electrical questions to ask before signing a commercial lease.

Check capacity before the layout is fixed

The most expensive TI surprise is a unit whose service cannot carry the business. A restaurant line, a medical imaging room, a bank of servers or a salon full of dryers can each exceed what a generic shell panel was sized for. If that is discovered after equipment is ordered and the layout is drawn, the fix is a service upgrade on the critical path.

The check is straightforward: collect nameplate data for the planned equipment, compare the calculated load with the existing service and panel, look at available panel spaces, and confirm whether three-phase is present. If the service is too small, the options are a panel change inside the existing service, a service upgrade through the landlord and the utility, or a change in equipment. Each has a different cost and timeline, and the landlord usually has to approve the second.

See tenant and business equipment power, when a business outgrows its electrical service and, if the equipment needs it, three-phase power.

Demolition and making circuits safe

Demolition in an existing space is where old wiring causes trouble: circuits that feed a neighboring unit or a common-area light, abandoned wiring that is still live, junction boxes buried above a hard ceiling. Before anything is cut we identify what each circuit serves, de-energize and lock out what is being removed, and cut back to the panel or to an accessible, covered box rather than leaving dead ends in the ceiling. Anything found that serves another unit is reported to the landlord or property manager rather than disconnected.

Demolition is also when the real condition of the space shows up: overloaded shared neutrals, undocumented panel changes, or wiring that was never inspected. We report what we find in writing with the options, so the GC and the owner can decide on the change before walls are closed rather than after.

Occupied buildings, after-hours shutdowns and phasing

Most TIs happen in buildings that stay open: other tenants on the same floor, a landlord's lobby, the tenant's own business moving in stages. The electrical plan has to allow for that.

• Shutdowns that affect other tenants are scheduled with the property manager, with notice, usually outside business hours.
• Phasing lets part of a space keep running while the rest is rebuilt, with temporary circuits where needed.
• Tie-ins to a live building panel or feeder are planned as short, rehearsed outages with everything prepared in advance.
• Noise, dust and access rules from the landlord decide when core drilling and demolition can happen.

See getting electrical work done without closing the business and our page for business owners.

Bringing existing work up to code during an alteration

Florida handles renovations of existing buildings under the Florida Building Code, Existing Building volume. It sorts alterations into levels by what the work does and how much of the building it touches; in the 2023 (8th) edition, Level 2 alterations apply where the work area is 50 percent or less of the building area, and larger work areas fall into Level 3. The level decides how much of the existing building has to be improved along with the new work.

For electrical, the practical rule is that new wiring in the work area must meet the current electrical code, while existing wiring outside it can often stay as it is. Depending on the occupancy and the level of alteration, some existing wiring in the work area may also have to be brought up to date. The engineer and the building official decide how a given project is classified, so confirm it with the building department with jurisdiction before pricing assumes either way. The Florida Building Commission has set December 31, 2026 as the effective date of the 9th Edition (2026) code, so a project permitted around then should confirm which edition applies.

In a mapped flood zone (look up the address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center), a renovation costing 50 percent or more of the structure's market value counts as a substantial improvement and has to comply with local floodplain rules, which can move electrical equipment. The local floodplain administrator makes that call. Code issues found during demolition are handled as code-violation corrections.

Permits and plan review for a TI

Almost every commercial TI with electrical work needs a permit, and most need drawings for plan review. Which department reviews them depends on the address: in Miami-Dade, the county covers unincorporated areas while the 35 municipalities each have their own building official; Broward's Building Code Division covers unincorporated Broward and its contract cities; and Palm Beach County's Permit Center handles the unincorporated area. Other cities run their own departments.

A building permit for the TI is often filed by the GC with electrical as a sub-permit pulled by the electrical contractor. On our jobs the electrical permit is pulled under KRW's license. Condominium and older buildings may also have association rules and, for condo buildings of three or more habitable stories, milestone inspection findings under section 553.899, Florida Statutes that affect the work. See commercial electrical permits and inspections for how plan review and inspections run in each county.

Life-safety and emergency lighting in a remodel

Moving walls changes the exit path, and the emergency and exit lighting has to follow it. A remodel usually means new egress lighting layouts, exit signs relocated to the new doors, and emergency lighting tested before the final inspection. Where the building has a fire alarm system, the licensed alarm contractor relocates or adds devices, and we provide and coordinate the circuits they need. See life-safety electrical systems.

Low-voltage cabling coordination

Data, phone, security and AV cabling usually belongs to a separate vendor or the tenant's IT provider, but it shares walls, ceilings and pathways with the power. We rough in boxes, sleeves and pathways at the same time as the power so the cabling crew is not cutting finished walls later, and we can install the cabling itself where it is in our scope. See low-voltage cabling.

Notes by project type

• Restaurants: the heaviest TI electrical scope, driven by the kitchen equipment schedule, hood and exhaust power, walk-ins and often three-phase. See restaurant electrical contractor and the restaurant build-out checklist.
• Offices: workstation power, conference and huddle rooms, lighting controls, and data pathways. See office build-out electrical.
• Retail: display and track lighting, sign power, point-of-sale circuits and fixed opening dates. See retail electrical contractor.
• Medical offices: exam and procedure room circuits, equipment with specific power requirements, and documentation. See medical office electrical.
• Warehouses and flex space: three-phase equipment, high-bay lighting, dock equipment and office areas inside the warehouse shell. See warehouse and industrial electrician.

In Miami-Dade and Broward, which the Florida Building Code places in the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, anything the TI adds on the roof or exterior (condensing units, disconnects, signs) is mounted to engineered wind details.

How to hand KRW a TI package for pricing

1. The lease exhibit or work letter showing what the landlord delivers electrically.
2. Drawings: electrical sheets if they exist, plus the floor plan, reflected ceiling plan and equipment schedule.
3. Nameplate data for major equipment, especially kitchen, HVAC, medical and anything three-phase.
4. Photos of the existing panel, its label and the meter or service equipment.
5. The schedule: access date, opening date, and any hours the building or neighbors need power.
6. The address, which decides the building department and the utility.

If there are no drawings yet, bring the equipment list and floor plan and we can work through the loads with your designer through electrical planning. We work under the GC or directly for the tenant or landlord; see for general contractors. To start, send the package through get in touch or call (305) 359-7312.