Industrial vs Commercial Electricians: Key Differences

Industrial and commercial electricians play crucial roles in different sectors of the electrical industry. While both are skilled professionals, their work environments, responsibilities, and required expertise can vary significantly. This comprehensive guide breaks down the major differences between industrial and commercial electricians, helping you understand the specific skills and requirements for each role.

Work Environment of Industrial and Commercial Electricians

Industrial Electricians: Typically work in places like factories, industrial plants, and any other type of manufacturing environment. These settings can be demanding and may expose electricians to more extreme conditions and heavier machinery. Depending on where you are in the U.S, you may see different types of industrial projects.

In Texas, for example, there is a lot of oil & gas and heavy machinery environments that are usually located in highly industrial locations (ports, refineries, water treatment plants, etc.).

Commercial Electricians: In contrast, commercial electricians work in settings like offices, stores, malls, and other businesses. Their work environment is typically more standardized and cleaner than industrial settings, dealing with public-facing or employee-occupied spaces.

Types of Electrical Systems of Industrial and Commercial Electricians

Industrial Electricians: Handle larger, more complex systems. This often involves working with machinery and equipment that requires high voltage, as well as specialized controls and systems specific to manufacturing or production. These are usually custom-made systems that are often quite old and need specialized knowledge to work on.

Commercial Electricians: Focus on the systems that fulfill the needs of commercial businesses, like lighting, power distribution, and some specialized systems such as security alarms or communications infrastructure.

Materials and Tools Used by Industrial and Commercial Electricians

Industrial Electricians: may use more robust and heavy-duty materials that can withstand the harsh conditions of an industrial environment. The emphasis is on durability and longevity. Industrial electricians work with “rigid” conduit and they typically use threaders and machine-operated benders because the rigid pipe cannot be hand-bent.

Commercial Electricians: The materials used are typically more suited for aesthetic appeal in addition to functionality, as they’re often in public-facing or employee-occupied spaces. Commercial electricians work with “EMT” conduit, and they can use hand benders. EMT is much more malleable, so there are more complex bends. All of the materials for commercial use are much lighter-duty.

Skills Required of Industrial and Commercial Electricians

Industrial Electricians: Skill set leans toward understanding complex machinery, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and other specialized equipment. They also need to be proficient in troubleshooting under pressure, given the potential downtime costs in an industrial setting. It’s important to note that the knowledge of PLCs and specialized industrial equipment is a very particular skillset and does not transfer to commercial electrical work.

Commercial Electricians: Skills often focus more on the installation, maintenance, and repair of standard electrical systems, as well as understanding building codes and ensuring that all work adheres to these standards.

Training and Certification of Industrial and Commercial Electricians

The required training and licensing for industrial and commercial electricians can differ state-by-state. Take Texas as an example, and you can see how these certifications for each electrical specialty differ:

Industrial Electricians: NCCER, a private certification company that offers extensive training, and TWIC, a Department of Homeland Security-issued credential that permits workers to enter the port for construction purposes, are two certifications along the Gulf Coast that identify someone as an "industrial electrician."

Commercial Electricians: The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) is the major licensing body and all commercial electricians have a TDLR license. Commercial electricians receive their training from the IEC, the union (NECA/JATC), private trade schools, and also proprietary courses from private companies (e.g., TRIO).

Availability of Work for Industrial and Commercial Electricians

Industrial Electricians: Due to the specialized nature of industrial work, there aren't a large number of jobs for industrial electricians. All of these jobs are also found in highly industrialized areas of the state and travel to the job site is often required.

Commercial Electricians: Commercial electrical work is much more available since it extends to most commercial buildings, light-industrial buildings, and warehouses. There is commercial work all over metropolitan areas, and in many cases the location of work depends on the type of project (school vs. medical building vs. light industrial/warehouse).

At Buildforce, 90% of our work is focused on commercial projects, while the remaining 10% is dedicated to industrial projects. We help those dedicated to a career in the electrical trade find consistent work in the easiest and fastest way possible. We have jobs hiring right now.