The Benefits of Preventive Maintenance in Electrical Systems for Small Businesses

Preventative electrical maintenance is a well-established task for any industrial or larger commercial enterprise. These types of operations typically have to follow strict regulations and oversight to maintain workflows. The same isn’t always the case for smaller teams or organizations.

There are over 33 million small businesses across the U.S., employing close to 62 million people. Everything from the local Asian fusion restaurant you went to on a blind date to a car rental company near the airport has electrical needs. Without proper preventative electrical maintenance, fire damage or unwanted operational downtime increases.

Continuity in electrical systems is essential for a small business. The margins tend to be thinner and the competition, on average, is higher due to the diversity of other companies out there fighting for the same market share. The last thing any SME (small to medium-sized enterprise) needs is a sudden electrical outage or accident.

What is Preventative Electrical Maintenance?

The idea of preventative electrical maintenance is simple. Develop a plan for systematic inspection, testing, and servicing of your electrical components to avoid failure or damage. Instead of having a “reactive” approach to potential risk, your small business has a “proactive” plan so problems are fixed long before they become more challenging – or more expensive.

Imagine running a local sub shop. Patrons come from all around to taste your specialty sauces and homemade bread. Running all those ovens and industrial kitchen components sounds great until you realize your building’s electrical infrastructure is way beyond repair. What starts as a typical early morning baking bread turns into a lovely visit from the fire department. Instead of making a profit and paying your employees, you’re out revenue while you conduct necessary repairs over the next month.

Essential Components of Preventative Electrical Maintenance

Before you can set up electrical protection and coordination with local service providers, it helps to understand what a potential plan might look like. We at Dreiym Engineering work with a large range of SMEs, including private businesses all the way to industrial settings. While there is some variance based on geography, size of operation, and equipment, most plans involve:

• Routine Inspections: Scheduled inspections of your property, electrical panels, wiring, and various connections so any potential wear and tear is detected earlier rather than later.
• Load Testing & Coordination of Protection: Double-check systems so breakers, transformers, and relays work as intended to prevent surges or overloads.
• Thermal Imaging & Infrared Scanning: Conducting in-depth analysis of your property to detect hotspots in electrical systems that may lead to an increased risk of electrical damage, failures, or fires.
• Cleaning & Securing Connections: Performing the work to remove dust, debris, and fixing any loose wiring that lowers risk and improves system efficiency.
• Testing Backup Power Systems: Running a small business means having electrical power during weather events, system outages, or other unexpected challenges.

Everyone from a family-owned bodega to a locally operated plumbing shop needs preventative electrical maintenance to reduce electrical failures, expenses, and improve employee safety.

The Top Benefits of Preventative Electrical Maintenance

Why should a small business look closer at electrical protection and coordination? It all comes down to keeping the lights on and maintaining a reliably safe work environment so operations are stable. When that happens, your business experiences a wealth of benefits.

01 | Preventing Electrical Damage & Power Failures

First and foremost, preventative electrical maintenance lowers the chance of unplanned power failures. Equipment is safe, circuits won’t be overloaded, and breakers won’t fail. It ensures you won’t have downtime that cuts into your bottom line.

02 | Reducing Fire Damage Risks

Between 2012 and 2016, roughly 16,540 (on average) non-residential fires occurred in the U.S. Many of these locations were small businesses locally operated and family-owned. Small businesses are much more vulnerable because they sometimes do not have the same resources as larger enterprises.

03 | Extending the Life of Electrical Equipment

Purchasing new equipment like professional kitchen appliances, warehouse supplies, or HVAC systems, all cost a lot of money upfront. Running a small business means you may not have access to those funds without taking out another expensive loan. With the right preventative electrical maintenance on your side, you extend the lifespan of your preexisting equipment, saving you a lot of money both in the short term and through tax depreciation.

04 | Lowering Repair & Energy Costs

Electrical fires, damage, or failure all cost money. You will have expensive emergency repairs and small business downtime. When you fix minor issues before they compound, you ensure your electrical system runs efficiently, reducing energy waste and saving thousands in lost productivity or costly repairs.

05 | Ensuring Complete Compliance with Local Regulations

While a small business may not have as many governmental bodies overlooking every purchase decision or operational mistake, there are some local regulations to worry about. Ensuring proper electrical code compliance is a big deal. You also have to comply with OSHA and NFPA standards so you are not held liable for an electrically-related accident. Plus, you’ll lower your insurance premiums with a proper plan in place and receipts to prove its implementation.

There are plenty of other benefits to preventative electrical maintenance, but this list should be enough to convince your board of directors or stakeholders to take action.

Preventative Maintenance Strategies for Small Businesses

Your small business may not have the operating budget of a multi-national company, but addressing potential risk before it grows out of proportion saves you a lot in the long run. Start by scheduling regular electrical inspections. These will identify risks and lower the chances of damage. Shoot for at least once a year.

Proper electrical protection and coordination needs to be implemented around your entire property. You want a professional to come in and confirm all circuit breakers, transformers, and other components are working without the danger of overloads or failures.

If possible, hire a team that leverages infrared thermal imaging. That will better identify electrical damage by visually highlighting sections of the electrical systems either too cold or too hot.

Your employees should be made aware of any plans you’re putting in place and trained to recognize common electrical issues as early as possible. A quick note or guest feedback could be the ticket to saving thousands of dollars.

Finally, be sure to work with professional electrical engineers. Something as small as flickering lights, if left unaddressed, will escalate. Electrical engineers with enough experience can trace the core issue causing the flickering lights and offer a solution that is more cost-effective, risk-averse, and easier to manage.

Wrapping Up

Over $354 million in property damage, deaths, and injuries occurred to non-residential properties in 2023. You don’t want your small business, already dealing with so many complex financial situations, to also manage a lawsuit due to an electrical issue that could have been easily addressed.

Working with a team, like ours at Dreiym Engineering, for preventative electrical maintenance is the wise choice to lowering financial and operational risk. We offer decades of expert advice and insight, helping you to develop a comprehensive plan so you can focus on what matters more – developing business and customer relationships so you can grow.

Give us a call today and let our professional engineers be your answer to a safer, more resilient business system.