Commercial electrical is priced per square foot of building, and the number is mostly about what the building does. A warehouse needs lights, a few circuits, and a dock door. A restaurant needs a kitchen full of equipment, a hood, a walk-in, and a service big enough to run all of it at once on a Saturday night. Same square footage, three or four times the electrical. So the first question in any commercial electrical bid is not "how big" but "what is it," and a bid that does not ask is a bid that is guessing.
This guide covers what electrical runs by building type in 2026, what the big-ticket items are, and what an owner or a tenant should make the contractor put in writing.
Commercial Electrical Cost Breakdown
What these ranges price: electrical for a commercial build-out or new construction: service, distribution, branch wiring, devices and lighting, installed. Service upgrades priced separately below.
| Level | Price Range (per sq ft of building) |
|---|---|
| Warehouse or shell space | $5.50 – $9 |
| Office, retail, strip center | $9 – $18 |
| Restaurant, medical, cold storage or food processing | $18 – $38 |
These are national ranges with a Gulf Coast note, last reviewed September 2026, from Terrapin Construction Group's April 2026 guide: warehouse $5.50 to $9 per square foot, Class B office and shell $11 to $18, retail and strip centers $9 to $16, medical office $22 to $34, cold storage and food processing $18 to $32, quick-service restaurants $28 to $38, with an overall typical range of $9 to $22 and regional installed labor for the Gulf Coast and Texas at $10 to $15 per square foot. They are not a study of the Houston market. 365 Builders works statewide; treat these as a starting point, not a quote.
The big-ticket items the per-square-foot number does not include, from the same guide:
- Service upgrades: a 400-amp service runs $18,000 to $35,000 installed; an 800-amp service $40,000 to $75,000. Larger services, and anything that needs new switchgear, are quoted job by job and can run well past that, so ask for the number rather than scaling these. If the building's existing service cannot carry the new tenant's load, this is the line that changes the whole budget, and it should be answered before the lease is signed, not after.
- Lighting: standard LED troffers with occupancy sensors and basic controls, $2.50 to $5.50 per square foot, inside the ranges above but worth seeing on its own line because it is where owners most often upgrade or cut.
For context on labor, Buildforce's January 2026 Texas guide puts the average electrician's wage around $27.50 to $28.23 an hour statewide, with Houston's hourly mean at $27.30, Dallas at $30.06, Austin at $28.45 and San Antonio at $26.96. That is the wage; the billed rate on a commercial job covers payroll burden, insurance, the truck, and the company on top of it, and is well above that figure.
What Drives the Price Up or Down
1. Occupancy and load
This is the axis of the table. An office needs receptacles, lighting, HVAC circuits, and data. A restaurant needs all of that plus dedicated circuits for every piece of kitchen equipment, a hood with its own controls, refrigeration, and a much larger service. Medical adds isolated grounds, emergency circuits, and equipment loads. Tell the contractor exactly what the space is for and what equipment is going in, with nameplate data, before they price it.
2. Existing service and panel capacity
The cheapest commercial electrical job is one where the existing service is big enough. The most expensive is one where it is not, and nobody checked. A load calculation on the planned use against the existing service is the first thing a good contractor does, and it is worth paying for on its own before you commit to a space.
3. Shell versus second-generation space
A new shell has nothing in it and everything is new, which is expensive but predictable. A second-generation space (the last tenant left wiring behind) can be cheaper if the previous layout is close to yours and the work was permitted and to code, or more expensive if it has to be demoed and redone. Ask the contractor to look at what is there before pricing a reuse.
4. Ceiling height and the roof
Warehouses and high-bay retail put lighting and conduit 20 to 30 feet up, which means lifts, slower work, and a different lighting package. Roof-mounted equipment means roof penetrations and coordination with the roofer and the HVAC contractor.
5. Controls, data and low voltage
Occupancy sensors, daylight controls, and energy-code compliance are part of the lighting line. Data cabling, security, fire alarm, and access control are usually separate trades and separate bids. Make sure you know which bid covers which, or you will find a gap the week before opening.
6. Permits, inspections and the utility
Ask your city's permit office what a job like yours has to be permitted and inspected for, and expect a service change to involve the utility on top of the city. The utility's schedule, not the electrician's, is often what sets the date the lights come on. Ask who is coordinating it and how long the utility is quoting.
How to Read a Commercial Electrical Bid
- Per square foot of what? Building area, and what occupancy the contractor assumed. Two bids on the same space that differ by half usually assumed different uses.
- Service: existing or new, and what size. The single biggest swing item. If the bid says "reuse existing service," ask for the load calculation that supports it.
- Equipment schedule. Every piece of equipment with a dedicated circuit, listed. Kitchen and medical especially.
- Lighting package. Fixture type, count, and controls. And whether it meets the energy code.
- What is excluded. Data, fire alarm, security, and the utility's own charges are commonly excluded. That is fine if it is written down.
- Permit and inspection. In the number, and who pulls it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does commercial electrical work take?
Rough-in on a typical tenant space is measured in weeks and runs alongside framing and mechanical; trim-out follows drywall. A service upgrade adds utility lead time that can be longer than the electrical work itself. We put the electrical sequence and the utility date in writing as part of the build schedule.
Does the tenant or the landlord pay for electrical in a build-out?
It depends on the lease and the tenant improvement allowance. What the electrical actually costs is the same either way, and a landlord's allowance sized before the electrical is scoped is where budgets go wrong. Get the electrical scoped before the allowance is negotiated if you can.
Is a licensed electrician required in Texas?
Treat it as yes, and verify rather than take anyone's word for it. We are not going to print the statute here, because who licenses what, and what your city registers on top of the state, is the kind of rule that varies and changes. Ask the contractor for the license number, check it against the state licensing board's public search, and ask your city's permit office what it requires locally. A contractor who will not give you a license number has already answered the question.
What does 365 Builders do on commercial electrical?
Electrical is part of our commercial construction and facilities maintenance work, from build-outs to repairs and lighting replacements on buildings we maintain. If you have a space to build out or a building with recurring electrical needs, that is the conversation to have with us.
Get a Free Commercial Electrical Estimate in Houston, TX
At 365 Builders, we provide detailed, transparent estimates for commercial electrical projects throughout Houston, TX and across Texas. We've been serving the community since 2015, and we stand behind our work. Tell us what the space is for, send the equipment list and a photo of the existing panel, and we will tell you whether the service is big enough and which band you are in before we build a number.
Explore our electrical services, our commercial construction services, see what we do in Houston, or browse all the areas we serve across Texas.
Call us at (956) 607-0470 or request a free quote to get started.