The Conduction Company upgrades Auckland office lighting, usually swapping old fluoro troffers for LED panels with a seven-year manufacturer's warranty. It also lights shops and wires office fit-outs. The work runs area by area or after hours, so the business keeps trading.
This guide to office and retail lighting upgrades and electrical fit-outs in Auckland comes from Jordan Statham, director of The Conduction Company and a registered electrician and electrical inspector. It covers a real office upgrade, what gets checked in the ceiling first, how light levels and controls are chosen, how a shop display is lit, and how an office fit-out runs from first fix to handover. His advice on all of it is the same: "it really pays to plan ahead".
Who can I trust to upgrade my office lighting in Auckland?
The Conduction Company upgrades office lighting across Auckland, and its director, Jordan Statham, is both a registered electrician and a registered electrical inspector. The Conduction Company is a Master Electricians member, and its Lifetime Workmanship Guarantee covers its own work.
Whoever you call, ask three things. Will they check the ceiling before they price the job? Can they work around your hours? Will they test and certify the work when it is finished? The Conduction Company does all three on its office electrical upgrades in Auckland.
What does a commercial LED lighting upgrade involve?
A commercial LED lighting upgrade by The Conduction Company starts with an assessment of every fitting and ends with LED panels in place of the old fluoro lights. A recent office job shows the shape of it.
The office had a suspended ceiling (a metal grid with lift-out tiles) full of troffer lights. These are fluoro fittings about 1200 by 600 mm, roughly the size of a ceiling tile, behind prismatic diffusers. The fittings ran on electronic ballasts, the part that drives a fluoro tube, and the ballasts were failing. Jordan Statham puts the cost plainly: a replacement ballast costs "almost as much as" a modern LED fitting, and the bigger cost is getting an electrician out to fit it.
The Conduction Company assessed the lights with the client and gave them options. Its preferred option was a long-warranty LED panel. It costs a bit more up front, and in return the panel carries a seven-year manufacturer's warranty. The team took out every old troffer, pulled the wiring out of each one, and fitted a surface socket for each new panel, so a panel can be unplugged and swapped quickly later.
The result is even, bright light across the office, with no tubes or starters left to replace. "They look fantastic too," Jordan Statham says, "much nicer than the old prismatic diffusers."
The panels The Conduction Company prefers for this work are Voltex LED panel lights. Voltex warrants them against faulty materials and workmanship for seven years from the date of purchase. The Conduction Company's Lifetime Workmanship Guarantee covers the installation.
Is it worth replacing fluorescent tubes with LED panels in an office?
In most offices, yes, because The Conduction Company finds fluoro call-outs add up to more than the LED panels cost. The parts in an old fluoro fitting are cheap. Paying an electrician to come and replace them is not.
Jordan Statham's rule of thumb is that an old fluoro fitting is "probably going to need at least one callout per year", and an office with several failing fittings pays for several call-outs. LED panels need no tube or starter changes. Over the life of the panel's seven-year warranty, he says, an office would "probably spend more on maintenance" keeping the old fittings going than on replacing them.
When does swapping old tubes for LED panels stop making sense?
When your lease ends soon. The Conduction Company's advice: if the lease runs out in a year or two and you have no right of renewal, keep replacing the fluoro tubes as they fail. The upgrade pays off for a tenant who will be there for years, not months.
What do electricians check in a ceiling before changing office lights?
The Conduction Company checks how the lighting cables are run and supported, whether the ceiling can carry the new fittings, and whether the ceiling grid itself is secure.
Some original installers draped the lighting cables straight across the top of the suspended ceiling. AS/NZS 3000, New Zealand's wiring rules, lets cables rest on a suspended ceiling only where the ceiling maker allows it. Where cables touch the metal runners they need extra protection, and they must be fixed so they do not sag. Jordan Statham's worry is simple: a cable cut on a steel runner could make the whole grid live.
So The Conduction Company does not rely on the grid. It hangs the lighting cables from hangers or from catenary wire, a tight wire strung across the ceiling space.
Light fittings sitting in a ceiling panel must not load it past what it can carry, under clause 4.5.2.4 of the same wiring rules. The Conduction Company also checks the ceiling grid is secure and fit for the new fittings, so tiles and lights are less likely to come down in an earthquake.
How long does an office lighting upgrade take, and can the office stay open?
The office can stay open. The Conduction Company's price book allows about half an hour for each troffer swapped for an LED panel. That is time for a crew of two, an electrician and an apprentice, so 20 fittings is roughly a day's work before any ceiling repairs.
There are two ways to keep the office running. If your staff hot-desk, The Conduction Company works area by area, and people move to another desk with their laptop. For the least disruption, it books the work after hours or on a weekend, when nobody is underneath. That can cost more in some cases, so book well ahead. With notice, Jordan Statham finds staff are usually happy to swap a weekday for a weekend, work after hours, or start a little later.
How do you choose the light level and colour for an office?
The Conduction Company sets office light levels from the lighting standard's recommended figures, and usually fits 4000 K neutral white.
Light level comes from a chart, not a guess. AS/NZS 1680.1, the interior and workplace lighting standard, says recommended light levels for particular tasks and rooms are given in its 1680.2 series. A general office where people do admin work on computers has its own range, and The Conduction Company plans the lighting to land inside it.
For colour, Jordan Statham's standard for an office is 4000 K, a normal white. Homes get warmer light, with more of a reddish-orange tone, and The Conduction Company's power and lighting work for homes follows that. In an office, neutral white suits the working day and makes the things under it look good.
Spread matters as much as brightness. Several fittings spread across the ceiling light a room evenly. One powerful fitting in the middle gives more glare, leaves the edges short of light, and casts shadows. The Conduction Company builds the spread into the lighting plan.
When are sensors, timers or dimming worth adding to an office?
Timers and occupancy sensors pay off in most offices, The Conduction Company finds, while dimmers suit particular rooms.
The Conduction Company usually fits a mix of time clocks and occupancy sensors. In core hours the time clock keeps the lights on in the areas in use, so nobody works under lights switching on and off. After hours the time clock switches them off. If a cleaner or someone working late walks in, an occupancy sensor turns that room's lights on for a set time, then they switch off again once the room is empty. Together, the two cut what the lighting costs to run, and the saving grows with the size of the office.
Dimmers are for meeting rooms, especially ones with a television or projector. Dimming the lights lets everyone see the screen while someone presents.
Where can I find a commercial electrician for office fit-outs in Auckland?
The Conduction Company does commercial lighting installation and office fit-outs across Auckland, for tenants, landlords and fit-out main contractors. Its commercial electrical fit-outs in Auckland cover the strip-out, the lighting, the power and data, and the testing and certification at the end. It works nights and weekends where a tenancy sits beside a business that is still trading.
What does the electrical side of an office fit-out involve, from first fix to handover?
The Conduction Company runs an office fit-out in five stages. What happens first depends on whether it is the same tenant or a new one.
Strip-out. On a change of tenancy, the space usually goes back to base build. The partition walls come down, usually the suspended ceiling too, and the old cabling is pulled back to the switchboard. In some cases the lighting and power circuits from the board can stay.
Set-out. The Conduction Company works to a plan that sets where every light and outlet goes. Once demolition is done, it runs new catenary wire across the ceiling space, tightened from one side to the other, usually in a grid above where the lights will be. The cables are tied and taped to the wire and dropped to each light position.
Pre-wire. The lighting circuits and the power cabling go in together, run from the switchboard to each point. Switching is decided before this stage: automatic control, or which switches turn what on. The architect has often planned it already, and The Conduction Company checks on site that it will work well in daily use.
Fit-off. The other trades finish their work. The Conduction Company comes back to fit the lights and connect them to the supplies it ran at pre-wire.
Test, certify and hand over. The installation is livened, tested and commissioned. The Conduction Company hands over the documentation and shows the tenant how the system works and how it was installed, then certifies it. Under the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010, general prescribed electrical work is not complete until a certificate of compliance is issued (regulation 65), and an electrical safety certificate follows (regulation 74A).
How are power and data points planned in an open plan office?
The desk layout decides it. The Conduction Company wires to the desk plan, usually drawn by the interior designer or architect, because how many people sit where sets how much power and data cabling each desk needs.
Some fit-outs use aluminium trunking (a cable channel) around the room's perimeter walls. The Conduction Company runs the data and power cabling inside it, so outlets can move later if the layout changes. Some desks come with power sockets built in. Those need one starter plug and socket for the first desk, and the rest link off it, ready to go.
What happens to the exit and emergency lights when a fit-out changes the layout?
When a fit-out changes the way out of the building, The Conduction Company takes the emergency lighting back to the fire engineer for a new design.
New walls can hide an exit sign that was visible on the old layout, and the path to the exit can move. The fire engineer decides where the emergency lights and exit signs go, so the escape route stays lit and signed. Building Code clause F6 covers visibility in escape routes, and its Acceptable Solution has the emergency lighting design go in with the building consent application.
The Conduction Company then installs the fittings to the engineer's plan and schedule, tests them, and signs the council's producer statement for the installation (a PS3), which says the work follows that design. Emergency lighting is usually one of the systems checked for the building's warrant of fitness. The Conduction Company's exit and emergency lighting service organises that ongoing testing, and the certification itself comes from an IQP company it subcontracts.
What lighting does a retail store need?
A retail store needs directional spotlights or downlights on its displays and good light over the counter, The Conduction Company says.
Where shops go wrong is the distance between the spotlights and the wall or display they shine on. Close enough, and nobody standing in front of the display casts a shadow over it. Far enough, and every shelf gets light. Getting that right comes from experience, and The Conduction Company works to set beam angles and distances out from display cabinets. Directional spotlights are the best choice for feature displays, because they put the beam exactly where it is wanted.
Over a counter or reception desk, The Conduction Company fits recessed downlights directly above it, or batten lights that run its full length. The light lands on the counter, so people on either side can see each other clearly, and staff can see their keyboards and screens.
For cafes and shop fronts, including signs and window displays, The Conduction Company has a separate page on cafe, restaurant and shop fit-outs.
How much does an office electrical fit-out cost in Auckland?
The Conduction Company prices every office fit-out per site, from the drawings and a walk through the space, because what is already in the ceiling and what the switchboard can carry decide most of the price.
We quote on facts, not guesses
Before we give you a price, we carry out a proper assessment of your property and how you'll use your new lighting or fit-out. That way you know exactly what you're buying and the total cost, with no surprises. Clear expectations from the outset, start to finish.
The estimates below are for standard installation of a commercial electrical fit-out. The Conduction Company confirms final pricing after a property assessment.
Completed fit-outs by The Conduction Company start from about $3,500 including GST, with a typical job about $9,600 including GST. Those figures come from The Conduction Company's own completed Auckland shop, restaurant and bakery fit-outs, not offices, so an office fit-out can land well above or below them. An office lighting upgrade is priced per site too, once the fittings are counted and the ceiling is checked. For a single light at home, The Conduction Company has a separate guide to what an electrician charges to fit a light.
Two things move the price of an office fit-out most, in The Conduction Company's experience.
Changes after pre-wire. Moving a light or an outlet once the cables are in means rework: new cable from where it was pre-wired to the new spot. Pre-wire variations can be expensive, so settle every light and power position before the build starts.
The light fittings you choose. Feature lighting costs far more than a basic fitting from the wholesaler. Jordan Statham has installed imported Italian feature lights, one on each floor of a high-rise, and he says "an enormous amount of money can be spent on feature lighting".
Send The Conduction Company your drawings, or just the address if the plans are not drawn yet. It will walk the space and come back with a fixed price broken into job sections.
In short
Swapping old fluoro troffers for LED panels pays off in most offices, because it ends the call-outs that keep failing fittings alive, unless the lease ends within a year or two. The Conduction Company checks how the ceiling cables are supported before it changes a single light, plans light levels from the lighting standard's figures, and works area by area or after hours so the office keeps running. On a fit-out it pre-wires to an agreed plan, takes any change to the escape routes back to the fire engineer, and certifies the work at handover. Its completed fit-outs, all shops, a restaurant and bakeries so far, start from about $3,500 including GST, and every office job is priced after a site visit.
Frequently asked questions
Who pays for new lighting in a leased office, the landlord or the tenant?
It depends on the lease. In most cases The Conduction Company works on, the tenant doing the fit-out pays for the lighting to suit their own needs. Where little is changing and the space only needs a light refresh, the landlord may cover it. Settle who pays when you sign the lease.
What should a tenant sort out electrically before the end of a lease?
Usually not much. In The Conduction Company's experience, most tenants leave the light fittings and wiring as they are, and the next tenant strips the space for their own fit-out. Expensive feature lights in good condition are sometimes taken to the new premises and replaced with standard fittings. Where the lease requires the space returned to a set condition, The Conduction Company does that make-good work and certifies it.
What is a troffer light?
A troffer is a ceiling light that sits in a suspended ceiling grid in place of a tile. The older ones The Conduction Company replaces are fluoro fittings about 1200 by 600 mm, with tubes behind a prismatic diffuser. An LED panel of the same size drops into the same space.
