New construction and gut renovation wiring in New York

On a new build or a gut job, the electrical schedule is tied to everyone else's. Rough-in has to be inspected before insulation and drywall, and a missed inspection holds up every trade behind it.

We work from the architect's drawings, file the electrical scope, and keep the rough and final inspections on the general contractor's calendar so the walls close on time.

Rough-in is everything that goes in before the walls close: boxes, cable or conduit, the panel, low-voltage pathways and blocking for fixtures. We mark box heights and locations against the drawings and the owner's walkthrough, because moving a box later means opening finished walls. Finish wiring follows the painters: devices, plates, fixtures, the panel directory and testing. Between the two, the rough inspection has to pass, and we're on site for it so any correction is made the same day and the drywall crew isn't held back.

New buildings under seven stories have to be all-electric, which changes the electrical design from the first sketch. Heating, hot water, cooking and drying all move onto the service, often alongside EV charging. We size the service and the unit panels for that load, plan heat pump circuits and disconnects with the mechanical engineer, and lay out induction and dryer circuits early. Getting that right on paper is far cheaper than discovering at the final that the service is undersized and waiting on Con Edison.

Larger and more complex jobs go through the DOB's electrical plan review, where the load calculation, riser diagram and panel schedules are checked before work starts. We prepare and file that package, answer the examiner's objections, and track the filing until it's approved. Clean drawings and a complete load calculation are what keep plan review from stretching out. On smaller gut renovations the filing is simpler, but the scope still has to match what's built, so we keep it updated as changes come in.

Inspections are where electrical schedules slip. We book the rough inspection as soon as the last box is set, walk the job beforehand to catch box fill, firestopping and labeling issues, and meet the inspector on site. The final is booked when devices, fixtures and the panel are complete and tested. The general contractor gets dates as soon as we have them, so drywall, insulation and finishes are scheduled around real inspection days instead of guesses. Failed items are corrected before the inspector leaves when possible.

On a gut renovation of a single apartment, rough-in usually takes one to two weeks and finish work a few days, with inspections between them. New buildings run on the general contractor's schedule floor by floor. Plan review is the variable: simple filings move quickly, while complex ones can take several weeks, so we file as soon as the drawings are stable.