Will the building's electrical service carry your kitchen? Checking capacity before signing

The electrical problem usually shows up after the equipment arrives

Electrical capacity is easy to skip during site selection because it is invisible. The panel exists, the lights work, and the listing says "restaurant-ready" or nothing at all. The trouble starts when a combi oven, a dish machine booster and a walk-in condensing unit all need dedicated circuits at voltages and phases the building may not have. In a thread asking multi-unit owners what goes wrong that costs the most, one reply listed unforeseen electrical and hood needs in a new unit, including breakers tripping because outlets had been wired together on the same breaker with no clear logic and little accurate labeling on the panel. We have a search excerpt of that thread. It is one owner's account, but it describes the two separate failures this article addresses: not enough capacity, and capacity that exists but is wired and labeled so poorly that nobody can manage it.

Sometimes the infrastructure changes the concept entirely. In a post about cooking in a food truck outside an indoor seating space, the owner explained that the building's ventilation and electrical infrastructure made a full kitchen impractical, so they moved to a hybrid model. We only have a search excerpt. Whatever the details, that decision is better made before signing than after.

Start with an equipment load schedule, not square footage

Rules of thumb based on floor area tell you little about a kitchen, because two spaces of the same size can house very different equipment. Build the schedule from your actual equipment list. For each item, take the voltage, phase, amperage or kilowatt rating and connection type from the manufacturer's spec sheet, not from memory or the dealer's summary. Include the items owners forget: the hood's exhaust fan and makeup air blower, the walk-in's condensing unit and evaporator, the dish machine's booster heater, water heating if it is electric, HVAC, ice machines, lighting, POS and network gear, and any outdoor equipment.

Mark which items could run on gas instead and which have alternatives with different electrical needs. That one decision can change the result. Then hand the schedule to an electrician or electrical engineer. They calculate demand load using the method in the adopted electrical code, which treats commercial kitchen equipment and continuous loads in specific ways. Summing nameplate kilowatts is not the code calculation. The table below is a hypothetical starting list only.

Survey what the space actually has

The other side of the comparison is the existing service. Ask the landlord for the electrical drawings and the most recent panel schedule. Then send your electrician to verify them, because drawings and reality often differ in older or repeatedly renovated buildings. The survey should record the service size in amps, the voltage and phase, the main breaker or disconnect rating, the meter arrangement, the condition and available space in each panel, and the path from the meter to your space.

In a multi-tenant building, the key question is often not the building's total service but how much of it is allotted to your unit and whether more is available. A shopping center may have a large service shared by many tenants, with each unit's feeder limiting what you can draw. Ask the landlord in writing how much capacity is allocated to your premises and whether additional capacity exists or is reserved for other tenants. A brochure line such as "heavy power" is not an answer.

• Service amps, voltage and phase at the unit, verified in the field
• Main disconnect and panel ratings, spare breaker spaces, panel condition
• Capacity allocated to the unit in a multi-tenant building, in writing
• Meter location and whether a separate meter or larger meter is possible
• Route and length from meter or switchgear to the kitchen
• Signs of past problems: warm breakers, double-tapped breakers, missing covers, handwritten labels

Hypothetical worked example: comparing demand with capacity

All figures are hypothetical, and the demand number stands in for an engineer's calculation, not a method to copy. The space has a 200-amp, 120/208-volt, three-phase service. Its capacity is roughly 200 × 208 × 1.732 = 72,051 volt-amperes, or about 72 kVA. The equipment list above totals 103 kW connected. After applying the adopted code's demand factors, the engineer calculates a demand load of 81 kVA for the all-electric version. That corresponds to about 225 amps at 208 volts three-phase (81,000 ÷ 360.26 = 224.8). It exceeds the service.

There are two options. The first is to switch the fryers and griddle to gas, removing 46 kW of connected load. In this example the engineer recalculates demand at 52 kVA, about 144 amps (52,000 ÷ 360.26 = 144.3), which fits within 200 amps with room for the engineer's margin. That option works only if gas service, meter capacity and the hood design can take the added gas load. The second is to upgrade to 400 amps, about 144 kVA (400 × 208 × 1.732 = 144,102 VA), which keeps the electric equipment but adds utility, switchgear and landlord steps. Neither answer comes from square footage. The decision is made on cost, timing, gas availability and the concept's equipment needs, and it should be made before the lease is signed.

When the service has to grow: utility, landlord and timing

A service upgrade may involve the electric utility (transformer capacity, a new service drop or lateral, metering), the building (switchgear, risers, an electrical room you may not control) and the permit authority. Each has its own process and schedule, and the utility's part is outside your contractor's control. Ask the utility early for its written description of the process and an estimated timeline for the size you need. Treat that path as a long-lead item on your schedule until it is confirmed, rather than assuming it will fit inside construction.

Cost responsibility needs the same attention. A building-wide upgrade benefits the landlord's asset beyond your lease term, which is a reasonable basis for negotiating a landlord contribution or a tenant improvement allowance. Whatever you agree, put it in writing: who designs, who pays the utility's charges, who pays for switchgear and feeders, and what happens to the schedule if the utility is late. Our related article on landlord consent and cost splits covers that negotiation.

Lease clauses that put the electrical answers in writing

A contractor-turned-writer with a restaurant background lists confirming electrical capacity among lease-review items in 10 Things, In No Particular Order, I Would Keep In Mind Before My Buildout. The point is timing. Once the lease is signed, your leverage over the landlord's electrical decisions largely disappears. The clauses below are discussion points to take to your attorney and broker, not standard language, and how enforceable they are depends on the lease and local law.

• Landlord statement of service size, voltage, phase and capacity allocated to the premises
• Due-diligence contingency allowing termination if verified capacity cannot support the equipment schedule
• Who designs and pays for any upgrade, including utility charges, switchgear and feeders
• Access rights to electrical rooms, risers and roof for new feeders and equipment
• Landlord delivery condition: panels working, safe and free of known violations at handover
• Rent-commencement linkage if a landlord-side upgrade is delayed

At turnover: panel schedules, labeling and circuit testing

Even with enough capacity, a kitchen can be hard to run if circuits are poorly organized. The situation in the multi-unit thread, with outlets randomly grouped on breakers and labels that do not match, is preventable with a turnover requirement in the electrical subcontract. Require a typed panel schedule that matches the field, with each breaker identified by equipment or location. Require that every circuit be tested by switching off each breaker and confirming what stops. Dedicated circuits should be shown on the drawings for refrigeration and other critical equipment.

Make this part of closeout, not a favor. Walk the kitchen with the electrician, switch off each breaker and check that the label is correct. Photograph each panel with its schedule. Store the schedules, as-built drawings and photos with your equipment records. When a breaker trips during a Friday rush, the manager on duty should be able to find which circuit and which equipment it serves in a minute, and know which loads must never share it.

• Typed panel schedule matching field conditions, per panel
• Breaker-by-breaker test with owner's representative present
• Refrigeration and other critical equipment on dedicated circuits shown on as-builts
• Photos of each panel and schedule stored with closeout documents
• Spare capacity and spaces documented for future equipment

Plan review and code edition: DC as an example

Electrical work will be reviewed and inspected under the code adopted where you build. In Washington, DC, DOB's DC Construction Codes page identifies the 2017 DC Construction Codes, including the 2014 National Electrical Code as amended by Title 12 DCMR, effective May 29, 2020. DOB is working on an update, so your engineer should confirm the edition that applies to your application date. Other jurisdictions adopt different NEC editions with their own amendments.

Food establishment plan review also looks at electrical information. DC Health's Plan Review Guidance Packet (Dec 2019, ver. 8) asks for plans drawn to scale showing the location of equipment, plumbing, electrical services and mechanical ventilation, plus manufacturer specification sheets and an equipment schedule with make and model numbers. That review does not approve your electrical design. The packet says it does not indicate compliance with any other code. But the same equipment schedule feeds both submissions, so keep one master list and update it whenever equipment changes.