Licensed commercial electrical contractor specializing in tenant improvement, retail buildouts, restaurant fit-outs, office TI, and design-build projects across Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, and Northern Kentucky.
Commercial Services
Tenant Improvement & Retail Buildouts
The bread-and-butter of commercial electrical work in Greater Cincinnati. Whether you're a tenant moving into a new space, a property manager preparing a space for the next tenant, or a general contractor coordinating a turnkey buildout, we handle electrical scope from rough-in through final.
Standard scope includes:
- Power and lighting layout per architectural and engineering drawings
- Demolition of existing electrical to baseline
- New circuiting per occupancy and code
- Lighting installation including controls and emergency systems
- Power for tenant equipment, IT rooms, kitchen equipment, signage
- Fire alarm coordination (Ohio fire alarm licensed)
- Final inspection coordination and certificates of occupancy
We work directly with general contractors, design-build firms, property managers, and tenant representatives.
Restaurant & Food Service Electrical
Restaurant electrical is its own specialty with division of work between trades. Our scope on restaurant projects:
What we handle directly:
- Power circuits to all kitchen equipment per equipment cut sheets
- Hood power and exhaust fan power
- Walk-in cooler and freezer power
- Make-up air unit power
- Shunt-trip breakers for cooking equipment
- POS, lighting, and front-of-house circuits
- Conduit and wiring per hood control vendor specifications
What we coordinate with vendor scope:
- Hood control package (typically furnished and commissioned by hood vendor)
- Fire suppression system (typically furnished, installed, and connected by suppression vendor)
- Shunt-trip and gas valve interlocks (coordinated with suppression vendor's scope)
- Kitchen equipment final connections (per equipment supplier specs)
We coordinate directly with hood vendors, fire suppression vendors, kitchen equipment suppliers, and HVAC contractors to ensure power requirements match equipment specs and inspection requirements are met.
Office & Medical Buildouts
Modern office buildouts include high-density power for cubicle clusters and workstations, conference rooms with AV power and structured cabling, kitchen and break room dedicated circuits, IT and server room power, cooling support, and emergency power tie-ins, and employee parking EV charging where applicable.
Medical buildouts add specialty requirements: dedicated circuits for medical equipment, emergency power systems for life-safety equipment, isolated grounds for sensitive electronics, ADA-compliant lighting and outlet placement, and coordination with medical equipment vendors.
Retail Anchor & Multi-Tenant Buildouts
For mall, strip center, and lifestyle center tenants, we provide electrical buildout per landlord work letter, coordination with shell building base systems, lighting design that meets retail brand standards, sign electrical and exterior lighting, HVAC electrical coordination, and final TCO and CO inspections.
Service Upgrades & Capacity Expansion
Older commercial buildings often have service capacity that was adequate when the building opened but isn't enough for modern tenants. Adding a restaurant, a medical practice, a tech tenant, or EV charging stations to an older building often requires a service upgrade.
We coordinate with Duke Energy, the building owner, and the tenant to plan and execute upgrades with minimal business disruption.
Commercial EV Charging Infrastructure
Multi-tenant office buildings, retail centers, hotels, and corporate campuses are increasingly adding EV charging for employees, customers, and guests. We design and install:
- Level 2 commercial charging stations (ChargePoint, Wallbox, Tesla Wall Connector for Business, Universal J1772/NACS)
- Level 3 DC fast charging coordination (with appropriate utility coordination and engineering partner)
- Multi-station load management and billing integration
- ADA-compliant installation per current accessibility standards
- 480V to 208V transformer installations where required
Fire Alarm Systems
Ohio fire alarm licensed (License #54.31.4834). For commercial properties requiring fire alarm system installation, modification, service, or annual inspection, we provide design-through-installation work to NFPA 72 and Ohio Building Code Chapter 9.
Design-Build Electrical
For office and retail projects without engineered drawings, we provide design-build electrical scope. We coordinate with a licensed PE partner for stamped drawings when required, develop the electrical design to meet project goals and code, and execute installation under one accountable contract.
Design-build is currently offered for office tenant improvement and standard retail buildouts. Restaurants, medical, and complex industrial projects require engineered drawings provided by the project's design team; we install per those drawings rather than offering design-build for those uses.
Commercial Service & Maintenance
For property managers and recurring commercial clients, we provide scheduled electrical maintenance, service call response (priority for recurring clients), lighting system service and retrofits, panel and equipment inspections, and code compliance audits.
Markets We Serve
Greater Cincinnati: Downtown, OTR, West End, Northside, Clifton, Hyde Park, Oakley, Madisonville, Norwood, Blue Ash, Mason, West Chester, Liberty Township, Anderson, Kenwood, Montgomery, and surrounding communities.
Dayton & I-75 Corridor: Northern Cincinnati, Lebanon, Mason corridor commercial, Springboro, Centerville, Kettering, Dayton, Beavercreek, Vandalia.
Northern Kentucky: Covington, Newport, Florence, Erlanger, Independence, Edgewood, Crescent Springs, Crestview Hills, Fort Mitchell, Fort Wright, Park Hills.
How We Work With General Contractors
Pre-Construction: Detailed bid response with scope, inclusions, exclusions, qualifications, pricing, payment terms, and warranty. Lump-sum pricing on hard-bid projects. Value engineering recommendations when appropriate. Schedule input for electrical scope.
During Construction: On-time mobilization to meet rough-in milestones. Coordination meetings as needed. RFI response within agreed turnaround. Change order pricing with clear scope and cost basis.
Closeout: Final inspection passes confirmed in writing. As-built documentation. O&M manuals and warranty information. Punch list completion with verification.
Bidding Process
Commercial bid response is a deliverable, not an afterthought. Our bid documents include:
- Scope in prose, clear narrative of what's being built
- Inclusions, itemized list of what's covered
- Exclusions, itemized list of what's not (trenching, fixture furnishing if customer-supplied, low-voltage cabling, fire alarm if separate, bonding outside electrical scope, permits if applicable, unforeseen site conditions)
- Qualifications and assumptions, clarifications on design intent, drawings, site conditions, schedule, and access
- Price, lump sum with 30-day validity
- Payment terms, typically progress billing for projects over a defined threshold, final payment at substantial completion
- Warranty, workmanship warranty terms
Bid lead time is typically 7 to 10 business days for medium-complexity projects. Faster turnaround available for repeat clients or simpler projects.
Why GCs and Commercial Clients Choose Ground Zero Electric
Schedule discipline. Commercial schedules are non-negotiable. We staff and plan to hit dates, not slip them.
Clear bid documents. Detailed scope, inclusions, exclusions, qualifications. No vague proposals that turn into change order battles.
Single point of accountability. One licensed contractor responsible from bid through closeout. No coordination overhead or finger-pointing.
Fire alarm capability under one roof. Ohio fire alarm licensed. Many electrical contractors subcontract fire alarm; we keep it in-house for tighter coordination.
Specialty integration. EV charging, battery storage, smart panel, and other specialty work that distinguishes commercial buildings in competitive lease markets.
Documentation discipline. Bid documents, change orders, RFIs, daily reports, closeout documentation. Commercial clients get commercial-grade communication.
Local Service Areas
Commercial tenant improvement and electrical work throughout Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, and Northern Kentucky. Active commercial corridors include Blue Ash and Montgomery, Clifton and Northside, and Northern Kentucky. View all service areas →
Frequently Asked Questions
Tenant improvement projects from small office buildouts (under 1,500 sq ft) through multi-tenant retail and restaurant work. Project fit and capacity evaluated individually based on scope, schedule, and timing.
We self-perform commercial electrical work. We do not subcontract electrical scope to other contractors.
Typically 7 to 10 business days for medium-complexity projects. Faster for simpler projects or repeat clients.
Yes. Ohio fire alarm licensed, allowing us to handle fire alarm scope without subcontracting.
Yes, for office tenant improvement and standard retail buildouts. Restaurants, medical, and complex industrial projects require engineered drawings provided by the project's design team.
Yes. Commercial general liability and workers' compensation in line with commercial contracting standards. Additional insured certificates available for client requirements.
Yes. Ohio CE #50964, Kentucky CE #CE66766 and ME #ME67274. Active commercial work in both states.
Ground Zero Electric is signatory with IBEW Local 212. This means access to a trained workforce for project staffing scale-ups and qualification for prevailing wage and Davis-Bacon work. Field crew and management hold IBEW credentials.
Yes. Familiar with Davis-Bacon and state prevailing wage requirements for federal and public works projects.
Related Reading
For new commercial bid opportunities, send project documents to Info@gz-electric.com.
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