Author: Brett Knox
October 18, 2024 - 4 MIN. READ
Electrification is rapidly transforming the building trades. From electrical upgrades to integrating new technologies, electrical contractors have a key role to play.
However, many electrification projects require advanced training and specialized skills to ensure quality and safety. The first step for electrical contractors looking to grow their businesses and take advantage of these opportunities is often upskilling their technicians.
We’ve selected five of the best professional certifications your team can pursue as a first step toward building your business’ electrification capabilities.
By 2030, the US could need as many as 28 million unique charging ports to support Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption. There is a significant push for the electrification of transportation, with the Inflation Reduction Act creating significant incentives. In addition, 12 states are planning to phase out gas-powered vehicle sales. Plus, investments in EVs from the private sector now add up to an impressive $188 billion.
The EVITP certification is the industry standard for installing charging stations. For electrical contractors with this credential, opportunities are growing quickly in the residential, multifamily, and commercial markets.
Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification
A PMP certification prepares you for managing people and processes. You likely already have experience with this as a contractor, but it’s designed to help you manage larger jobs involving multiple players and complex processes.
Why does it matter? It potentially means significantly more revenue for your company. In fact, the building automation industry is set to become an $18 billion market by 2028 as building owners and managers invest aggressively in energy-efficient facilities.
Integrating electrification or automation solutions into new construction projects or retrofitting old buildings can be complex and require expertise from multiple building trades. As a PMP-certified contractor, you’ll be uniquely positioned to help plan and oversee these projects.
Plus, if you’re a contractor mostly working on residential projects, this certification could be the key to working on larger commercial projects.
As building automation and electrification become priorities for building managers, many facilities managers see their needs changing. These changes are creating an opening for electrical contractors to become more of a partner than a vendor.
Beyond guiding building or facility managers through the initial automation or electrification project, the right electrical contractor can help with ongoing risk management and recommend further upgrades.
Obtaining your CESP credential is a differentiator that inspires trust and makes you an ideal long-term partner for building managers. As many industries also face stricter regulatory environments, your CESP credential can set you apart from other contractors who do not meet mandated compliance and certification requirements increasingly found in bid requests.
Contracts that have these additional compliance requirements, by their nature, exclude many contractors. Those that meet those requirements face fewer bidding competitors.
The CEP program is offered by the National Association of Electrical Distributors. While this program is primarily designed for distributors, there are benefits for contractors as well.
The program focuses on enhancing product knowledge and sales skills. With this certification in your toolbelt, choosing the right materials for the job will become second nature.
Plus, your sales skills and advanced product knowledge will help you convince commercial customers to invest in quality materials for their projects.
PLC programming is a highly sought-after skill. PLC programmers know how to design and implement automated actions executed by computers.
There are many applications. For electrical contractors, the most interesting one is the use of PLC programming in building automation. User cases include managing lighting, air conditioning, heating, security, and energy solutions with PLCs in complex systems that interact with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors.
The best way to become a PLC expert is to seek training courses offered by manufacturers. On top of becoming a product expert, your technicians will learn to program PLCs while following the manufacturer’s best practices for efficient automated systems.
Upskilling in PLC programming is an ambitious project, but it’s a strong differentiator, making your company a uniquely valuable partner for commercial building automation projects.
These certifications can be a strong starting point for going after commercial projects. Considering commercial leads are becoming increasingly scarce and profit margins shrinking, specializing in commercial electrification projects is one of the surest strategies for growing your business.
Besides looking into upskilling, going after commercial projects means rethinking buying. You’ll have to familiarize yourself with commercial electrical equipment, materials and supplies, get used to buying larger quantities for larger projects, and understand how commercial customers approach pricing.
If you’re pursuing or beginning to pursue commercial projects, your prices for equipment, materials, and supplies will directly impact your bids. In our stagflationary economic environment, your bid on these items is important to customers. Paying less for quality supplies puts you in a unique position to make competitive bids while positioning yourself as an affordable partner for electrification.
Win more jobs and increase your profits by utilizing a purchasing program like Raiven. Thanks to our contractor buying program, we’re able to leverage the combined buying power of over 3,000 members to negotiate savings of 7 to 30% on all the electrical supplies you need.
Learn more about unlocking savings on supplies.