Emergency callout in Southampton
A dead distribution board or a failed supply stops a Southampton business trading. MCI Electrical attends commercial premises out of hours to make the installation safe and restore what can be restored.
“I have worked on commercial premises across Eastleigh and Southampton since 2009. I quote the job, do the work and sign it off myself, so you always deal with the person who knows your building.”
How much does an emergency callout cost?
In Southampton, emergency callout out of hours is from £105 an hour. Fault finding and repair booked as planned commercial work is from £75 an hour.
- These are starting prices. What a visit costs depends on how long the fault takes to find and what has to be replaced.
- Where the repair opens up larger remedial work, EICR remedial works are from £65 an hour on a written price.
- Fixed wire testing is priced on the number of boards and circuits, not by the hour.
- Emergency lighting is priced per light, and the three hour test is priced separately.
- Repairs are priced item by item off the report, so you choose what to do and when.
- Work outside your trading hours costs a different rate, and I tell you what it is before I set off.
- Quotes are free, rescheduling is free, and there is no callout fee.
Emergency callout for Southampton businesses
- Emergency callout covers a commercial or industrial premises in Southampton that has lost power, light or a machine supply and cannot wait for a booked visit.
- A tripped main switch or a dead section of board stops trading, and we work on that fault until the supply is back.
- Heat marks, a smell of burning plastic or a buzzing board mean the circuit is isolated first and repaired after testing.
- A dark warehouse aisle or failed emergency lighting stops work continuing safely, so we get safe light back and test what failed.
Emergency electrical faults across Southampton
- Southampton premises fail in ways set by the dock air, the age of the city centre fabric and the supplies shared between floors.
- Units next to the docks sit in salty, dusty air, and corrosion at the containment and the glands is what an inspection finds there.
- Marine and logistics premises retest sooner than the standard three years, so the date of the last fixed wire test matters when a fault is checked.
- Converted Victorian and Edwardian buildings carry main cables through fabric never designed for them, so a dead section is traced through old floors and voids.
What happens on an emergency callout
The work runs in one order every time: make it safe, find the fault, put it right.
- 01
Making it safe
In a block where retail and offices share one incoming supply, the failed side is isolated and locked off before anything is opened.
- 02
Finding the fault
Where main cables pass through old city centre fabric, we test along the cable until the failed section shows itself.
- 03
Repair and paperwork
The repair is tested before the supply goes back on, and the certificate covers what changed for premises that retest sooner than three years.
More electrical services for Southampton premises
Southampton premises from Millbrook Trading Estate to Ocean Village can book three further jobs with MCI Electrical: from £145 for emergency lighting testing, from £195 for fixed wire testing, and from £950 to replace or upgrade a distribution board.
Why Southampton businesses choose MCI Electrical
MCI Electrical is NICEIC registered and works on commercial and industrial premises from the Western Docks to the Empress Road estate. An emergency repair is tested and certificated the same way as planned work, with a written price for anything that follows.
NICEIC
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Recent work from MCI Electrical
These photographs show work completed across the wider service area covered by MCI Electrical; they are not all presented as emergency callout work in Southampton.
Areas we cover around Southampton
Emergency callout across SO14, SO15, SO16, SO17, SO18 and SO19, and out to Eastleigh, Whiteley, Chandler's Ford and Hedge End.
Common questions about emergency callouts in Southampton
The questions Southampton businesses ask when something has failed.
How much is an emergency electrician in Southampton?+
An out of hours callout is billed by the hour, starting at £105. Booked instead as planned commercial work, fault finding and repair starts at £75 an hour. Both are starting prices.
— David McInnes
Can you get the power back on in the same visit?+
Where the part is available, the circuit is repaired, tested and energised on the visit. If a board or a length of cable has to be ordered, that circuit is left safely isolated and the rest of the premises stays live. A written price follows for the replacement.
— David McInnes
Our shop and the offices above went off together, why?+
In multistorey mixed use blocks, retail at street level and offices above can share one incoming supply. A fault on one part takes the rest with it. Testing starts at the incoming supply to find which side failed.
The board smells of burning, should we switch it off?+
Switch off at the main switch if it is safe to reach, and leave it off. Heat at a board gets worse with load on the circuit. Leave it dead until it has been opened and tested.
Do you work on three phase supplies and machinery?+
Yes. Three phase boards, motor supplies and machinery connections are commercial and industrial work MCI Electrical carries out. Three phase power installation is from £1,400 and a machinery or equipment supply is from £480.
Our cold store has lost lighting and refrigeration, can you help?+
Yes. Cold stores and food logistics units lose stock when that supply fails, so the refrigeration and lighting circuits are tested first. Units around Empress Road and the Central Trading Estate fall into that group.
Do we get a certificate after an emergency repair?+
Yes. A certificate is issued for the circuits that were altered or repaired. Where the fault points at something wider in the installation, that is written down for your next fixed wire test.
Is the salt air near the docks behind our faults?+
It can be. Around the Western Docks and the port estate, salty and dusty air corrodes containment and cable glands, and that corrosion is what an inspection finds there. The glands and containment are checked before a cable is condemned.
Book Online
Anywhere across SO14 to SO19, ring the booking line and someone picks up, whatever the hour.