Commercial
Commercial Building Automation in the South Bay
Lighting control, access control, and building automation for South Bay offices, multifamily, and tenant spaces — installed by the licensed contractor doing the electrical.
Why electrical
Commercial Automation Is a Compliance Discipline
The phrase "smart building" suggests convenience. In commercial work it mostly means compliance, operating cost, and life safety.
California's energy code drives the lighting design: automatic shut-off, multi-level control, and — depending on space type — occupancy sensing and daylight-responsive control where daylight reaches. Most projects also need acceptance testing by a certified technician before they will sign off. That compliance path is chosen at design. Discovering it at final inspection means reworking controls that are already installed, in a building that is already occupied.
Access control brings its own requirements. Electrically locked egress doors must release on alarm and satisfy the egress provisions, which makes the fire-alarm interface a life-safety element rather than an integration nicety. It is the single most common point of failure in access systems installed by vendors who do not carry the electrical.
We are the licensed A/B contractor doing the electrical, so these coordinate rather than sitting between two companies pointing at each other.
The Service Capacity Question, and EV
The constraint on most South Bay commercial buildings is the existing service.
EV charging is where this bites hardest. A bank of chargers in a parking structure can exceed available capacity on a service sized decades ago, and a full service upgrade is expensive enough on its own to end the project. Load-management systems share available capacity across chargers dynamically and frequently avoid the upgrade altogether. That study belongs before equipment selection, not after a distributor has quoted hardware.
The same logic applies to any added load — the panel schedule and the load calculation decide what the building can actually support, and it is better to know in design.
Working Around Tenants
Almost none of this happens in an empty building. Offices, multifamily common areas, and retail keep operating while controls go in.
We phase by floor or suite, work outside business hours where the schedule demands it, and keep egress paths, signage, and life-safety devices live and unobstructed for the duration. On tenant improvements the schedule runs backwards from the handover date, with acceptance testing and punch capacity reserved rather than assumed away.
The Landlord–Tenant Boundary
On multi-tenant property, the question that causes the most trouble later is who owns what. Base-building lighting control, access, and metering normally sit with the landlord; in-suite controls usually belong to the tenant improvement.
That line should be settled in design and written down. We scope to whatever the lease actually says and hand over documentation showing where the boundary sits, which is what keeps the next tenant improvement from becoming a negotiation about existing infrastructure.
Commissioning Is Part of the Job
A control system that is installed but not commissioned is a liability. We complete acceptance testing where the code requires it, commission the system against how the building is actually used, and hand the property manager as-builts, panel schedules, and credentials.
That file is what the next contractor will otherwise not have — and its absence is why so many buildings end up with automation nobody on site knows how to change.
Houses work differently, and the priorities are not the same. See residential smart home systems for that side of the work.
What you get
Everything we deliver.
- 01
Title 24 lighting controls
Occupancy sensing, daylight harvesting, multi-level control, and automatic shut-off — specified to pass the energy-code compliance path, not retrofitted after a failed inspection.
- 02
Access control and intercom
Card, fob, and mobile credential systems for lobbies, garages, and tenant suites, with the egress and fire-alarm interfaces those systems legally require.
- 03
Structured cabling backbone
Cat6/6A to an IDF or MDF with proper pathway, firestopping at rated penetrations, and plenum-rated cable where the code requires it.
- 04
Tenant-improvement controls
Lighting, HVAC interface, and metering scoped per suite so a TI turns on schedule and the landlord's base building stays intact.
- 05
EV charging and load management
Charger installation with load management so a garage bank does not force a service upgrade the building cannot justify.
- 06
Commissioning and documentation
Acceptance testing, as-builts, panel schedules, and credentials handed to the property manager — the file the next contractor will otherwise not have.
How we run it
Scope to sign-off.
01
Survey and code path
Assess existing service, panel capacity, and pathway. Establish which Title 24 compliance path the project runs and what acceptance testing it will require.
02
Design and permit
Coordinate with the architect and MEP engineer where there is one. We pull every permit the work requires — electrical, and the separate low-voltage and fire-alarm permits where the jurisdiction calls for them.
03
Phased installation
Sequenced around occupancy and business hours. Egress, signage, and life-safety devices stay live and clear throughout.
04
Acceptance testing and handover
Title 24 acceptance testing by a certified technician where required, systems commissioned, documentation and credentials handed to management.
Why DECOMA
One license, three disciplines, forty years.
Family-run South Bay general contractor since 1978. We design, build, and manage — under one license — so the team you start with is the team that hands you keys and the team that answers the phone when something needs fixing in year ten.
- Years building
- 48+
- Projects delivered
- 3,000+
- Repeat clients
- 300+
- CSLB Class
- A/B
FAQ
Common questions.
How is this different from a residential smart home system?
What does Title 24 require for commercial lighting controls?
Can this be installed in an occupied building?
Do access control systems need to interface with fire alarm?
Will the building's electrical service handle EV charging?
Who owns the system — landlord or tenant?
Service areas
Electrical across the South Bay.
Born in Harbor City, working across LA County since 1978. Same crew, same license number, same shop at 25941 Frampton Ave, Harbor City.
Talk to a contractor
Tell us about your project.
One business day for a scope, timeline, and budget range. CSLB #375508 A/B.