A commercial electrical cost per square foot range can be useful, but only when the assumptions are visible. Before drawings exist, the number is not a bid. It is a budget signal. The problem is that $/sqft looks precise while hiding the items that actually move the electrical cost: service size, three-phase requirements, gear location, existing panel capacity, ceiling conditions, lighting controls, equipment circuits, and the amount of unknown work inside occupied space.
Public square-foot guides are still helpful as a starting point. BuildOps publishes broad commercial electrical ranges by use type, and Caudill's discusses commercial electrical cost drivers across building categories. Those sources support the idea that office, retail, restaurant, and warehouse/light-industrial work should not share one blended number. But they do not verify a specific job. They also cannot see the tenant's equipment list, utility path, existing electrical room, or landlord criteria.
The biggest early-budget mistake is treating a light office refresh and an equipment-heavy tenant as similar because the square footage is similar. A small restaurant, clinic, shop, or warehouse tenant can carry a higher electrical profile than a larger open office if dedicated equipment circuits, three-phase power, service changes, or long feeder pathways are involved. Gear location matters too. A panel or transformer condition that is easy on paper can become expensive if the route is blocked, distant, congested, or restricted by occupied operations. The same is true for ceiling conditions, slab penetrations, exterior work, tenant phasing, shutdown windows, and long-lead distribution equipment.
MeTiger's approach is to read any $/sqft range as a question set, not a final answer. What does the low end assume? What must be true for the high end? Which exclusions are likely to come back later? If service capacity, gear location, or utility timing is unclear, the budget should widen rather than pretend the risk is solved. A useful preliminary range should also state whether it assumes normal working hours, open access, standard lighting, reuse of existing gear, no utility-side work, and no specialty systems beyond basic power allowances.
This note is for budgetary estimating commentary only. It does not provide load calculations, design criteria, code interpretations, design directives, or permit documents. Use the calculator as a planning screen, then review likely misses against the tenant-improvement scope gaps note.