New suites · expansions · office moves
Office network installation, from bare studs to the first phone call.
Bring me in while the plans are still on paper. I'll spec the technology, run the cable before the drywall goes up, build the rack, set up the phones and desks — and I'm still the person supporting it a year later.
- Licensed
- C-7 Low Voltage Systems · CSLB #1108390
- Best time to call
- Before drywall. Ideally before framing.
- Also covers
- Office moves and expansions
- Afterwards
- Same person supports it
Why timing decides the budget
The cheapest day to add a network drop is the day before the walls close.
Technology is usually the last thing anyone thinks about in a buildout and the first thing everyone notices on opening day.
General contractors build what's on the drawings. If the drawings don't say where the rack goes, how many drops each exam room needs, or that the IT closet needs its own circuit and some airflow, none of that gets built — and every one of those items costs several times more to retrofit through finished walls.
I review the plans, mark up what's missing, coordinate with the GC and the electrician, and then do the work myself while the studs are still open. By move-in the phones ring, the Wi-Fi covers the whole suite, and everyone's desk works.
Rule of thumb: add drops you don't think you need. A spare run costs a few dollars of cable during construction and a small fortune afterwards.
What actually gets installed
Everything between the demarc and the desk.
| Element | Scope |
|---|---|
| Structured cablingC-7 licensed | CAT6 or CAT6A runs to workstations, phones, access points, cameras and displays. Terminated, tested, labeled at both ends and documented on a drop schedule you can actually use later. |
| Rack and patch panelsWall or floor | Rack sized to the space, patch panels, cable management, UPS and clean power. An IT closet that doesn't make the next person swear. |
| Firewall and switchingCore network | Firewall sized to your circuit and licensed properly, managed switches with the PoE budget your access points and phones actually need. |
| Wi-FiCoverage design | Access points placed for the walls you have rather than a generic grid, guest network separated, channels tuned after the furniture and people arrive. |
| Internet circuitCoordination | Ordering, scheduling and chasing the ISP at the new address — routinely the longest lead item in the whole project, so it gets started first. |
| PhonesVoIP | Handsets, call flows, voicemail, conference rooms, and porting your existing numbers without losing a day of calls. |
| Workstations and displaysDesks | Computers and monitors specced, purchased, imaged and deployed, plus printers, scanners and conference room displays. |
| Servers and cloudWhere it lives | On-prem server and storage, or Microsoft 365 and cloud desktops where that's the better answer for how you work. |
The sequence
Five phases, one person through all of them.
Plan
Blueprint review, drop counts, rack location, vendor selection, budget.
Build
Cable pulled, terminated and tested. Rack and closet built out.
Launch
Circuit live, firewall and switches in, desks and phones working.
Protect
Accounts, backup, security controls, HIPAA-aligned safeguards.
Evolve
Monitoring, upgrades, expansion and the occasional Tuesday problem.
Common questions
Buildouts and moves.
When should I call you during a buildout?
As early as you have floor plans. The decisions that cost real money — where the rack goes, how many drops each room needs, whether there's power and cooling in the IT closet, where the access points mount — are nearly free to make on paper and expensive to fix once the walls are closed.
Do I need a licensed contractor to run network cable?
In California, low-voltage installation work of this kind falls under the C-7 Low Voltage Systems classification. I hold that licence, CSLB #1108390, which also means the work can be permitted and inspected properly when the project requires it.
Plenty of people run cable without one. Whether that's a problem depends on your landlord, your general contractor and your insurer — but it's worth asking whoever bids the job.
Can you work with our general contractor and electrician?
That's normally how it goes. I coordinate directly with the GC on schedule and wall-closing dates, and with the electrician on power in the IT closet and at the workstations, so nobody is waiting on anybody.
What about moving an existing office rather than building a new one?
Moves are a large part of this work. I inventory what you have, plan what carries over and what should be replaced, cable the new suite ahead of the move, coordinate the internet circuit at the new address — which is the item that most often delays a move — and cut over on a weekend so Monday works.
Do you support the network afterwards, or hand it off?
I support it. That's the whole reason to have the same person do both: nobody has to reverse-engineer someone else's rack, and when something misbehaves in year three I already know how it was built and why.
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