Custom Home Electrical
The best time to think about a home’s electrical system is before the framing goes up. Wiring a custom home means laying out circuits, lighting and receptacles around how each room will be used, then installing it in step with the rest of construction.
01 / Planning
Outlets and switches are easy to overlook on a set of drawings. They’re much harder to overlook after move-in, when the bedside lamp is on the wrong side of the bed or the kitchen island has no power.
Good planning starts with how the home will be lived in: who uses each room, what happens there, and where furniture, appliances and workspaces will sit. The wiring is then laid out to support it.
Furniture placement, traffic flow and how each space is used.
Where light is needed and how it will be switched.
Power where you’ll actually plug things in, not just at regular intervals along a wall.
How loads are grouped, and which equipment needs its own circuit.
Appliances and equipment with significant power requirements.
Sensible allowance for changes you can already anticipate.
02 / Wiring
Behind every wall plate is a circuit that was planned for it. In a custom home, the main pieces fit together like this:
A
Feed groups of lights and receptacles. Grouping them sensibly keeps any one circuit from carrying more than it should.
B
Reserved for a single appliance or piece of equipment whose requirements call for its own supply.
C
Placed around furniture, counters and work areas so extension cords don’t become permanent fixtures.
D
Located where you naturally reach for them, including more than one switch point for halls and stairs.
E
Hard-wired connections for appliances and equipment that don’t simply plug in.
F
Each major appliance’s electrical requirements are confirmed before its circuit is planned.
03 / Lighting
Lighting decisions shape the wiring more than most people expect. Every fixture location needs a supply, every group of fixtures needs a switch, and the switching should make sense as you move through the house. Rooms that do more than one job often work better with lighting on separate controls.
Recessed lighting is a common part of custom home layouts, and fixture positions are far easier to settle while ceilings are open. Our pot light installation page covers how recessed layouts are planned.
04 / Capacity
The electrical system should be laid out for what the house will actually ask of it. That means accounting for major loads, such as heating and cooling equipment, cooking appliances and other high-demand equipment, and making sure the panel and distribution can support the circuits the layout calls for.
It also makes sense to allow for needs you can reasonably foresee, without trying to guess at everything. Because those requirements differ from home to home, they’re worked out for each project rather than taken from a standard template.
05 / EV charging
Not every household drives an electric vehicle, and not every new home needs a charger on day one. If home charging is likely, though, it’s worth raising during electrical planning so the charger location, wiring route and added demand are considered with the rest of the system. See EV charger installation.
06 / Backup power
If backup power matters to you, generator requirements can be weighed alongside the rest of the electrical plan: which loads you would want supported during an outage, and how the equipment would connect to the home’s system. More on backup generator installation.
07 / During construction
Moving a receptacle on paper takes a minute. Moving it after drywall is a different job.
While walls and ceilings are open, wiring can run wherever it needs to. Once insulation, drywall and finishes go in, every change means opening something back up.
That’s why decisions about receptacle and switch locations, lighting positions, dedicated circuits and the electrical requirements of major appliances are easier to coordinate during construction. Plans can still change later, but settling these details early keeps the electrical work aligned with the rest of the build.
Worth deciding early
08 / Coordination
Electrical work on a custom home happens in stages, and those stages have to line up with everything else on site. Rough-in wiring goes in while framing is exposed and before walls are closed; devices, fixtures and final connections come later, once finishes are in place.
For homeowners, builders and project decision-makers, that means the electrical scope should be clear early and kept current as the project evolves. When plans change, as they often do in custom construction, the electrical work has to change with them.
Timed with framing, before insulation and drywall.
Devices, fixtures and connections once finishes are in.
Scope updated as the plans evolve.
09 / Process
01
We review the plans, talk through how the home will be used and identify the major electrical loads.
02
Lighting, receptacles, switching and circuits are laid out, along with panel and distribution requirements.
03
Rough-in and later stages are planned to fit the construction sequence.
04
Devices, fixtures and connections are completed by E-Tech Masters, an ESA licensed electrical contractor.
10 / Electrical safety
Wiring a new home is a significant electrical installation, and it needs to meet applicable Ontario electrical safety requirements. Depending on the scope, the work may also be subject to applicable notification and inspection requirements.
E-Tech Masters is ESA Licensed Electrical Contractor #7012823, so the electrical work in your custom home is carried out by a contractor licensed for electrical work in Ontario.
ESA Licensed Electrical Contractor
#7012823
Licensed by the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) in Ontario.
11 / Related
A few related services often come up during custom home planning. The full list is on our electrical services page.
Recessed lighting planned with the ceiling layout.
Home charging considered alongside the electrical system.
Backup power for the loads that matter during an outage.
Wiring, circuits, lighting and other electrical work for homes.
12 / Why E-Tech
ESA Licensed Electrical Contractor #7012823.
Providing electrical services since 2016.
Serving Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area.
Electrical services for homes and commercial properties.
A 100% Canadian electrical contractor.
Talk through your plans before any work begins.
Custom home wiring is available in Toronto and across the Greater Toronto Area, including Mississauga, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Oakville, Burlington, Pickering, Newmarket and Uxbridge. Building somewhere else in the GTA? Ask us.
13 / Questions
As early as practical: ideally while plans are still being finalized, and well before walls are closed. Starting early makes it easier to fit the electrical layout to the design.
How each room will be used, where furniture and appliances will go, lighting and switching, receptacle placement, major electrical loads and any needs you can reasonably anticipate.
By identifying the appliances and equipment whose electrical requirements call for their own circuit, confirming those requirements, and planning each circuit to suit.
Yes, and it should be. Fixture locations, pot lights and switching all affect how the home is wired.
Yes. If you expect to charge an electric vehicle at home, the charger location and its electrical requirements can be considered with the rest of the system.
Yes. Generator requirements and the loads you’d want supported can be discussed as part of the broader electrical plan.
They often do. Changes are easiest to accommodate while walls are open, so it helps to raise them as soon as you know.
The work needs to meet applicable Ontario electrical safety requirements. E-Tech Masters is ESA Licensed Electrical Contractor #7012823.
Request a free consultation or call 416-832-8946. If you have plans or drawings, they make a helpful starting point.
Bring your plans, or just your ideas. We’ll talk through how the home will be used and what the electrical work should account for.
