Today`s Smart Wired Contractor

Leon Adelman has never advertised and in 18 years has never been without work.

Leon Adelman has never advertised and in 18 years has never been without work.

It's an impressive boast for an electrical contractor who left school aged 15 and by 20 had started his own business, straight out of apprenticeship.

With six full time staff and any number of jobs on the go at once, Leon still finds the time to take a hands-on role. He is a C-Bus Approved Installer and is usually the one to deal with the customers direct.

Around 50 per cent of Leon?s business is smart wiring work, predominately high-end homes and schools.

"We have just finished the McKinnon Secondary College, where the classrooms, gym toilets and public spaces were smart wired for energy efficiency. The lighting and airconditioning was set up to switch on and off as students enter and leave," says Leon.

"We're currently working on a school auditorium to install theatre lighting ?the client has asked for features like the ability for lights to fade into a dimming panel."

Home theatre installation in high-end homes is another growth area for the business. Leon usually liaises with the home owner or builder at the start of the project, suggesting options for setting up audio visual and lighting.

"In my experience a lot of builders and home owners are not educated about smart wiring. I virtually have to explain how far they can go with it and what it can achieve.

"I have a good rapport with past clients so I often take new clients to see the home theatres I have previously installed. It helps if they can see for themselves what can be done."

It was over 10 years ago when Leon saw the potential for the growth of smart wiring. He initially started working with ComSon and then joined Clipsal as one of the first C-Bus approved installers.

"Through our listing on the Clipsal website we get a lot of work fixing mucked-up jobs by other installers. We also get asked to retro-fit homes, which we don't mind as it is a good learning curve. There is a lot more work involved in retro-fitting and it's good to have a bit of a challenge."

Leon has never shied away from challenges. He enjoys smart wiring work because there's always something new to learn.

"I spend a fair bit of time keeping up to date with what's new on the market - looking through the smart wired magazines and scanning the internet. I've also learnt by trial and error - playing with the programming at my own place to see how far I can go with it."

"Knowledge is everything. If you don't understand and you are going to go into it half-hearted, it's not worth it. You need your product knowledge because if someone asks you a question, you have to be able to answer it."

As part of this belief in the importance of education, Leon is putting his staff through schooling to achieve their full communications license.

"It will assist them in the future when they want to go out by themselves. When I was an apprentice, I was helped a fair bit and I like to be able to pass this on to my staff."

Contact:

Leon Adelman
Comlec Data Pty Ltd
Ph: 0400 750 781