Before most of Sydney is awake, Petersham’s bakeries already have their ovens on and the custard tarts on trays. Some of these shops have had the same family name above the door for thirty years. That’s a lot of hard work to protect and a lot of load on wiring that was never designed for commercial ovens at 4am.
CGF looks after both. We’re licensed electricians who specialise in security systems for Little Portugal’s family businesses, the professional practices tucked into converted cottages and the homes that make this such a tight knit suburb. We protect what you’ve built and make sure the power behind it can keep up.
NSW Security Master #000104676 | Electrical Contractor #487799C
Businesses here are built on reputation, not foot traffic alone. Security has to protect your premises, stock and cash and the goodwill you’ve earned over decades. Every building is different too. A café in a 1920s shopfront needs a different setup from a dental practice in a renovated cottage, so we assess each one on site.
Pre dawn starts, kitchen steam and constant deliveries make food businesses tricky to secure. Our CCTV systems use low light cameras that capture clear footage in early morning darkness. We place them away from steam and grease so lenses stay clear and rate them for the heat and humidity of food service.
We cover the till and cash handling, the shop floor, storage and the rear lane where deliveries come in. We angle cameras away from where diners sit, so customers relax while you stay protected. If a workplace incident or customer dispute happens, the footage is there.
Patients and clients need easy access during opening hours. Medication, records and expensive equipment need to stay locked down. Access control handles both: reception stays open during the day, staff use swipe cards for restricted rooms and every entry is logged. Practitioners in shared buildings each get their own credentials, which keeps professional boundaries clear and supports compliance.
We cover retail displays where clients can reach expensive products, stockrooms holding bulk stock and entries that are vulnerable during late appointments. Footage of the workspace also protects you if a client dispute ever comes up.
Toward Parramatta Road, you’ll find printers, mechanics, storage units and trade suppliers. We install motion activated night vision cameras, zoned alarms so you can secure areas independently and access control on roller doors and pedestrian entries. Pair them with outdoor security lighting where your property backs onto a lane or sits next to homes.
Parents need to see that security is taken seriously. We install visible cameras at entries and over outdoor play areas, controlled access that logs every arrival and departure and alarm zoning for different parts of the centre. Everything is designed to support licensing.
Many Petersham apartment blocks still use intercoms that were fine twenty years ago but fall short today. We upgrade them to video intercom systems with smartphone answering, plus secure parcel areas and access control for common spaces.
The buildings here mix residents who’ve lived in the area for decades with young families who just moved in, so we choose systems that everyone finds simple to use.
For houses and terraces, we install cameras over the front and rear lane, app controlled alarms and video doorbells mounted discreetly so they don’t spoil the facade.
Deck ovens, mixers, proofers, cool rooms and coffee machines draw serious power, often all at once at 4am. Old shopfront wiring was never built for that. Our commercial electricians install dedicated equipment circuits, three phase upgrades, switchboard upgrades, LED lighting, emergency and exit lighting and full fit outs. We schedule work around your trading hours so you don’t miss a morning.
Many Federation and Victorian homes around Petersham still have original or decades old wiring and ceramic fuses. Warning signs include safety switches that trip, lights that dim when appliances kick in, scorch marks on power points, or no RCDs at all.
Our residential electricians upgrade switchboards with RCD protection and surge diverters, rewire where needed and run new cabling through existing cavities to protect original ceilings, fireplaces and joinery.
Have a garage, rear lane access or an off street space? We’ll assess your load and install a dedicated EV charger with RCD protection. Add a home battery to store solar or off peak power for the evening peak and keep essentials running during outages.
NSW requires working smoke alarms on every level, which matters for landlords, sellers and anyone living above a shop. We install hardwired, interconnected photoelectric alarms to AS 3786 and provide compliance certificates.
Power out, a burning smell or sparking outlets? Call us straight away and we’ll make it safe first. For everything else, our maintenance and repairs team handles fault finding and the jobs you’ve been putting off.
We cover Petersham, Lewisham, Stanmore, Annandale, Leichhardt, Dulwich Hill, Marrickville, Summer Hill, Enmore, Newtown and the rest of our Sydney service areas.
Get a free consultation. We’ll visit your business or home and give you clear, fixed options. Contact us or call now.
Yes. Small dome cameras can sit just inside the window or be colour matched to existing fixtures and cables run through ceiling spaces rather than across the facade. If the building is heritage listed, check with Inner West Council before making visible external changes.
A well lit entry, an alarm you can disarm with a card or app before you even unlock the door, low light cameras over the entry and rear lane and a duress button in case someone follows you in. Early starts mean empty streets, so make the arrival moment as secure as possible.
Bright lighting and a camera at the exit, so staff can check the street on their phone before stepping out. Add a panic button near reception and app based arming, so the last person out can lock up in seconds.
A visible, vandal resistant camera covering the lane, paired with motion activated lighting. The lights alone deter most taggers and the camera gives you footage for police and council if they don’t.
Usually, yes. Internal cameras and alarms within your tenancy are generally fine. Anything fixed to the building’s exterior or common areas needs your landlord’s written approval. We can provide plans and specs to help get that approval.
They shouldn’t if they’re set up properly. We angle cameras to cover your property and roller doors and use privacy masking to black out neighbouring windows and yards.
With zoned alarms. Each area arms and disarms on its own, so the office can be secured while the workshop or kitchen stays open. Each staff member uses their own code, so you can see who disarmed what and when.
Put access control on the lobby or parcel room, so only residents can get in and a camera covering where parcels are left. Every entry is logged against a fob and the footage shows exactly who took what. Smart parcel lockers can be added to the same system.
Yes. Cameras keep recording to the local recorder, alarms still sound and arm and access control doors keep working. You just lose remote viewing and phone alerts until the connection is back.
Your circuits are overloaded. Commercial ovens and mixers usually need dedicated circuits and often a three phase supply. We assess your total load and redesign your circuits so everything runs at once without tripping.
It can be. Old rubber insulated cable breaks down with age, which exposes live wires and creates fire risk. If you have ceramic fuses, no safety switches or scorched power points, book an inspection. We’ll tell you honestly whether you need a full rewire or a targeted upgrade.