Ceiling drilling: the trade forgotten by generalist manufacturers
Construction electricians drill. A lot. On a modern office floor, the electrical network runs at the ceiling: cable trays, suspensions, multiple fixings, technical penetrations for server rooms and patch panels. That represents hundreds of drillings per floor, sometimes more than a thousand per jobsite. And 80 % of these drillings are done with arms raised above the head.
Generalist tool manufacturers long ignored this trade. The standard hammer drill weighs 4 to 6 kg, it is designed to be held at chest height on a wall. Holding it overhead for eight hours is a medium-term sentence: tendinitis, rotator cuff syndrome, low back pain. Construction electricians have long lived with it, for lack of better.
Sept Tools developed a range specifically dedicated to this trade. And it is today one of our most dynamic markets.
Eland Ceiling Drill: the dedicated solution
The Eland Ceiling Drill is a Sept Tools innovation. It is an anti-fatigue system designed specifically for overhead drilling. The drill is mounted on an articulated arm that takes its weight and its push-up pressure. The operator only guides it and triggers the drilling. Shoulder and neck muscle load is divided by five, measured on the RULA scale.
The system covers heights up to 4.2 metres standard, which corresponds to 95 % of office and housing ceilings. For higher technical premises (data centres, industrial workshops), extensions reach 5.5 metres. Beyond that, you go back to classic scaffolding with a brushless Pic Epeiche drill in hand.
Perc Height and Pic Epeiche: versatile companions
Perc Height is a brushless ceiling drill with a built-in elevation system. More compact than the Eland Ceiling Drill, it is ideal for jobsites where mobility comes before maximum productivity (craftsmen, small companies, one-off interventions). The Pic Epeiche is an ultra-light brushless hammer drill for short overhead drillings and restricted-access zones (technical risers, cupboards, dismounted false ceilings).
For stabilised drillings (calibrated holes for precision fixings), the Pic Epeiche Base version offers extra stability. It is the tool electricians choose for server rooms and zones where perfect drilling alignment is critical.
The 6-head multiple drill: the productivity multiplier
This is the most impressive innovation in our drilling range. Six drilling heads working simultaneously, powered by a single brushless motor with electronic controller. Torque is constant on the six heads, guaranteeing perfect alignment and clean drilling. On an industrial cable tray jobsite, we went from 320 drillings per day to over 1,800 drillings per day. The productivity gain is such that the machine pays for itself on a single medium jobsite.
The perimeter drill completes this logic for series drillings on long lengths: laying cable trays along walls, repetitive fixings on beam edges, calibrating patch panel bays.
Wall grooving for electrical channels
Beyond drilling, construction electricians also make many wall channels for embedded conduit routing. The Desman Groove Cutter is designed for this use: dual diamond disc to make a clean rectangular channel, depth adjustable from 5 to 35 mm, integrated vacuum connection for silica capture. With it, an electrician grooves 25 to 35 linear metres per hour, against 8 to 12 metres with a traditional cutter.
Extraction: an increasingly watched criterion
Drilling and grooving concrete release crystalline silica, classified as a confirmed carcinogen since 2017. The OSHA permissible exposure limit is 0.05 mg/m³. On an office floor, without extraction, measured levels can quickly exceed 1 mg/m³. The IU33 Longopac class H, permanently connected to Sept Tools drills, captures all dust at the source. Electricians can work in occupied or finishing premises without disturbing other teams or future users.
