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Goodwill and Identifiable Intangible Assets - Narrative (Details) (USD $)
3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Sep. 30, 2014
Jun. 30, 2014
Mar. 31, 2014
Dec. 31, 2013
Sep. 30, 2013
Jun. 30, 2013
Mar. 31, 2013
Dec. 31, 2014
Dec. 31, 2013
Dec. 31, 2012
Goodwill and Intangible Assets[Line Items]                      
Goodwill $ 834,102,000us-gaap_Goodwill       $ 834,825,000us-gaap_Goodwill       $ 834,102,000us-gaap_Goodwill $ 834,825,000us-gaap_Goodwill $ 566,588,000us-gaap_Goodwill
Goodwill acquired                   268,300,000us-gaap_GoodwillAcquiredDuringPeriod  
Non-cash goodwill impairment charge                 0us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss 0us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss 0us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss
Non-cash expense for impairment of identifiable intangible assets 1,471,000us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill 0us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill 0us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill 0us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill 0us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill 0us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill 0us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill 0us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill 1,471,000us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill 0us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill 0us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill
Non-cash impairment charge of finite-lived intangible assets                 0us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsFinitelived 0us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsFinitelived 0us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsFinitelived
Accumulated impairment charge                     210,600,000us-gaap_GoodwillImpairedAccumulatedImpairmentLoss
Indefinite-lived intangible asset acquired                   228,800,000us-gaap_IndefinitelivedIntangibleAssetsAcquired  
Amortization periods                 12 years    
Amortization of identifiable intangible assets                 37,966,000us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets 31,028,000us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets 29,762,000us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets
Domestic Segments                      
Goodwill and Intangible Assets[Line Items]                      
Perpetual growth rate used for annual testing                 2.70%eme_GoodwillImpairmentTestingPerpetualGrowthRatePercentage
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_DomesticSegmentsMember
   
United States Industrial Services                      
Goodwill and Intangible Assets[Line Items]                      
Goodwill 384,639,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesIndustrialServicesMember
      384,543,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesIndustrialServicesMember
      384,639,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesIndustrialServicesMember
384,543,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesIndustrialServicesMember
116,828,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesIndustrialServicesMember
Goodwill allocated                 46.10%eme_GoodwillAllocatedPercentage
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesIndustrialServicesMember
   
Weighted average cost of capital used in annual testing for impairment                 11.20%eme_GoodwillImpairmentTestingWeightedAverageCostOfCapitalPercentage
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesIndustrialServicesMember
   
Accumulated impairment charge                     71,100,000us-gaap_GoodwillImpairedAccumulatedImpairmentLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesIndustrialServicesMember
United States Building Services                      
Goodwill and Intangible Assets[Line Items]                      
Goodwill 228,385,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesBuildingServicesMember
      229,204,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesBuildingServicesMember
      228,385,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesBuildingServicesMember
229,204,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesBuildingServicesMember
244,787,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesBuildingServicesMember
Goodwill allocated                 27.40%eme_GoodwillAllocatedPercentage
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesBuildingServicesMember
   
Weighted average cost of capital used in annual testing for impairment                 12.80%eme_GoodwillImpairmentTestingWeightedAverageCostOfCapitalPercentage
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesBuildingServicesMember
   
Accumulated impairment charge                     139,500,000us-gaap_GoodwillImpairedAccumulatedImpairmentLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesBuildingServicesMember
Domestic Construction                      
Goodwill and Intangible Assets[Line Items]                      
Weighted average cost of capital used in annual testing for impairment                 12.20%eme_GoodwillImpairmentTestingWeightedAverageCostOfCapitalPercentage
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_DomesticConstructionMember
   
United States Mechanical Construction And Facilities Services                      
Goodwill and Intangible Assets[Line Items]                      
Goodwill 217,255,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesMechanicalConstructionAndFacilitiesServicesMember
      217,255,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesMechanicalConstructionAndFacilitiesServicesMember
      217,255,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesMechanicalConstructionAndFacilitiesServicesMember
217,255,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesMechanicalConstructionAndFacilitiesServicesMember
201,150,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesMechanicalConstructionAndFacilitiesServicesMember
Goodwill allocated                 26.00%eme_GoodwillAllocatedPercentage
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesMechanicalConstructionAndFacilitiesServicesMember
   
United States Electrical Construction And Facilities Services                      
Goodwill and Intangible Assets[Line Items]                      
Goodwill 3,823,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesElectricalConstructionAndFacilitiesServicesMember
      3,823,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesElectricalConstructionAndFacilitiesServicesMember
      3,823,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesElectricalConstructionAndFacilitiesServicesMember
3,823,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesElectricalConstructionAndFacilitiesServicesMember
3,823,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesElectricalConstructionAndFacilitiesServicesMember
Goodwill allocated                 0.50%eme_GoodwillAllocatedPercentage
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= eme_UnitedStatesElectricalConstructionAndFacilitiesServicesMember
   
Trade names (amortized)                      
Goodwill and Intangible Assets[Line Items]                      
Amortization periods                 4 years 9 months    
Customer relationships                      
Goodwill and Intangible Assets[Line Items]                      
Amortization periods                 12 years    
Developed technology/Vendor network                      
Goodwill and Intangible Assets[Line Items]                      
Amortization periods                 12 years 6 months    
Non-competition agreements                      
Goodwill and Intangible Assets[Line Items]                      
Amortization periods                 1 year 9 months    
Trade names (amortized)                      
Goodwill and Intangible Assets[Line Items]                      
Non-cash expense for impairment of identifiable intangible assets                 $ 1,471,000us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill
/ us-gaap_IndefiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis
= us-gaap_TradeNamesMember
$ 0us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill
/ us-gaap_IndefiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis
= us-gaap_TradeNamesMember
$ 0us-gaap_ImpairmentOfIntangibleAssetsIndefinitelivedExcludingGoodwill
/ us-gaap_IndefiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis
= us-gaap_TradeNamesMember