Hire an Electrician Geelong and Surf Coast 2026 - Costs Guide

What Electrical Work Costs in Geelong and on the Surf Coast

Labour in this region sits just under the metropolitan band and the total often sits above it, which surprises people who compare hourly rates alone. A licensed electrician charges $95 to $150 an hour through Geelong and the Bellarine, with a minimum of $105 to $195 on the first attendance. What lifts the invoice is everything the location adds: travel beyond Torquay, marine grade materials on anything exposed, and a property that may be empty when the fault appears. Victorian electrical services covers the trade in every region, and the Victorian electrician pricing guide sets out the bands these regional figures sit within.

Salt is the specification driver and it changes materials rather than hours. Within a few hundred metres of open water at Jan Juc, Barwon Heads or Aireys Inlet, external enclosures, fixings and fittings corrode on a timetable inland housing never experiences. A stainless fixing and a marine grade enclosure cost more at purchase and several times less across a decade, because the alternative is replacing the same fitting three times. An external point quoted at the inland figure in a beachfront street is either a cheaper specification or a mistake, and asking which takes one question. The answer decides whether the fitting lasts three seasons or fifteen. On an exposed wall it is the only part of the quote worth arguing about.

Occupancy is the third driver and it is particular to this coast. A large share of housing between Torquay and Lorne is occupied intermittently, so a fault that develops in June is discovered in December by somebody with a booking that night. Moisture ingress, vermin damage to cabling and a safety switch that has tripped weeks earlier are the classic findings. An electrical safety inspection booked before the season costs $260 to $620 and is the cheapest insurance available on an intermittently occupied property, because the same work in peak season carries an after hours premium and a wait.

Geelong and Surf Coast Electrical Prices by Job

The job list in this region looks much like anywhere in Victoria until the external and travel rows are reached, and those two are where a coastal invoice separates from a metropolitan one. Small work on an existing circuit sells at a fixed price because the scope is visible from the doorway, so points, switches, downlights and fans on existing points should all be quoted as figures. Board and meter box work is quoted fixed after somebody has opened the enclosure, because corrosion behind the panel is common here and cannot be seen from the front. Fault finding is hourly with a written estimate, since establishing the scope is the work being paid for. Knowing which of those three a job belongs to tells you more than any single figure on a quote.

Before comparing anything, the external point and the travel line deserve a close look. An external point on a property within sight of water runs $340 to $720 against $190 to $470 for the same point inland, and the difference is the enclosure rating and the fixings rather than the labour. A travel zone fee of $60 to $220 applies once a job sits beyond Torquay, and at Lorne a contractor may charge the drive at the hourly rate because the return trip takes most of a day. A quote that shows neither line on a Great Ocean Road address has either absorbed the travel or forgotten it. Ask which, because absorbed travel tends to reappear as a higher hourly figure.

Batching matters more here than in the city because the travel is real and the minimum charge is high. Four small jobs across four visits to a Barwon Heads property cost three extra minimums and three extra zone fees against the same four done together. Power point installation booked alongside outdoor lighting, an exhaust fan and a safety switch retrofit becomes one attendance with the travel paid once. Keep a list through the year and release it as a single job, and on a holiday house time that list to the pre season check.

Coastal Specification and What Salt Air Costs

Salt is the single biggest reason electrical work on this coast is priced differently, and it acts on materials, not on hours. Within a few hundred metres of open water at Jan Juc, Point Lonsdale, Barwon Heads or Aireys Inlet, airborne salt deposits on every external surface and accelerates corrosion of enclosures, screws, hinges, gland plates and the terminals inside fittings that are not properly sealed. The visible result is a weathered cover; the expensive result is a corroded terminal that eventually produces heat and nuisance tripping. An experienced local contractor specifies around this without being asked, while a contractor travelling down from the city may not. That is one of the few genuine arguments for using a local business over a cheaper quote from Melbourne.

The right specification costs more once and less over a decade. Marine grade stainless fixings, sealed enclosures rated for the position, corrosion resistant fittings and proper gland sealing on every external penetration lift the material cost of an external job by a meaningful margin. The alternative is replacing the same fitting two or three times across ten years, each time paying a minimum charge and possibly a travel zone fee. Put one question to any quote for external work, which is what rating the enclosures carry, because the word weatherproof on a quote is a description and a rating is a specification. The two are not the same thing and only one of them can be checked.

Beyond the specification, a few habits cut coastal failures down. Rinse external fittings with fresh water when the house is being hosed down, since salt accumulates faster than it washes off in rain. Keep external enclosures out of the direct line of salt spray where the position allows a choice, because a metre of shelter behind a wall measurably extends service life. Have external circuits and fittings checked as part of a periodic electrical safety inspection, since a corroding terminal found early is a small repair and the same terminal found late is a fault with heat damage around it. On an exposed property that check pays for itself within a few years.

Travel, Zone Fees and Lead Times Along the Coast

Travel in this region behaves as three bands and knowing which one applies prevents an argument at invoice time. Inside Geelong, Newtown, Belmont, Highton, Corio and Norlane there is normally no zone fee, because a contractor based in the city can fit several jobs into a day without difficulty. The Bellarine townships and Torquay sit in a middle band at $60 to $120 depending on the business and the day. Anglesea, Aireys Inlet and Lorne sit in a third band at $120 to $220 or are charged at the hourly rate for the drive, because the Great Ocean Road is a single route with no alternative when it is busy or closed. Where a contractor quotes no travel on a Lorne address, confirm it in writing before the work goes ahead.

Lead times move with the season in a way the metropolitan area does not experience. Through January the population between Torquay and Lorne multiplies, holiday houses fill, and every contractor in the area is working on urgent calls. A non urgent job booked in that period can wait a week or more, and the same job booked in May is attended within days. Where work can be scheduled, the shoulder months are cheaper in practice even at the same hourly rate, because there is no after hours premium and no waiting. Anything discretionary belongs in May, June or September on this coast.

Two scheduling habits save real money on a coastal property. The first is batching, which removes both the minimum charge and the zone fee from every attendance after the first. The second is coordinating with neighbours, since a contractor already travelling to Aireys Inlet for one property will often price a second job in the same street attractively because the travel is already paid. Where a holiday house is managed by an agent with several properties on the coast, asking them to group the work has the same effect and costs nothing to propose. Agents with several properties in one township have real negotiating weight and rarely use it.

Holiday Houses, Short Stay Rentals and Unoccupied Properties

A large share of housing between Barwon Heads and Lorne is occupied intermittently, and that single fact produces a pattern of electrical work found nowhere inland. A fault that develops in winter is discovered in summer by whoever arrives first, often late in the evening with a booking in place. Nothing has been noticed for months because nobody was there to notice it. The three standard findings are moisture ingress at an external fitting, vermin damage to cabling in a roof space, and a safety switch that tripped weeks earlier and took a refrigerator with it. Emergency electrician attendance in peak season carries a premium of one and a half to two times the day rate.

The pre season check exists precisely to convert that pattern into scheduled work. A check of the installation, the external fittings, the protection devices and the appliances runs $260 to $620 depending on the size of the property and the point count, and the cheapest insurance available on a house that sits closed for months. Booked in October or November, it finds the problems while an electrician can still attend within days and without a premium. The same problems found on Boxing Day cost more and wait longer, and on a short stay rental they also cost a cancelled booking. A refund and a bad review together cost more than any inspection.

Short stay properties carry two additional considerations worth building into the budget. Hardwired smoke alarms and their replacement cycle matter more where the occupants change weekly and nobody owns the responsibility for noticing a chirping unit, so smoke alarm installation and replacement belongs on a schedule. Protection devices take a harder life where appliances are plugged and unplugged constantly by people unfamiliar with the house. Where the property is tenanted on a residential lease instead of short stay, the two yearly electrical safety check applies and is a separate obligation from any voluntary inspection. Owners moving a property between short stay and residential letting should check which regime they are now in.

Rewiring Across Geelong and Coastal Housing Eras

Geelong holds a wider span of housing eras than any other regional centre in Victoria, and rewiring prices track the construction closely. Nineteenth century brick and bluestone through the city centre, Newtown and East Geelong is solid walled with lath and plaster linings, so cables are chased and the making good is a real cost that belongs stated. A full rewire in that stock runs $13,000 to $24,000 for a typical house. Geelong West, Herne Hill and the older coastal townships are weatherboard, easier on access and carrying an asbestos question in anything sheeted after the war, at $10,500 to $18,500. Both figures assume a three bedroom dwelling and reasonable roof space access.

The postwar northern suburbs are a distinct category and the boards are the issue more than the cabling. Corio and Norlane hold large numbers of houses built through the nineteen fifties and sixties, and much of that stock retains original switchboard arrangements with ceramic fuses and no room for modern protection devices. A rewire there runs $9,500 to $17,000, and the switchboard is commonly the first and most useful stage. Where budget is limited, a switchboard upgrade with safety switches delivers more safety per dollar than any other single piece of work on a house of that era. Doing the board first also makes every later stage simpler and cheaper.

The growth corridor at Armstrong Creek, Charlemont and Mount Duneed is the opposite problem. The housing is slab on ground, wired to current rules, and generally has a modern board with spare capacity, so rewiring is rarely the question. What comes up instead is adding capacity for the things the house was not fitted with: a charger, a workshop, outdoor living, a pool. Floor crossings are the only real difficulty in slab housing, which is why a point on an internal wall is cheap and a point on the far side of a living area can cost several times that. Plan the positions you will want in five years while a ceiling is open for any other reason.

Switchboard, Meter Box and Supply Pricing

Switchboard pricing here follows the statewide pattern with one local complication that matters. A safety switch added to a board with spare capacity runs $350 to $840, a partial upgrade $900 to $2,100, and a full replacement $1,550 to $3,900, with the independent inspection on top because board work is prescribed. The complication is corrosion: boards in external meter boxes within reach of salt air deteriorate at the enclosure, the hinges and the gland plates, and the front of the box tells you very little about the state of the back. A quote given without opening it is an estimate with a fixed price written on it. Insist on the cover coming off before any figure is accepted.

Asbestos backing panels appear in boards from the nineteen forties through the nineteen eighties and are common through the postwar northern suburbs and the older coastal townships. Licensed removal adds $600 to $1,900 and belongs on the quote as its own scope with its own licensed contractor. Where a board of that era is being replaced on a coastal property, the sensible specification is a sealed enclosure rated for its position, because replacing a corroded enclosure twice costs more than specifying it correctly once. Ask what rating is being quoted and whether the gland plates are included. That pairing is what separates a cheap coastal board quote from a lasting one.

Supply work brings the distributor in and that sets the timeframe. Relocating a meter box runs $2,100 to $5,800 in this region, and a single phase to three phase upgrade sits at $3,200 to $9,500 where the street can supply it. On rural blocks through the Bellarine and the Otways edge, private poles on the customer side of the point of supply are the owner responsibility, and replacement runs $2,400 to $8,900 per pole with access and terrain moving the figure. Both meter and supply work are prescribed, so the inspection fee applies to each. Where both are being done together, ask whether one inspection attendance covers the lot.

Prescribed Work and the Independent Inspection

Victoria is the only state requiring an independent inspection of certain electrical work, and it applies here exactly as it does in the city. Work classified as prescribed under the Electricity Safety (General) Regulations 2019 must be inspected by a Licensed Electrical Inspector who did not carry out the job, within eight business days of completion, at a fee of $160 to $420. Energy Safe Victoria administers the scheme as the state energy safety regulator. Switchboard replacement, new installations and work on consumers mains are the examples a household meets most often. Non prescribed work, which covers most other fixed wiring, needs no inspection at all.

The regional wrinkle is inspector availability, and it is worth asking about before the work is booked. The pool of Licensed Electrical Inspectors covering the Surf Coast and the Great Ocean Road is smaller than the metropolitan pool, so the eight business day window is used more fully here than in Melbourne. On a renovation where the next trade is waiting on the electrical sign off, that difference can matter to the program. Ask the contractor who they use and what the current wait looks like, since a contractor with an established relationship with a local inspector moves faster than one making arrangements from scratch. That same question decides, on a holiday property, whether the job finishes before the next booking.

The certificate timeframes are the same statewide and they govern when paperwork reaches you. The electrician completes and signs the certificate of electrical safety within four business days of finishing the work and lodges it electronically within two business days of completing it. On prescribed work your copies follow within four business days of the contractor receiving the inspection certificate, and on non prescribed work within one month. Contractors keep their copy for three years, so your own copy matters, and on a holiday property it should be stored somewhere other than the house itself. A photograph of the certificate on a phone has settled more arguments than any filing cabinet.

Powercor, Outages and Where the Network Ends

One distributor covers this entire region, which makes the network question simpler here than in Melbourne. Powercor owns the poles, the street wires, the service fuse and the meter across Geelong, the Bellarine, the Surf Coast and western Victoria beyond. The installation from the point of supply inward belongs to the property owner, which makes it electrician work. That boundary decides who to call, and calling the wrong one costs an attendance: an electrician cannot resolve a fault that sits on the network side, though the call out is still charged. Thirty seconds of checking before dialling prevents that charge entirely.

The practical test takes thirty seconds. Where a whole street or township loses supply together, the fault sits on the network and belongs to the distributor. Where one property has no supply and the neighbours have power, the fault is nearly always inside the property, which makes it electrician work. Coastal and Otways edge feeders are long and exposed to wind and salt, so weather related outages are more common here than in the metropolitan area, and a property that depends on a pump or on refrigeration deserves a plan for that. A small generator with a proper inlet, or a battery, turns a long outage into an inconvenience.

Two further points save money and confusion. The distributor is a different organisation from the electricity retailer, so changing retailer alters nothing physical and the distributor still owns the infrastructure. Where a complaint concerns supply quality, a meter, a retailer or a distributor, it goes to the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria and to none of the other bodies. On long feeders, repeated voltage fluctuation is a genuine complaint worth making in writing, since a documented pattern carries more weight than a phone call about a single event. Note the date, the time and what was affected each time it happens.

Power Points, Lighting and Outdoor Circuits

Small fixed price work is where most households in this region actually spend, and the inland and coastal figures diverge once a job moves outside. A point added to an existing circuit runs $190 to $470 depending on the wall and the cable route, and in solid walled Geelong housing the upper end reflects chasing and making good. The same point on an external wall within sight of water runs $340 to $720 because the enclosure, the fixings and the sealing are a different specification. Ask which figure you are being quoted and what the enclosure rating is, since those two questions explain most of the difference between two prices.

Outdoor lighting is the item that transforms an outdoor living area and the one most often underestimated. A circuit serving garden lighting, a deck and a path runs $620 to $2,400 depending on the trenching, the number of fittings and the specification. Outdoor lighting installation on a coastal property should use corrosion resistant fittings and sealed connections throughout, because garden lighting sits low, gets wet and collects salt. Low voltage garden systems are cheaper and easier to extend, while anything at mains voltage outdoors needs its own protection and belongs on the quote with that stated.

Ceiling fans, exhaust fans and the rest of the small list behave as they do statewide, with coastal exhaust work deserving a note. A fan on an existing point runs $200 to $490 and the roof space bracing decides the band. Exhaust fan installation in a bathroom runs $280 to $680 depending on the duct route, and in a coastal house a bathroom that never dries properly is a common complaint that an underpowered or badly ducted fan causes. Where several of these items are on the list, one attendance covers them and the travel is paid once.

Outdoor Living, Pools, Sheds and Caravan Power

Outdoor living is where a large share of discretionary electrical spending goes on this coast, and the work sits in a harsher environment than anything indoors. An outdoor kitchen or barbecue area needs weather rated points with their own protection, and the figure runs $480 to $1,600 depending on the distance from the board and whether a new circuit is required. A covered deck with lighting, fans and points is quoted as a small project and benefits from being designed once, not extended three times. Everything in that area deserves coastal specification, because an outdoor kitchen is as exposed as a garden light and takes more handling.

Pool and spa equipment carries requirements beyond ordinary outdoor work and the figures reflect that. An equipment circuit runs $680 to $2,200 depending on the distance to the board, the load and whether protection has to be added at the board. Pool equipment sits in a wet environment with metal fittings nearby, so protection, bonding and the position of the isolation switch are the items that matter and the items an owner cannot assess by looking. Pool pump and filter repairs sit with another trade, while the circuit feeding that equipment is electrical work and has to be certified.

Sheds, studios and caravan power round out the list and each has a cost driver of its own. A sub board to a shed or studio runs $1,100 to $3,400 and the distance plus whether the run is underground decides the figure, with trenching quoted by the metre. A caravan or annexe outlet runs $420 to $1,300 and needs the correct protection for the use. On any underground run, Before You Dig Australia is the free first step before a trench opens, and on a coastal block it is worth remembering that sandy ground and a high water table both affect how a trench is backfilled.

Bushfire Obligations on the Otways Edge and Rural Blocks

The inland and western edge of this region sits in designated bushfire prone areas, and the electrical consequences are specific, not general. A dwelling built to a bushfire attack level needs penetrations detailed so that the rating survives, which reaches downlights cut into a sealed ceiling, roof mounted equipment and every external cable entry. On existing houses the practical question is whether an alteration compromises something already in place, and that question belongs raised before the work is quoted. The Country Fire Authority publishes preparation guidance that repays reading alongside any electrical planning on a rural block.

Private poles are the item that surprises owners most on rural and semi rural properties through the Otways foothills and the back of the Bellarine. Anything on the property side of the point of supply belongs to the owner, and that includes private poles carrying the supply across a paddock to a house set back from the road. Replacement runs $2,400 to $8,900 per pole with access and terrain moving the figure, and a deteriorated private pole is both a supply risk and a fire risk. Where several poles carry a long run, undergrounding is sometimes the better long term answer at $90 to $240 per metre.

Water supply for firefighting raises an electrical point that gets overlooked until it matters. Where a property relies on a pump drawing from a tank or a dam, the circuit feeding that pump deserves its own protection and a changeover arrangement, because a pump on a circuit that fails with the house is of no use on the day it is needed. A generator inlet fitted with a proper changeover switch runs $900 to $2,600, and that work is prescribed. Battery storage does a second job on these blocks, since long exposed feeders produce outages a battery rides through.

Heating, Cooling and Hot Water Electrical Work

This region has a milder winter than the goldfields and a windier one than Melbourne, and the heating decisions reflect both. A ducted reverse cycle installation needs $1,300 to $3,400 of electrical work where three phase already exists, and $4,500 to $12,900 where the supply has to be upgraded. Split systems are the dominant choice through the coastal townships because the heating load is moderate and the installation is simple, with electrical work at $320 to $780. The outdoor unit position on a coastal property matters for corrosion as much as for airflow, and a unit facing open water will not last as long as one with shelter.

Hot water on an intermittently occupied property is a different calculation from a permanently occupied one. A straight electric storage changeover runs $460 to $1,050 on the electrical side, while a heat pump needs a dedicated circuit and a suitable outdoor position at $420 to $1,100. A storage unit heating water for months while nobody is present is a quiet cost, so a timer or a controlled circuit earns its keep on a holiday house more than on a family home. Hot water system installation quotes should state the electrical scope separately from the unit.

The all electric shift applies here as it does statewide and planning for it beats meeting it by accident. New homes requiring a planning permit have been all electric since the start of twenty twenty four, which is visible across the Armstrong Creek estates. Established houses are converting gas appliances as they fail, and each conversion adds load. Where a household intends to convert heating, hot water and cooking over several years, having the board and the supply assessed once at the start avoids discovering the limit halfway through the third conversion.

Solar, Battery and EV Charging in the Region

Solar performs slightly better on this coast than in Melbourne and the install pricing is much the same. A new 6.6kW system installs for $4,400 to $8,900 after rebates, and the roof orientation, the plane count, the inverter brand and any board work decide where in that range it lands. Solar panel installation quotes should state the annual yield expected at the actual orientation. The mounting and fixing specification on a coastal roof matters more than inland, since salt and wind act on rails and clamps together, and a system fixed with standard hardware within sight of water is a maintenance problem waiting to appear.

Export limiting is set by the distributor and here that means one process instead of four. Powercor applies connection rules capping how much a system can export, and the cap depends on the street, the phase configuration and existing network capacity. On the coastal townships and the long rural feeders, available capacity is a real constraint and a system quoted at a nominal size may be approved at a materially lower export figure. Get the approved export limit in writing before paying a deposit, because the difference changes the payback calculation, not the installation price.

Battery storage suits this region for two reasons and only one of them is arbitrage. The evening load is moderate, so the pure financial case is similar to anywhere in Victoria at $8,900 to $19,000 installed. The second reason is outage resilience on long exposed feeders, where wind and salt produce more interruptions than the metropolitan average and a holiday property without power loses a refrigerator full of food. EV charging sorts into the same four tiers as the rest of the state, and EV charger installation on a house built before about nineteen ninety should include an assessment of the existing supply.

Fault Finding in Coastal and Closed Up Houses

Fault finding is the one job that cannot honestly be sold at a fixed price, and on this coast the diagnostic problem has a particular shape. The structure to expect is a first hour at $150 to $300 with a written estimate for anything further, and a reputable contractor stops and reports before continuing. What makes the search harder here is that a fault on an intermittently occupied property has usually been developing for weeks or months with nobody present, so there is no useful account of when it started or what changed. Bring whatever history exists, including what the previous occupants mentioned.

Faults on this coast cluster into a recognisable set, and knowing them before the call helps. A safety switch tripping after rain or a storm is almost always real earth leakage, traced to an external point, a hot water element or moisture in a garden light. Corroded terminals in external fittings produce intermittent faults and heat damage, which is the signature coastal failure. Vermin damage to roof space cabling turns up in houses left quiet for months. A circuit that fails when something is disturbed in pre nineteen fifties Geelong housing means the rubber insulation has reached the end of its life, whatever was touched at the time.

Running through a few checks before the call saves an hour of paid searching. Pull everything out of the affected circuit and reset the device, because one that holds points at an appliance and one that trips anyway points at the installation. Note the weather in the days before, because rain driven faults behave differently from load related ones. Check whether neighbours have power. On a property you have just arrived at, walk the external fittings and photograph anything visibly corroded, because that photograph often shortens the search considerably.

What to Look Out For in a Coastal Electrical Quote

Most disputes in this region trace to something absent from the quote and not to something wrong in it, so reading for omissions is the highest value thing an owner can do. Labour belongs on the page as a rate with the hours expected against it. Materials belong specified, and on external work that means a rating and not the word weatherproof. The travel basis belongs stated as a zone fee or as hourly, because an unstated drive to Lorne becomes a surprise. The prescribed classification and any inspection fee belong shown separately, and making good after chasing belongs included or excluded in words.

Certain items go missing from coastal quotes again and again, so look for each of them. Enclosure and fixing specification on anything external, since standard hardware fails fast within sight of water. The travel basis for any address beyond Torquay. Access arrangements on an unoccupied property, because a locked house and a missed appointment are charged as an attendance with the travel included. Asbestos removal carried as its own licensed scope on boards and sheeting of the relevant era. Distributor coordination where a meter or a connection is involved, since that process sets the timeframe and sits outside the contractor control.

Most variations trace back to a fixed price written without anybody opening the switchboard, and that weakness behind most variations, and corrosion makes it worse on this coast than inland. The front of an external meter box tells you very little about the condition of the enclosure behind it, so a price given from the kerb is an estimate wearing a fixed price. Insist on the board being opened before a fixed figure is accepted. A contractor who declines to do that has told you something useful at no cost.

The figure aside, a couple of signals are worth taking seriously. A quote well under every other one has almost certainly been scoped differently, and on coastal work the difference is most often the external specification, so compare inclusions line by line first. A business that will not provide a contractor registration number, or that pushes for a cash deposit before any paperwork, is worth declining on those grounds alone. Consumer rights in contracting are set out in guidance from Consumer Affairs Victoria.

Getting Comparable Geelong and Surf Coast Quotes

A quote is only as good as the brief behind it, and on this coast a short set of details carries most of the weight. Give the town, how far the property sits from open water, the era and construction of the building, whether anybody is living there at present, whether the switchboard is internal or in an external meter box, and what the job needs to achieve, not what you think the solution is. Send a photograph of the open board together with one of the work area. That package takes fifteen minutes and removes most of the variance between the prices that come back.

Collect three, and the middle figure usually reflects the actual scope. Where one lands well below the others, find the difference in scope before concluding anything about value, because on coastal work the gap is most often external specification or travel. Where one sits well above, ask what it includes that the others do not, because making good, an inspection fee or asbestos removal is often the difference. Set the three side by side against their inclusions and the choice becomes obvious.

Timing is a genuine lever in this region and it works in two directions. Emergency and after hours work is charged at one and a half to two times the day rate, so anything able to wait for a weekday morning ought to. The seasonal direction matters more: through January the coastal population multiplies and lead times stretch to a week or more, while the same job in May is attended within days. Booking the pre season check in October and the discretionary work in the shoulder months costs the same and gets attention sooner.

Keep the paperwork, because on a property that changes hands or gets let it earns its keep repeatedly. Together the certificate of electrical safety, the inspection certificate on any prescribed work, the invoice and a photograph of the finished board make up the record a conveyancer, an insurer, a letting platform or the next contractor will want. The contractor keeps their copy for three years, which is shorter than most owners expect. On a holiday house, store your copy somewhere other than the house itself, since a document in a kitchen drawer is of no use from the city.

For the statewide figures these coastal bands sit inside, the Victorian electrician pricing guide sets out the figures and the compliance sequence in full.

Melbourne sets out solid brick, apartments and the four metropolitan distributors. The Mornington Peninsula deals with the same coastal and holiday housing questions on the other side of the bay.

The Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges cover bushfire overlays and tall timber, and Ballarat, Bendigo and the goldfields cover gold rush era housing and genuine winter cold.