Power points and light switches in Melbourne

It's an electrician's job, however small

Energy Safe Victoria is blunt about it: electrical work isn't a DIY job, even for small jobs such as changing power points or light switches, and doing unqualified electrical work is illegal. That applies to a handyman too, unless they're also a licensed electrician.

Energy Safe advises engaging a Registered Electrical Contractor, which sends licensed electricians to do the work. You can check both on Energy Safe's public registers, and you can ask to see the electrician's licence: see how to check a tradie's licence.

What to tell the electrician

Most of the time on a small job goes on getting the cable to the right place, so the electrician mostly needs to know where the point is going and what's in the way.

• How many points or switches, in which rooms, and whether each is new, moved or a straight replacement
• Anything special: USB outlets, a double instead of a single, an outdoor point that needs weather protection
• What the wall is: plasterboard, brick or unknown, and whether it's an outside wall
• Access to the roof space or under the floor
• Whether you want the wall patched and painted afterwards, and by whom

A power point that's stopped working

Check the switchboard first: if a safety switch has tripped, the power point and others on the same circuit go off together. If it won't reset, or trips again, leave it off and call an electrician.

If a power point or switch is warm, buzzing, sparking, smells of burning or shows scorch marks, stop using it and keep clear. Treat smoke or fire as an emergency and call 000. Describe what you saw rather than opening the fitting to look.

Test your safety switches

A safety switch watches the electricity flowing through a circuit and cuts the power within milliseconds if it detects a problem. Energy Safe recommends testing yours every three months: tell everyone in the house, press each switch's test button, and check that the lights and appliances on that circuit go off. Then switch it back on.

If the power doesn't go off when you test it, the safety switch may have failed; Energy Safe says to call a licensed electrician straight away. It also lists old switchboards, particularly ones without a safety switch, as a warning sign (see switchboard upgrades), and suggests having the wiring checked if your house is more than 30 years old.

Renting?

Since 29 March 2023, power outlets and lighting circuits in Victorian rentals must be protected by circuit breakers and safety switches (residual current devices), and rental providers must have the electrical installation checked by a licensed or registered electrician every two years. A dangerous electrical fault is an urgent repair: tell your rental provider or agent straight away.

The certificate you should get

Every piece of electrical installation work needs a Certificate of Electrical Safety. Power points, lights and switches are “non-prescribed” work: they don't need an independent inspection, and the electrician must give you a copy of the certificate within 30 days. Bigger work, such as a switchboard upgrade, is inspected by a licensed electrical inspector first.

Keep the certificate with the invoice. Energy Safe's online search shows whether an electronic certificate (from July 2019 on) exists for work at your address, and if an electrician won't show a licence or issue a certificate, Energy Safe asks you to contact it.

What the quote should list

Ask for these separately, so two quotes can be compared on the same work.

• Call-out fee, and whether it's a price per point or by the hour
• The fittings: brand, type, colour, and who supplies them
• Running the cable, and any access work in the roof or under the floor
• Patching and painting, or a note that they're excluded
• The Certificate of Electrical Safety
• GST

Example brief

“Two new double power points in a home office: one beside the existing point on the same wall, one on the opposite wall. Plasterboard walls, single-storey house with roof access through a manhole. One of them with USB outlets. House in Ringwood. Please quote supply and installation, the Certificate of Electrical Safety, and whether you patch the wall.”

Before booking an electrician

• A Registered Electrical Contractor, checked on Energy Safe's register
• Each point described: new, moved or replaced
• Safety switches tested; a failed one reported
• Patching and painting agreed, or excluded
• A Certificate of Electrical Safety within 30 days

Ready to describe it? Start a job request or browse electrical jobs. Mounting a TV? See TV wall mounting. For other electrical work, see the electrical guide. Availability depends on real postings, and registration must be enabled to submit.