Electrical is the most heavily-regulated trade — every job needs testing to the Wiring Rules, NSW work needs a CCEW lodged, and VIC prescribed work needs independent inspection. Here is the year-one reality: the licence, the non-negotiable test kit, what to charge, and the compliance traps. (Tool and rate figures are indicative 2025 — your numbers vary.)
The licence and the standards
Electrical work is separately licensed in every state — you need an electrician's licence plus an electrical contractor licence to run your own jobs (see Electrical, Plumbing, Gas & ARCtick Licensing). And every job is governed by AS/NZS 3000 (the Wiring Rules) and AS/NZS 3017 (testing) — you must verify continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth-fault-loop impedance and RCD trip times on every job, working safely to AS/NZS 4836. The paperwork bites by state: in NSW, notifiable work needs a Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work (CCEW) lodged (to the customer, the distributor and the Building Commission NSW, within 7 days of the test — and from 1 July 2026 via the BCNSW eCert portal); in VIC, certain prescribed work needs an independent inspection by a Licensed Electrical Inspector before connection. Adding solar, battery or EV work brings extra endorsements, and refrigerant-handling needs ARCtick.
The day-one kit (buy the test gear)
Because you test every job, the multifunction installation tester (MFT) is non-negotiable day one — there is no hiring it:
- MFT: mid-range (Metrel, Seaward, Kyoritsu) ~$1,000-1,400; premium (Fluke, Megger) ~$1,800-2,800.
- Two-pole tester + proving unit (prove-test-prove): ~$350-450.
- CAT III/IV multimeter or clamp: ~$150-400.
- Insulated (1000V) hand-tool kit + bag: ~$400-800.
Hire or delay the niche gear — thermal imaging (hire per job), a high-end PAT tester (only if you sell test-and-tag), tall access, and EV/solar commissioning kits (buy when the revenue justifies it). See Tooling Up.
Rates and first-year work
Indicative 2025 labour rates sit in the $80-130/hr band (Sydney $90-130, Melbourne $85-125, Brisbane $80-110, Perth $90-115, Adelaide $80-100), with a call-out or first-hour charge, and an effective day-rate around $700-1,200 before materials. Do not price like an apprentice. First-year work comes from landlords and property managers (rental safety checks, smoke alarms — VIC rental minimum standards drive these), small builders and renovators (rewires, switchboard upgrades, RCD retrofits), owner-occupiers (switchboard/RCD/surge upgrades, GPOs, EV charger feeds, fault-finding), solar/battery/EV subbing, and strata. Build the rate properly from your costs (see Setting Your Charge-Out Rate).
What an inspection looks like
Across the regulators (ESV, Building Commission NSW, QBCC, Consumer Protection WA, SafeWork SA/NT), an inspection follows a pattern: you lodge the certificate or notice for prescribed or notifiable work (which can trigger a random audit or scheduled inspection); on site the inspector reviews the paperwork first (licence, compliance certs, test records), then does a visual inspection (labelling, segregation, protection devices, IP ratings, clearances) and may sample-test, asking you to explain your testing against the Wiring Rules. A clean job — thoroughly tested and recorded, built to current standards, forms lodged on time — rarely produces "gotchas". Treat regulators as safety partners.
Common mistakes
- Skipping or not recording the full test suite (a failed audit waiting to happen) — standardise a test sheet attached to every cert and invoice.
- Missing the CCEW lodgement window in NSW, or the VIC inspection for prescribed work.
- Generic PL cover that excludes solar work (see Public Liability Insurance).
- Apprentice-level pricing once you are carrying business costs.
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