Quotes are free. There is a $180 minimum job charge. Beyond that I do not publish prices and I do not quote over the phone — every quote is built in quoting software from a fixed rate book and locked in before work starts. This page explains what I am pricing, what makes a job bigger or smaller, and what you are never charged for, so you can place your own job before you call.
Coming out, looking at the job and explaining your options costs nothing, whether you go ahead or not. No call-out fee for a quote anywhere in the Central Coast service area.
The smallest job still means a licensed electrician at your door, a stocked van, materials and a compliance certificate. Anything at or below that size prices at the minimum, and I will tell you so before I book it in.
Every quote comes out of the same software
I do not price jobs off the top of my head, and I do not have a good-day price and a bad-day price. Every quote is built in quoting software from a fixed rate book — the same materials, the same labour allowances, the same margins, every time.
You are not being sized up. The price is not adjusted because of the car in your driveway, the suburb you are in, or how urgent you sound on the phone.
And the number does not drift. The quote you are given is the quote you pay, unless something is found that we agree on first. If you want to know why a job prices the way it does, I can go through it line by line rather than defending a number I made up on the spot.
Why I cannot price it over the phone
Not because I am being cagey — because the same job description covers wildly different jobs, and I cannot see any of it down a phone line. Before I can price almost anything, I need to know:
Brick or timber?Running a new cable through a timber-framed wall is a very different job to chasing into double brick.
Is there a roof cavity, and can I get into it?A walk-in roof space is straightforward. A flat roof, a cathedral ceiling, or 400mm of clearance with no manhole near the work is not.
Is the circuit already on a safety switch?If it is not, that has to be dealt with before new work goes on it.
Is the existing cable heavy enough?Undersized cable for what you are adding means a new run, not a new powerpoint.
Is the existing work compliant?I cannot legally add to non-compliant wiring and leave it that way. If I find it, it has to be fixed.
How hard is it to get to?Two-storey, a wall of built-in robes in front of the board, a subfloor you have to crawl through, tiles that have to come up — all of it is time.
What is the switchboard like?Spare ways, RCD protection, and the condition and size of the mains.
A phone quote given without knowing those things is a guess, and a guess that turns out low on the day is worse for you than no number at all. Coming out to look is free, and it takes about fifteen minutes.
How I quote
Quotes are freeComing out, looking at the job and explaining your options costs nothing, whether you go ahead or not.
Fixed price, agreed firstYou get a price for the job, not an hourly rate that runs.
No surprises once the panel is offIf I find something, I stop and tell you before doing anything that changes the price.
The reason, not just the numberIf I say a board needs replacing, I will show you what I am looking at and why.
One person throughoutThe person who quotes the job does the job, and comes back if something is not right.
Someone always answersCalls are answered around the clock. Urgent work gets triaged straight away.
What is always included
- NSW-licensed work to AS/NZS 3000, licence 482568C
- A Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work where the job requires one
- 3 year workmanship warranty
- Full public liability insurance
- Materials, unless you have asked to supply your own fittings
- Clean-up and rubbish removal — I leave the place as I found it
What you are not charged for
- The quote itself, whether or not you proceed
- Travel within the Central Coast service area
- Time spent explaining the options to you
- Anything found mid-job that was not discussed and agreed with you first
What changes the price of any electrical job
AccessA single-storey house with a walk-in roof space is a different job to a two-storey with a cathedral ceiling.
Age of the wiringRubber or VIR-era cable, undersized mains, or previous work that was not done properly all add time.
Distance from the boardDistance means cable, and on acreage it can mean trenching.
Room in the switchboardIf there is nowhere to land a new circuit, the board comes first.
AsbestosCommon in Central Coast homes built before the late 1980s, especially old meter panels and eaves. It has to be handled correctly.
Salt and dampCorroded fittings near the beach, and moisture damage in low-lying and rural properties, turn a simple job into a repair.
How much you do at onceMost of the cost of getting into a roof space is getting into the roof space. Fans and downlights in one visit costs far less than two visits — and bundling small jobs gets you past the minimum charge with something to show for it.
Where your job is likely to sit
No dollar figures, but enough detail to tell whether yours is a small, standard or large version of the job before I arrive.
Switchboard upgrades
A modern board with spare ways, good mains and easy access, and you are simply adding RCD protection.
Replacing a ceramic-fuse board on a single-storey home, new RCBOs on all circuits, existing mains in good order.
Asbestos meter panel, mains needing upgrade, an awkward or corroded external location, or a three-phase house.
What I check before quoting: what is actually in the board now, the condition and size of the mains, whether the meter panel can be reused, how many circuits the house really has, and whether anything is coming soon — EV charger, pool, studio — that should be allowed for while the board is open.
Safety switches and RCDs
Adding RCD protection to a board that already has the space and modern wiring.
The board is full, circuits are shared in a way that will nuisance-trip, or testing turns up an existing fault that has to be found and fixed before the RCD will hold.
Smoke alarms
Replacing existing hardwired alarms like for like, same positions, single storey.
Going from battery to hardwired and interconnected, adding positions to meet current requirements, two-storey, or a roof space with poor access.
Rental and holiday-let properties usually need more positions than owner-occupied homes of the same size.
EV charger installation
Garage adjacent to the switchboard, spare capacity on the supply, straightforward mounting.
A long run to a detached garage or carport, a board with no spare capacity, or a supply that will not carry a 32A charger without load management or an upgrade.
What I check before quoting: the actual available capacity of your supply, not the theoretical maximum. A property already running a pool, a pump and a shed often has less headroom than the owner expects.
LED downlights and lighting
Swapping existing downlights for LEDs, same positions, accessible roof space.
New positions needing new cable runs, insulation that has to be cleared to the correct clearance, cathedral or two-storey ceilings, or old halogen transformers that have to come out.
Ceiling fans and exhaust fans
Replacing an existing fan on an existing fan-rated mounting point with a working switch.
A new position with no existing point, a ceiling needing a mounting block, a new wall control, or ducting an exhaust fan properly to outside rather than into the roof cavity.
Fault finding
This is the one job where the honest answer is that nobody can price it accurately before starting, because the price depends on what the fault turns out to be.
What I do instead is agree an initial diagnostic period with you up front. If I find it inside that, good. If it is going to take longer, I stop, tell you what I have ruled out, what I think it is, and what finding it will cost — and you decide whether to continue. You are never billed for open-ended searching you did not agree to.
Common questions about pricing
Can you give me a ballpark over the phone?
No, and I would be careful of anyone who does. What I will do is ask a few questions, tell you honestly whether it sounds like a small or a large version of that job, and come and look for free.
Is there a minimum charge?
Yes — $180. Even a ten-minute job means a licensed electrician travelling to you with a stocked van, and a compliance certificate where one is required. If what you need falls at or under that, I will say so on the phone rather than letting you find out on the invoice. It is worth bundling small jobs into one visit for exactly this reason.
Do you charge a call-out fee?
Not for a quote — quotes are free anywhere in the Central Coast service area. If you go ahead with work, the $180 minimum applies to the smallest jobs.
Is it an hourly rate or a fixed price?
A fixed price for the job, agreed before I start. Fault finding is the exception, and that is handled as described above.
What if I call at night or on the weekend?
Someone answers. Calls are taken around the clock by a full-time answering service, so you are not leaving a voicemail and hoping. Urgent and after-hours work is priced differently to a booked job, and I will tell you that when you call — before I come out, not afterwards.
Can I supply my own fittings?
Yes. Be aware that I cannot warrant a product I did not supply, only the installation of it — and cheap imported fittings do not survive on this coast.
Do you offer a seniors discount?
Yes, 10% for senior card holders.
Get a free quote
Call or text any time — the phone is answered around the clock. Servicing Terrigal, Wamberal, Avoca Beach, Matcham, Erina, Holgate, Killcare, Pearl Beach and the surrounding Central Coast.
Home Wise Electrical · Dan McCloskey · NSW Electrical Licence 482568C · Fully licensed and insured · 3 year workmanship warranty