A licensed electrician in Sydney commonly charges around $90 to $160 an hour, or a call-out fee plus a job rate, with metro suburbs sitting at the higher end. For specific work, expect roughly $120 to $300 for a power point or light fitting, $1,200 to $3,000 for a switchboard upgrade, and $8,000 to $15,000-plus for a full rewire. Those are indicative ranges, last checked June 2026, and the real number depends on access, age of the wiring, and how much making-good is involved.
What Sydney electricians actually charge
Pricing usually comes in one of two shapes. Some sparkies quote a flat hourly rate, often $90 to $160 in Sydney, and bill in 15 or 30 minute increments. Others charge a call-out fee to get to your door, then a separate rate for the job itself. Neither is automatically cheaper. A low hourly rate with a slow worker can cost more than a higher rate with someone who knows your suburb’s quirks and turns up with the right parts.
Inner-city and eastern suburbs tend to run dearer than the outer west, partly because of parking, travel time, and older housing stock that hides surprises behind the plaster. Strata buildings add their own delays, since common-property work may need owners’ corporation sign-off before anyone touches a cable.
Common jobs and what they cost
Most household electrical work falls into a handful of buckets. The table below gives indicative Sydney ranges for 2026. Treat them as a starting point for conversations, not a quote.
| Job | Indicative Sydney cost (2026) |
|---|---|
| Install or replace a power point | $120 to $300 |
| Replace a light fitting or add a downlight | $120 to $300 |
| Switchboard upgrade (ceramic fuses to circuit breakers) | $1,200 to $3,000 |
| Add a dedicated circuit (oven, air con, EV charger) | $400 to $1,500 |
| Full house rewire | $8,000 to $15,000-plus |
Switchboard upgrades are one of the most requested jobs, especially in homes still running ceramic fuses or lacking safety switches. A rewire is the big one: price climbs with the number of rooms, whether the house is single or double storey, and how easy it is to run new cable without ripping into finished walls. If you are budgeting a larger project, our guide to home renovation costs in Australia puts electrical work in context alongside plumbing, plastering, and the rest.
Why the licence matters
In New South Wales, all electrical work must be carried out by a licensed electrician. This is not a formality. Unlicensed work can void your home insurance, fail at sale or strata inspection, and, more importantly, put people at real risk. You can and should check a tradesperson’s licence on the NSW Fair Trading website before they start. It takes two minutes and tells you whether the licence is current and covers the work.
If a quote is suspiciously cheap and the licence does not check out, the saving is borrowed against your insurance and your safety.
A proper electrician should also give you a Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work once notifiable work is done. Keep it. It is your proof the job was completed to standard, and you may need it when you sell, refinance, or lodge an insurance claim.
How to find a good one
The cheapest quote and the best electrician are rarely the same person, but you do not need to overpay either. A few habits sort the reliable from the regrettable.
- Get at least three written quotes for anything beyond a small job, so you can compare scope, not just price.
- Confirm the licence number against NSW Fair Trading before committing.
- Ask whether the quote is fixed or an estimate, and what triggers a variation.
- Check that the price includes making-good, such as patching and painting, or whether that is on you.
- Read recent reviews and ask for references on similar work, not just a star rating.
A handy shortcut is to describe the job once and let a few licensed locals come to you. You can get quotes from licensed Sydney electricians and compare them side by side, which saves the awkward round of phone tag. For a broader checklist that applies to any trade, our piece on how to find a good tradie covers the warning signs worth heeding before you hand over a deposit.
Watch the extras
The headline rate is rarely the whole story. Emergency and after-hours call-outs cost more, sometimes a lot more, so a Saturday-night fault will not be billed like a Tuesday-morning power point. Materials, parking, and rubbish removal can appear as line items. Apartments and heritage homes often need extra time for access and compliance.
The fix is simple: ask for the all-in price in writing, including call-out, labour, materials, and GST, before work begins. A good electrician will give it to you without flinching. If someone dodges the question or pushes for cash with no paperwork, treat that as the answer.
A quick note
This is general information, not personal financial, legal, or procurement advice. Prices, licensing rules, and compliance requirements change, and every job is different. The figures here are indicative and were last checked June 2026. Always confirm current costs with the tradesperson and check licensing and compliance with NSW Fair Trading or your local council before you commit.
The bottom line
In Sydney, budget roughly $90 to $160 an hour for a licensed electrician, with small jobs from about $120, switchboard upgrades around $1,200 to $3,000, and full rewires above $8,000. The money you save by going cheap and unlicensed is almost never worth it. Check the licence, get the Certificate of Compliance, collect a few written quotes, and read the fine print on call-outs and making-good. Do that, and you will get safe work at a fair price rather than a nasty surprise behind the switchboard.