In this guide
It is the question we get asked before any other, and the honest answer is that anyone who quotes you a firm number over the phone is guessing. Rewiring is one of those jobs where two houses that look identical from the street can differ by ten thousand dollars, and the reasons are entirely predictable once you know what to look at.
So rather than give you a single figure, here is how the number is actually built — which means you can work out roughly where your place will sit, and you will know whether a quote you have been given is reasonable.
Indicative Melbourne rewiring costs
These are broad ranges for a standard domestic rewire including a new switchboard, based on the work we do across Melbourne. Treat them as a starting point for budgeting, not a quote.
| Property | Typical range | Main variables |
|---|---|---|
| 2-bedroom weatherboard cottage | $8,000 – $15,000 | Access, subfloor, whether walls are open |
| 3-bedroom weatherboard or brick veneer | $12,000 – $20,000 | Number of circuits, outbuildings |
| 3–4 bedroom solid brick or period home | $18,000 – $35,000+ | No wall cavity, plaster to protect, size |
| Partial rewire (original section only) | $4,000 – $9,000 | How much of the house is in scope |
| Switchboard upgrade on its own | $1,200 – $3,500 | Asbestos backing, consumer mains |
It is not the size of the house. It is how the walls are built.
Weatherboard and brick veneer homes have a timber frame with cavities, so we can drop cable down a wall and most of the work happens in the roof space and under the floor. Solid brick — most Victorian terraces in Albert Park, South Melbourne and parts of Port Melbourne — has no cavity at all. Every cable either goes through the floor and ceiling, or gets chased into masonry and replastered. That difference alone can add 40% or more to the same job.
What pushes the price up
- Solid brick construction. No cavity means chasing, making good and replastering. As above, this is the big one.
- Finished walls. Rewiring during a renovation while the frame is open is dramatically cheaper than threading cable through finished plaster. If a builder is already opening your house, that is the moment.
- Restricted access. Shallow roof spaces, minimal subfloor clearance, no side access, or a concrete slab poured over the original subfloor — each removes a route we would otherwise use.
- Original detail worth protecting. Decorative cornices, ceiling roses and lath-and-plaster ceilings all mean longer routes and more care. Cheaper than paying a plasterer to restore them afterwards.
- Consumer mains and main earth. In older homes the incoming cable was sized for a house with a stove, a fridge and a few lights, and frequently has to be replaced too.
- Asbestos backing board. Common in boards from the 1950s to mid-1980s. Removal is licensed work and adds cost.
- Outbuildings. Sheds, garages, granny flats and pool plant — very common on the bigger blocks in Altona and the outer west, and often wired by a previous owner rather than an electrician.
What brings it down
- Doing it during a renovation. The single largest saving available on this job. Nothing else comes close.
- Timber-framed construction. Nothing you can change, but worth knowing your Yarraville or Spotswood weatherboard is at the cheaper end.
- A partial rewire. If a later extension was wired properly it has decades of life left and there is no sense tearing it out.
- Doing the board at the same time. A switchboard upgrade bundled into a rewire costs far less than the same work as a separate job a year later.
Do you need a full rewire, or just part of one?
This is where a lot of money gets wasted. A very common Melbourne pattern is an original front section — a Victorian or Edwardian cottage, say — with a 1990s or 2000s rear extension attached. The original circuits are genuinely finished. The extension was wired properly and is fine.
In that situation you want a partial rewire, and an electrician who quotes the whole house without inspecting is quoting the easy-to-price option rather than the right one. Be wary of that. We would rather tell you which sections actually need doing, even when it makes the job smaller.
The reverse also happens. If your circuits have no earth conductor — routine in lighting circuits well into the 1970s — you cannot fix that by adding protection at the switchboard. The wire simply is not there to connect to. Getting an earth to those points means new cable, and no amount of switchboard work substitutes for it.
Signs your house genuinely needs rewiring
- Rubber-insulated cable that has gone hard and crumbles when disturbed. This is why an old house can be fine for decades and then develop several faults in one year — someone went into the roof space and moved things.
- Circuits with no earth wire at all, particularly lighting.
- A switchboard full of ceramic rewireable fuses that has been added to repeatedly.
- Lights dimming when a large appliance starts.
- Repeated tripping, especially the kind that gets worse in wet weather and appears to fix itself when things dry out. It has not fixed itself; it has dried out.
- Brown scorch marks around outlets or switches.
- An electrician declining to add a new circuit to what is already there.
Any one of those might be addressable on its own. Several together are telling you something.
The paperwork you should end up with
Rewiring is prescribed electrical work in Victoria. That means it must be carried out by a licensed electrician, certified, and independently inspected by a Licensed Electrical Inspector. At the end you receive a Certificate of Electrical Safety.
Keep it. Your insurer may want it, and your eventual buyer's conveyancer almost certainly will. If someone offers to rewire your house without certification and inspection, that is not a bargain — it is a problem you will inherit, and it can affect a claim.
Get the wiring assessed before you finalise a renovation budget, not after. A rewire is a significant number and it is far better known in advance than discovered when your builder opens a wall. We are happy to assess a property you are only considering buying.
Where we work
We have been rewiring Melbourne homes since 2007, from our base in Newport. Detailed local guidance for the suburbs we work in most: Yarraville, Williamstown, Newport, Footscray, Altona, Spotswood, Albert Park, Port Melbourne, South Melbourne and Brighton. You can also try our cost estimator for a quick ballpark.
Common questions
How long does it take to rewire a house?
A small cottage is typically a few days. A large solid brick period home can run to two or three weeks. Access, construction type and whether the house is occupied all affect it. We give you a realistic programme at quote rather than an optimistic one.
Can I stay in the house during a rewire?
Usually yes, with real disruption — dust, holes in walls and periods with parts of the house off. We sequence the work so you are never completely without power, and we tell you which days will be worst. On larger homes we can stage it room by room or floor by floor.
Is it cheaper to rewire during a renovation?
Substantially, and it is the biggest single saving available on this job. Running cable through an open frame is a fraction of the work of threading it through finished plaster. If your walls are coming off for any reason, that is the time.
Can I just add an earth to my old lighting circuits?
No, and be cautious of anyone who says they can. If the original cable was run without an earth conductor, the wire is not physically there to connect to. Getting an earth to those points requires new cable, which means rewiring those circuits.
Does a rewire have to be inspected?
Yes. Rewiring is prescribed electrical work in Victoria, so it must be certified and independently inspected by a Licensed Electrical Inspector, with a Certificate of Electrical Safety issued at completion.
Do I need a new switchboard as well?
Almost always, in an older home. There is little point running new circuits back to a board full of ceramic fuses with no RCD protection. Doing both together costs considerably less than doing them a year apart.
Written by the team at Litmec Electrical, licensed electrical contractor REC-10383, trading in Melbourne since 2007. Last reviewed 12 August 2026. General guidance only — every property is different, and our quotes are free.