Two stages, quoted separately
The single most useful thing an electrician can do for a builder's programme is stop treating a job as one lump. We quote the rough-in and the fit-off as separate stages, with separate prices, so they can be booked against the parts of your schedule they actually belong to.
- Rough-in — booked against frame stage, before the walls close. Circuits run, board position set, and everything left tagged and tested.
- Fit-off — booked against practical completion. Fittings, switchgear, testing and the Certificate of Electrical Safety.
If the programme moves — and it moves — only the affected stage moves with it. Nothing has to be re-quoted because the two halves were priced as one.
Priced from the drawings as issued
Send the documentation and we price the scope as drawn. If something on the plans will not work — a board position with no access, a supply that will not carry the schedule of loads, a run that has to cross a structural member — you hear about it at quote stage, not when the plasterer is booked.
For work going to tender we price against the issued set and mark up any assumption we have had to make, so you can compare our number against the others on the same basis.
The three things that blow up an electrical programme
Almost every delay we get called into fixing traces back to one of these, and all three are visible at quote stage if someone bothers to look:
- The switchboard cannot take the schedule. The plans assume circuits the existing board has no room for. Found at fit-off, this stops the job.
- The consumer mains are undersized. The board gets upgraded and the bottleneck simply moves upstream to a cable sized for a different century.
- Asbestos backing behind the switchgear. Common in boards from the 1960s to the 1980s, and it has to come out under controlled conditions before anything else happens.
We check all three before quoting. Switchboard upgrades and three-phase and consumer mains are the bulk of what we do, so they are priced into the job rather than discovered inside it.
What we take on for trade clients
- Renovation and extension rough-in and fit-off — renovation electrical
- Full and partial rewires on period and post-war stock — house rewiring
- Switchboard, meter box and consumer mains upgrades
- Three-phase supply upgrades for heavy load and EV charging
- Commercial and industrial fit-out, including out-of-hours switching — commercial electrical
- Data, comms and CCTV rough-in — data and CCTV
What we need from you
- The drawings, even a marked-up floor plan
- The programme, or at least the frame stage and handover dates you are working to
- Site access arrangements and who holds the key
- Photos of the existing switchboard and meter box, where there is one
That is normally enough to come back with a two-stage price. Where it is not, we come and look at it — there is no charge for that, and none for the quote.
Where we work
Greater Melbourne, from Newport — the inner west, bayside and the eastern suburbs get the most of our time. Full list of service areas.
Send the drawings through
We will come back with the rough-in and the fit-off priced separately, and tell you what we think will bite before it does.
Request a quote 0418 583 097Common questions from builders
Do you price from plans?
Yes. Send the set as issued and we price the scope as drawn, with the rough-in and the fit-off quoted separately. Any assumption we have had to make is marked up so you can compare quotes on the same basis.
Can you work to our programme?
That is the point of quoting it in two stages. Rough-in books against frame stage and fit-off against practical completion, so a slip in one does not drag the other.
Who issues the compliance paperwork?
We do, for the electrical work we carry out — a Certificate of Electrical Safety to AS/NZS 3000, issued on completion, as required in Victoria.
What happens if the switchboard will not take the new schedule?
You hear about it at quote stage. We check the board, the consumer mains and the meter position before pricing, and include the upgrade in the quote rather than raising it as a variation later.
Do you handle asbestos switchboard backing?
Yes, as controlled removal before the new board goes in. It is common in boards from the 1960s to the 1980s and it is identified at quote stage, not on the day.
Can you do out-of-hours switching on commercial sites?
Yes. Where a site cannot lose power in trading hours we price it that way from the start rather than discovering it mid-job.
Do you take on new-build work?
Renovation, extension and fit-out is where we are strongest. Talk to us about new-build and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right fit for the programme.