How to quote an electrical job in Australia

A professional electrical quote makes the work, assumptions and approval step clear before anyone arrives on site. Use this structure for service calls, installs and upgrades.

1. Define the electrical scope

Every good quote starts with a clear picture of what you are actually being asked to do. Write down the requested outcome in the customer's own words, then translate it into work you can price. A call that sounds like "a couple of power points in the shed" can turn into a sub-board, a new circuit and a trench once you look closer. Note the property type, the age of the switchboard and whether there is spare capacity. On older homes you may be dealing with black rubber or VIR cable that needs replacing rather than extending, and that changes the price before you have picked up a screwdriver.

Count the points and items precisely. Six downlights is a different job to sixteen. State the location of each item and anything that affects the run, like a double brick wall or a ceiling with no crawl space. A quote that says "supply and install 3 x double GPOs in the garage, surface mounted in conduit off the existing garage circuit" leaves almost no room for argument later. A quote that just says "power to garage" invites it.

The most common mistake here is quoting off a phone call without seeing the job. If you cannot get to site, ask for photos of the switchboard, the meter and the work area. The board alone tells you whether it has RCBOs, the main switch rating, and whether there is room for another circuit. Five minutes on a photo beats an hour of variations on the day.

2. Price the parts and labour separately

Break the quote into line items the customer can read. Fixtures, cable, switchgear, equipment and consumables should each sit on their own line with a quantity and a rate, rather than one lump sum. When a customer wants to trim the price, clear lines let them choose a cheaper fitting instead of arguing over your total.

Put labour in a unit that makes sense to the person paying: an hourly rate, a fixed price per point, or a day rate for larger installs. Whichever you choose, include the extras trades routinely forget: access equipment like a scissor lift or scaffold, testing and commissioning time, travel for regional work, and the time to isolate, tag and get a permit if the site needs one. Consumables add up across a big job, so either itemise them or fold a sensible allowance into your rate.

Do not forget your margin on materials. Wholesaler prices move, and a quote you wrote three weeks ago can go underwater if copper jumps. Note how long the quote is valid, usually 14 or 30 days, so you are not held to old pricing. On a large job, consider a deposit to cover materials up front so you are not funding someone else's project out of your own pocket.

3. Explain compliance and documentation

Electrical work carries obligations a customer often does not see, so spell out what is included. List the paperwork you will hand over: the Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work, or your state's equivalent, plus any test results, circuit labelling and a safety switch where the rules require one. In some states a portion of jobs is independently inspected, and if that applies you should say so, because it affects the timeline and sometimes the cost.

Where the job depends on someone else, name that dependency in writing. A meter upgrade, a supply upgrade or a new connection usually needs the network distributor or the retailer, and those lead times are outside your control. If solar, a heat pump or an EV charger is involved, there may be an approval step before you can energise. Making these visible protects you when a customer asks why the job is not finished.

4. Protect the scope with assumptions

Assumptions and exclusions are where experienced sparkies save themselves. List the things you are not responsible for and the conditions you are pricing against. Common exclusions include chasing or patching walls, asbestos handling, making good of plaster and paint, restricted access, and any upgrade to existing infrastructure needed once you open the board. If you assume there is spare capacity on the main switch and there is not, that assumption in writing is the difference between a fair variation and a fight.

Be explicit about how variations are handled. State that extra work is quoted and approved before it starts, not done on a verbal nod. A line such as "any work outside this scope will be quoted separately and approved in writing before it begins" sets the rule up front. On the day, a quick photo, a short message and a yes keeps everyone honest and keeps you paid. The mistake to avoid is doing the extra bit "while you are there", then trying to invoice for it later. Approve first, work second.

5. Carry the approved quote into the job

The accepted quote should flow straight into the schedule, the job record and the final invoice without being retyped. Re-keying scope is how numbers drift and items go missing. When the same line items carry through from quote to invoice, you spend less time reconciling what was agreed against what was billed.

Attach the evidence as you go. Photos before and after, test results, the compliance certificate and any handover documents should live on the job, not on your phone camera roll. This matters for warranty claims, for insurance, and for the next tradie who touches the board.

Electrical quoting checklist

Run through this before you send anything. It catches the expensive misses.

• Site details captured: switchboard age, main switch rating, spare capacity.
• Every point, fitting and circuit counted and described.
• Parts and labour itemised, with access equipment and testing time included.
• Materials margin applied and a validity date set.
• Compliance documents listed, including any inspection step.
• External dependencies noted: meter, supply or network.
• Exclusions and assumptions written down.
• Variation rule stated: approve in writing before extra work starts.
• GST shown correctly and the acceptance step clear.

Common mistakes to avoid

The quote-killers are usually the same handful of habits. Quoting sight unseen and hoping the job matches the phone call. Rolling everything into one lump sum, then having no answer when the customer pushes back. Forgetting the small labour costs, like isolation, testing and travel, that quietly turn a profitable job into a break-even one. Leaving exclusions off entirely, so every surprise behind the wall becomes an argument instead of a variation.

The other big one is being slow. A customer who called three sparkies will often go with the first fair quote that lands, not the cheapest one that arrives a week later. Turn a clear quote around the same day and you win work you would otherwise lose on price.

Use your own catalogue for repeatable quotes

Once your services, fittings and rates live in one place, quoting stops being a blank page every time. ServicePilot can prepare an AI-assisted quote draft from a description, photo or forwarded enquiry using the rates already in your account. It stays a draft until you review it and choose to send, so you keep control of the pricing and the wording. The point is not to remove your judgement. It is to do the typing so the quote lands while the customer is still deciding.