Rewiring, Safety Inspections & Smoke Alarms Sydney

What this lane covers

Five categories of work, one compliance standard.

The stuff that doesn't make it onto the home-improvement show but keeps the house insurable, sellable, and non-flammable. Done with the same documentation discipline as a panel upgrade.

01 — Rewiring

Section rewiring for older homes

Cloth-insulated, VIR, early-plastic, and lead-sheath cable phased out circuit by circuit. Minimal wall damage, staged around your occupation, documented with photos and updated circuit schedules.

Kitchen circuits (most common failure point)
Hot water + ducted HVAC legacy circuits
Subfloor and ceiling cable replacement
Federation terraces & interwar cottages

Scoped per house — typical section rewire $1,200–$3,400. Full-house rewires $6,500+ depending on access.

02 — Smoke alarms

Smoke alarm compliance & interconnection

NSW requires 240V mains-powered photoelectric alarms with battery backup in every sleeping zone. We replace expired units, add missing points, interconnect the system so every alarm triggers all alarms, and document placement for insurer evidence.

Mains-powered with 10-year battery backup
Photoelectric type (NSW recommended)
Fully interconnected across the house
Landlord compliance for managed properties

Replacement installs from $140/alarm · full-house refit from $580.

03 — Surge protection

Whole-house Type 2 surge protection

A single $420 Type 2 SPD at the main switchboard protects every device in the house from lightning-induced and grid-surge events. One of the cheapest insurance-grade upgrades available — typically pays for itself the first time Sydney has a bad storm.

Installed at the main switchboard
Protects every downstream circuit
Covers solar, HVAC, appliances, electronics
Status indicator on the board itself

Install from $390 · standalone or during panel upgrade.

04 — Inspections

Pre-sale, insurance & compliance inspections

Documented electrical inspection reports for conveyancing, insurance renewal, strata compliance, and landlord obligations. Signed by a licensed NSW electrician, insurer-friendly format, delivered same-day in most cases.

Full residential safety audit (90-min)
Photos, circuit schedule, compliance notes
Itemised remediation list if required
Accepted by major Australian insurers

Full residential inspection from $249. Strata / multi-unit quoted per scope.

05 — Compliance remediation

Code correction & sign-off

If your pre-sale or strata inspection flagged issues — non-compliant circuits, missing RCDs, bonding failures — we quote the remediation in writing, complete it, and issue the updated compliance certificate so the sale or renewal can proceed.

RCD retrofits on legacy circuits
Bonding & earthing corrections
GPO replacements (plates with no earth)
Updated CCEW lodgement

Typical remediation $380–$1,800 depending on scope.

06 — Landlord & strata

Recurring compliance visits

Annual or biannual visits for managed portfolios and strata buildings — RCD push-test, smoke alarm test, emergency lighting test, general condition audit. Scheduled proactively, reported cleanly, invoiced per portfolio.

Scheduled around tenant access
Digital job pack per property
Automatic renewal tracking
Flagged remediation, never surprise invoices

Portfolio pricing · typically $120–$180 per property per visit.

Arcwell electrician performing a residential safety inspection

Federation, interwar, 1960s brick

Older Sydney homes need a patient hand, not a full tear-out.

We work on pre-1970s houses almost every week. What we've learned: most of these homes don't need a full rewire. They need a competent electrician willing to spend an afternoon identifying which circuits are still safe, which ones need replacement, and which ones can safely wait another decade.

Cheap operators either refuse the job or quote a scorched-earth rewire because they don't have time to section it. Arcwell's approach is to rebuild circuit-by-circuit, starting with the highest-risk (kitchen, HWS, laundry) and extending from there as budget allows.

Staged rewiring (live-in friendly) Heritage & strata aware Minimal wall damage

Rewiring, safety, and the quiet work that stops the bad outcome.