A St Kilda job often turns up as a list rather than a single fault: a couple of dead power points, a split system the old flat never had, and maybe a car charger to think about down the track. Martin Turnbull, a licensed A-Grade electrician behind Smartlec, has worked on that kind of mixed list since 2017.
Smartlec Electrical Solutions covers St Kilda and the rest of the inner south-east from a base in nearby Prahran. Tell us everything on the list and you get one firm price before any of it starts.
The jobs St Kilda calls in, and why they often come bundled
Whether it is a single power point in a flat or a fit-out for a cafe on one of the trading strips, we take on both ends and most of what sits between. On the home side that runs from the small but nagging jobs, a dead power point, a downlight that stopped working, an extra USB outlet, a safety switch that needs adding, through to the larger work: complete switchboard upgrades, full and partial rewires, LED lighting and downlights, ceiling fans, and weatherproof points for a balcony or courtyard.
For St Kilda businesses, we cover commercial wiring and lighting, data cabling, emergency lighting and switchboard work across shopfronts, cafes and offices, all to current Australian electrical standards. The reason a list comes together on one visit is simple: the same licensed contractor who adds the circuits can also fit the split system and wire the charger, so jobs that usually mean separate trades get planned and priced as one. If you are buying, selling or renovating, electrical safety checks come with a written report on what passed and what needs attention.
$99 inspection, credited when you proceed
What people ask most about a St Kilda electrician is money: the hourly rate, the minimum charge, and the fee nobody mentions until the invoice. Here is the plain version.
We charge a $99 inspection fee to attend, look at the work in person and hand you a fixed quote, and that $99 is credited back in full the moment you go ahead. After that the price is set per item or quoted to the whole job, never an hourly rate climbing while you watch the clock. A small job is welcome on the same terms as a large one, with no quiet minimum padded into the total. When a list runs across electrical, cooling and a charger, you get the lot quoted together rather than three separate call-out fees, and for straightforward work we can often quote from a few clear photos without a first visit.
One licence behind every job on this page: Smartlec
The breadth only counts if the credentials cover all of it, and they do. Each of these can be checked before you hand over a job:
- An A-Grade Electrician Licence and REC 27608. The registration number is here in writing to be checked, and the licence covers both domestic and commercial work.
- A lifetime workmanship warranty, where most local electricians stop at a twelve-month guarantee.
- $20 million in public liability insurance, so a problem on your property is the contractor's to carry, not yours.
- Operating since 2017, with more than 3,000 customers served across the inner south-east and a 4.9-star rating from 32 reviews.
Switchboards and rewires that have run out of room
Plenty of St Kilda's housing was wired when one power point per room and a couple of light circuits was the whole picture. Add a renovated kitchen, a split system, a home office and a car charger to a board that age and it carries loads it was never sized for. You feel it as nuisance tripping, a switchboard cover that runs warm, or no spare slot left for a new circuit.
A switchboard upgrade rebuilds the board to current standards with proper circuit protection; a rewire goes further and replaces cabling worn past its service life. We work out which by looking at what is there, then tell you straight whether the whole board needs doing, a single circuit will solve it, or the job can be staged. You will not get pushed toward a full rewire when an upgrade would have been done.