Electrician Did Dangerous Work? Demand They Fix It Now (Or Pay Someone Who Will)

You paid an electrician $2,800 to add power points, a new light circuit and an outdoor outlet. A week later the safety switch trips every time it rains. A second sparkie has a look and goes pale: the outdoor point isn’t weatherproof, two circuits are doubled up on one breaker, and there is a junction box behind the plaster with no cover on it. His words: “This could start a fire.”

You rang the first electrician. He said he’d “come by next week”. That was three weeks ago.

Unsafe work is a major failure

Electrical work in Australia must comply with AS/NZS 3000 (the Wiring Rules) and your state’s electrical safety law. Work that does not comply is not just bad, it is illegal, and the electrician’s licence is on the line. On top of that, the Australian Consumer Law applies:

• Section 60 – services must be provided with due care and skill. Non-compliant electrical work fails this by definition.
• Section 61 – the work must be fit for its purpose. A circuit that trips in the rain is not.
• Section 267 – for a major failure (and unsafe work is always major), you can cancel, get a refund, and recover the cost of having it fixed properly. You do not have to give them another go.

Get the paperwork that proves it

• Did the electrician give you a Certificate of Compliance (called different things in each state: CCEW in New South Wales, COES in Victoria, Certificate of Test in Queensland)? If not, that alone is a breach and a regulator will want to know.
• Get the second electrician to write a short report listing each defect and the standard it breaches, with photos.
• Get a quote to rectify.

Do not let it sit

This is a safety issue. Give the original electrician one short written deadline (48 hours to 5 days) to attend and rectify. If he doesn’t, have the second electrician fix it. Under s 267, if he refuses or fails to fix a failure that is not major within a reasonable time, you can have someone else fix it and recover the reasonable cost. If the failure is major, you can cancel and claim compensation, plus damages for reasonably foreseeable loss, which can include the cost of having it fixed.

Then send the Letter of Demand

Your letter should include the defect report, the rectification invoice or quote, the ACL sections, your state’s electrical safety law, and a 14-day deadline. State clearly that if unpaid, you will file at the tribunal and lodge a complaint with the electrical safety regulator (Fair Trading in New South Wales, Energy Safe Victoria, the Electrical Safety Office in Queensland, and so on).

The regulator complaint is the part that works. Electricians can survive a tribunal loss. They cannot survive losing their licence.

You paid for safe power. You got a fire hazard. That is not a negotiation.

Claim Done drafts your Letter of Demand for $49. Done in about 5 minutes. You approve it before it is sent.