Do I need an electrician to replace a light fitting?
Yes. Replacing a hard-wired light fitting is licensed electrical work everywhere in Australia, and there is no do-it-yourself exemption for it in any state or territory.
4 sources cited
Independent · Australian
What needs a licence, what drives the price, and what your rights are.
Straight answers for Australian homeowners dealing with trades. Every factual claim on this site cites the regulator, standard or government scheme it comes from, and we publish no invented price ranges.
- questions answered
- 202questions answered
- cost pages
- 8cost pages
- topics
- 10topics
- sources cited
- 126sources cited
Why there are no price ranges here
“How much does it cost” is the most-asked question in this space, and Australia has no authoritative public price index for most trade work. So instead of publishing a plausible-looking range someone invented, our cost pages publish what a named authority actually publishes (rebate amounts, scheme caps, capacity tiers) and then explain what genuinely moves the number on your quote.
See how we handle cost →Questions homeowners actually ask
All 202 questions →What electrical work can I legally do myself in Australia?
Only work that connects by a plug and socket. All fixed wiring, anything connected permanently to the mains, is licensed work in every Australian state and territory.
4 sources cited
Does my house need safety switches, and how many?
New and altered circuits must be protected by a residual current device under the national wiring rules, but what is required on an existing untouched home varies by state. Several now require them at sale or lease.
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When does a switchboard actually need upgrading?
When it has no residual current protection, still uses rewireable ceramic fuses, has no spare capacity for work you are adding, or shows heat damage, not simply because it looks old.
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Does hot water have to come out of the tap below 50 degrees?
Water has to be stored hot enough to control Legionella, which generally means 60°C in a storage system, but it can only be delivered to bathroom outlets at 50°C or less. A tempering valve is what bridges the two.
4 sources cited
Which type of hot water system should I get?
For most Australian households replacing a system today, a heat pump or solar-boosted electric system has the lowest running cost and attracts the largest rebates, but the right answer depends on your existing connections and available space.
3 sources cited
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Send it through. Questions that come up repeatedly get researched, sourced and published like everything else on this site. We cannot reply to every one individually, and we will never tell you a price we have not seen published by somebody who can stand behind it.
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- PlumbingHot water, leaks, drainage and what needs a licensed plumber.35 pages
- ElectricalSwitchboards, safety switches and what you may legally do yourself.30 pages
- Heating & coolingDucted, split systems, running costs and when to replace.14 pages
- Solar & batteriesPanels, batteries, rebates, payback and accreditation.14 pages
- Building & renovationPermits, contracts, structural work and registered builders.36 pages
- Roofing & guttersLeaks, restoration, replacement and when patching is enough.14 pages
- Waterproofing & tilingBathrooms, membranes, substrates and what fails.15 pages
- Landscaping & treesTree disputes, boundaries, fences and who pays for what.12 pages
- Painting & decoratingPreparation, exterior lifespan and reading a painting quote.10 pages
- Your rights & checksLicences, quotes, consumer guarantees and what to do when work goes wrong.121 pages
In-depth guides
- What trade work legally needs a licence in Australia
- How to read a trade quote
- Published energy rebates and schemes, with the actual figures
- Hot water systems: a complete guide for Australian homes
- Your rights as a homeowner when hiring a tradesperson
- Smoke alarm rules in every Australian state
- Pool and spa barrier rules in Australia
- Asbestos in Australian homes: where it is and what you may not do
- What paperwork a tradesperson should leave you
- Unsolicited work, door knockers and trade scams
- Emergency and after-hours trade call-outs
How this is sourced
We cite 126 Australian authorities: regulators, standards bodies and government schemes. Every URL was fetched and the HTTP response recorded, and where a government site blocks automated clients we say so rather than reporting a check we did not complete.
The build fails if any page makes a claim without a source attached. That is a code-level rule, not an editorial aspiration.