Emergency electrician across Wollongong & the Illawarra.

The faults we get called out for most.

Across Wollongong and the Illawarra, the genuine after-hours emergencies are nearly always one of these: a complete loss of power with no obvious cause, a burning or hot-plastic smell from a powerpoint or the switchboard, scorch marks around an outlet, sparking when something is plugged in, a safety switch (RCD) that keeps tripping and won’t reset, exposed or damaged cabling, or electrical trouble after a storm soaks a meter box. Every one of these is a shock or fire risk and shouldn’t wait until business hours.

What to do before we arrive.

If it is safe to reach the board, turn off the main switch — that isolates the whole house. If only one circuit is the problem and you can identify it, switch just that one off. Unplug any appliance you suspect. Keep everyone, especially kids and pets, well clear of sparking, scorched or wet electrical fittings. Never touch fallen wires and never try to dry out or poke at a flooded switchboard. Then call us — we will talk you through making it safe over the phone if needed.

How we work an emergency call.

We isolate and make the fault safe first, before any repair, so the property is no longer a hazard. Then we diagnose the cause — fault-finding a tripping circuit, a failed appliance, a burnt termination, a water-damaged board — and carry out the repair, or a safe temporary make-safe if parts are needed. Everything is done to AS/NZS 3000, we test the circuits afterwards, and we issue the electrical safety certificate where one is required.

What it costs after hours.

After-hours electrical work in NSW is charged at award penalty rates, so it costs more than a daytime job — that is the trade-off for a licensed electrician on call. As a 2026 guide, an evening callout is typically $250 to $400 to attend and cover the first hour, with overnight and public-holiday rates higher again. We always tell you the callout position before we leave the depot. A daytime, non-urgent fix is far cheaper, so if it can safely wait, we’ll tell you that too.

Why we don’t cut corners.

The temptation in an emergency is to do the quickest thing that gets the power back on. We don’t. A bypassed safety switch, a wire-nut on a burnt termination or a board that “held this time” without finding the cause is exactly how electrical fires start. We find the actual fault, repair it properly to the Wiring Rules, and leave you with protection that works — because that’s the whole point of calling a licensed electrician instead of guessing.

Outside an emergency, an old or overloaded board is often the root cause — see our switchboard upgrades. If your fault turns up wider issues we can follow up with a full electrical safety inspection, and we cover the whole region from Wollongong to Kiama.