Three states, three compliance calendars
Most of the electrical work a property manager buys is reactive, but the work that keeps an electrician on an agency's books year after year is compliance, because the law puts a date on it and the manager is the one who has to prove it was met. The catch for anyone writing to agencies is that the dates differ by state, so an electrician who knows the local calendar can talk about the manager's actual problem instead of offering "smoke alarms" in general.
| State | Smoke alarms | Safety switches | When the work falls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queensland | Rentals must have interconnected photoelectric alarms meeting AS 3786-2014, in every bedroom, in hallways connecting bedrooms and on every storey | All power point circuits must have a safety switch | Within 30 days before each new or renewed tenancy, with a 48 hour entry notice for alarm work during a lease |
| NSW | At least one working alarm on each storey, checked every year, with batteries replaced yearly and alarms replaced within 10 years of manufacture | No separate rental rule in the NSW smoke alarm or repair guidance | Yearly, and any fault fixed within two business days |
| Victoria | Annual smoke alarm safety check for every rental agreement | Power and lighting circuits must connect to a switchboard-type circuit breaker and safety switch (a rental minimum standard since 29 March 2023) | Yearly for alarms, and an electrical safety check every two years |
Queensland is worth singling out because of the hardwiring rule. Its fire service says a hardwired alarm has to be replaced with another hardwired alarm, and hardwired alarms must be installed by a qualified electrician, so an older rental with mains alarms can't be brought up to the interconnected standard with a box of wireless units from the hardware store. Every home in Queensland, not just rentals, has to have compliant alarms by 1 January 2027, which means owners with an investment property and a house of their own are hearing about it twice this year.
NSW has a detail that matters in apartment buildings. A landlord can hand smoke alarm repairs to the owners corporation only if the alarms are hardwired (or the owners corporation looks after battery alarms), the tenant has been told in writing, and the landlord tells the owners corporation within 24 hours of learning about a fault. If you work for strata buildings as well as agencies, you may be the person both sides call about the same alarm, so ask the manager which arrangement applies before you quote.
Victoria's October change
From 13 October 2026, Victoria's two-yearly gas and electrical safety checks apply to every rental property, where before they applied to agreements entered into from March 2021. Rentals on older leases that had never been checked now need one, and if no check has been done in the two years before a renter moves in, the rental provider has to arrange one as soon as practicable. Agencies with long-standing tenants on their rent roll will be working through that backlog for months.
The check has its own paperwork, which is where a careful electrician stands out. Energy Safe Victoria says the inspection follows section 4 of AS/NZS 3019 and produces a signed written report with your name, licence number, the areas covered and not covered, the test results and any repairs recommended. A Certificate of Electrical Safety is not the right record for the check itself, although you still issue one for any repair work you do. The rental provider has to keep the report until the next check, tell a new renter the date of the last check and any outstanding recommendations, and give a renter a copy within 7 days of a written request, so the manager wants a report they can file and forward without rewriting it.
How compliance programs are bought
Agencies rarely buy compliance one property at a time. Many sign the whole rent roll up with a specialist compliance company that charges each owner a yearly fee per property, books the visits, tracks the due dates and sends the agency a certificate, so the manager hands over the calendar as well as the work. That is the real competitor for a local electrician, and it is a strong one, because the manager's worry is missing a date across hundreds of properties rather than the price of one visit.
You can compete with it on the things a national program finds hard. A compliance technician who finds a dead hardwired alarm or a tripping circuit often logs it and the agency has to send another trade, while a licensed electrician can fix it on the same visit and send one report. Local electricians can also bundle the work the program doesn't cover, such as the Queensland safety switch, the Victorian minimum standard switchboard work and the reactive call that comes in the same week. If you offer a program, price it per property per year so it can sit next to the one the agency already has, say exactly what's included (alarm testing, battery and alarm replacement, safety switch testing) and how you remind the manager before each due date.
Start with a few agencies near you rather than a whole city, because compliance only pays when visits are close together. The property managers page covers how agencies keep their approved tradie lists, the electricians page covers the other buyers worth writing to, and there's a property manager email template you can adapt. If you'd rather not send the first emails yourself, Curlew writes to agencies near you in your business name.
A first email you could send
Hi Leanne, I’m a licensed electrician in Belmont and most of our work is rentals around Geelong. With the two-yearly electrical safety checks now covering every rental, I thought you might have some older leases that haven’t had one yet. We do the check and the smoke alarm test in one visit, fix small faults on the spot, and send the AS/NZS 3019 report ready to file. We price it per property per year, so it’s easy to compare. Would it help if I sent our rates and a sample report? Josh If this isn’t for you, just let me know and I’ll leave it there.
An example only. The business is made up.
For a version with every line explained, see email to a property manager.