Moving the meter box, putting the power underground, a new connection or an upgrade to three-phase: that's the network side of the meter, and it needs a Level 2 electrician. We're accredited for it (demo), so the same crew does both sides and you're not waiting on a second contractor.
NSW electrical contractor Lic. 000000C (demo)
Sample review
The new carport would have blocked the meter box. They moved it, swapped the old fuse board while the power was off, and dealt with Ausgrid themselves. I never made a single phone call to the network.
Sample review · Tallowood Electrical is a fictional business
What's involved
Most electricians stop at the meter. Everything on the house side of it is theirs to work on; everything between the meter and the street belongs to the network and needs a separate accreditation. In NSW that accreditation is Level 2, and the people who hold it are called Accredited Service Providers. If your job crosses the meter, and a lot of renovations do, you either need a Level 2 electrician or two contractors and a gap in the middle where nobody is in charge.
We hold Level 2 accreditation (demo) alongside our contractor licence. That means one booking, one crew and one quote covers both sides, and the Ausgrid paperwork is ours to chase rather than yours.
An aerial service line is the most common thing we're asked to remove. It's in the way of a second storey, a crane on a building site, a tree you'd like to keep, or just the view. Converting it means a trench from the boundary to the house, a conduit and an underground cable, a new riser on the street pole where the network needs one, and the aerial line taken down once the new one is live.
The trench is the part that sets the price. Lawn is quick, a driveway needs cutting and making good, and parts of Lake Macquarie hit rock a spade's depth down. We walk the route with you before we quote, and the quote says who repairs what, so the driveway isn't a surprise afterwards.
If the house is having a switchboard upgrade at the same time, this is the moment to do both. The power is off once instead of twice, and the new meter box and the new board go in together.
Meter boxes end up in the wrong place all the time. A carport gets built in front of one, an extension swallows the wall it sits on, or the new kitchen layout wants that corner. Moving it involves Level 2 work at the meter and licensed work on the consumer mains and the switchboard behind it, which is exactly the split most contractors can't do alone.
Many Newcastle homes built before the late 1980s have an asbestos backing panel in the meter box. It doesn't stop the move: it's removed and replaced under the safe-work rules, and it's a separate line on the quote so you can see what it costs.
Most older Newcastle and Lake Macquarie homes are on single-phase supply. That's plenty for a fridge, a few split systems and an oven, and tight for a large ducted system, an induction cooktop, a pool heater and an EV charger all at once. A three-phase upgrade is network-side work at the street and the meter, and a switchboard that can take three phases on the house side.
It isn't always the answer. Load management on a single-phase board solves a lot of "the main switch keeps tripping" problems for far less, and we'll tell you if that's the case before we quote an upgrade you don't need. If you're adding a charger, our EV charger installation page explains when a 22kW unit is worth three-phase and when it isn't.
Builders ring us for the temporary builder's supply, the permanent connection and the meter position on the plans, so the slab doesn't go down with the conduit in the wrong spot. If you're renovating in Belmont, where a lot of older lakeside cottages still have aerial lines across the yard, ask about the underground conversion before the landscaping goes in rather than after.
Not sure if your job crosses the meter? Send a photo of the meter box with the door open and the line where it meets the house. We'll tell you whether it's Level 2 work, and what it'll take.
FAQ
In NSW, a Level 2 electrician is an Accredited Service Provider (ASP) authorised to work on the network side of your meter: the service line from the street, the point of attachment on your house, the meter, and the connection and disconnection of supply. A standard electrical licence covers everything after the meter. Level 2 covers the part between the street and it.
For a new connection on a new build or a granny flat, moving the meter box, converting overhead power to underground, upgrading from single-phase to three-phase, replacing a damaged or low-hanging service line, installing or replacing a private power pole, and any temporary disconnection so another trade can work on the house.
Demo figures, for a fictional business: moving a meter box a short way on the same wall usually costs $1,800 to $3,500, including the new box and re-terminating the consumer mains. A longer move, a new switchboard at the same time or an asbestos backing board adds to it, and we price each of those as its own line.
Demo figures: most overhead to underground conversions on a standard Newcastle block come in between $3,000 and $6,000. The trench length, what it runs through (lawn, a driveway or rock), and whether the pole at the street needs a new riser decide where in that range you land. We look at the site before we quote.
No. In the Ausgrid area, which covers Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, we lodge the connection or alteration application, book any work that only the network can do, and send the paperwork when the job's done. You get a reference number so you can follow it yourself if you want to.
The work on site is usually a day, sometimes two if the switchboard is replaced at the same time. The wait before it is the network's approval, which varies with how busy they are. We tell you the expected date when we lodge the application, not when we arrive.