Emergency electrician - and what can actually wait

What is emergency electrical repair?

Call immediately for anything involving heat, smell, smoke or arcing: a burning smell you cannot locate, smoke or scorching at an outlet or panel, visible sparking or arcing, a hot outlet or panel cover, or a downed or damaged service line. Turn the affected circuit off at the panel first if you can do so safely, and the main if you cannot find the source. Most other faults are not emergencies - a single breaker that resets and holds, one dead outlet, or a ground-fault device that reset cleanly can wait for normal hours.

Signs you need emergency electrical repair

• A burning or acrid plastic smell you cannot trace to an appliance - the single most important reason on this list
• Smoke, scorching, discolouration or a buzzing crackle at an outlet, switch or panel
• Visible sparking or arcing at a device, fixture or the panel, or an outlet, plate or panel cover that is hot to the touch
• The main breaker itself trips, or trips repeatedly - different and more serious than a branch breaker tripping
• Part of the house has lost power with no breaker tripped, or lights are unusually dim or bright - which can indicate a lost neutral on the service
• A service line down, damaged, or pulled away from the house - call the utility as well, and stay away from it
• Water into a panel, an outlet or a fixture, from a leak, a flood or a burst pipe

Seeing something not on this list? Browse electrical problems by symptom →

How emergency electrical repair actually works

1. 1

   What to do in the first sixty seconds

   If you can identify the circuit, switch it off at the panel. If you cannot and something is smelling, smoking or arcing, switch off the main and get out of the house before calling. Do not use water on an electrical fire. Do not touch a downed service line or anything in contact with it, and call the utility directly for anything on their side of the meter.

   Watch forResetting a breaker that trips instantly a second time. It is telling you there is a fault on that circuit right now, and repeatedly re-energising it is how a fault becomes a fire.

2. 2

   The call - what a dispatcher needs from you

   What you can smell, see and hear; whether anything is hot; whether the power is off and at which breaker; whether it is one circuit, one room or the whole house; and whether there is water involved. This is what decides whether someone comes now or books you in tomorrow, and an honest description gets you the right answer.

   Watch forOverstating to get a faster visit, or understating because you feel silly. Both produce the wrong response and the wrong bill.

3. 3

   On arrival - diagnosis before repair

   The electrician isolates the fault, makes the situation safe, and then establishes what happened. Making safe and repairing are often two separate visits: a circuit can be safely dead overnight and properly repaired in daylight with the right parts, at normal rates.

   Watch forA large repair quoted and started at 2am. Unless the house is unsafe, making it safe now and repairing it on Monday is usually the cheaper and better job.

4. 4

   After-hours pricing, before anyone starts

   Emergency work carries a call-out or trip charge, and after-hours, weekend and holiday rates are higher than daytime ones. Ask for the call-out fee, the hourly or flat rate, and whether the fee comes off the repair if you proceed. Get it before the van is dispatched, not after the work.

   Watch forA flat-rate promise that turns out to cover the diagnosis only. "Flat rate" and "all-in" are not the same thing, and the difference shows up on the invoice.

5. 5

   Make-safe handoff and a written next step

   Before the electrician leaves, you should know which circuits are dead on purpose, what is safe to use overnight, and whether a return visit is required with parts or at daytime rates. Get the findings in writing - a photo of the panel directory update and a short note beat a verbal "you should be fine".

   Watch forA vague assurance with open splices or temporary jumps left as permanent. Temporary is fine; undocumented temporary is how the next person gets hurt.

What does emergency electrical repair cost?

Expect a call-out or trip charge on top of the repair, and higher labour rates outside normal hours. Many firms credit the call-out against the work if you go ahead. Ask for both numbers before dispatch - an honest emergency electrician will give them on the phone.

See the full emergency electrical repair cost guide - by material, size and region →

If the number is the problem, here are the ways people pay for it →