Why Inala is different
Built by the Housing Commission
The Queensland Housing Commission bought the Serviceton co-operative's land in 1949 and 1950 and renamed it Inala in 1953.
Concrete, not weatherboard
Outer walls were poured concrete, frames were hardwood, and inside walls and ceilings were rendered wire lath, all on raised concrete foundations.
Mostly rented
54.9% of Inala's homes were rented at the 2021 Census, and 89.1% were separate houses.
Old enough for asbestos
Queensland's asbestos guidance says homes built before the mid-1980s are highly likely to contain asbestos materials, so treat the old meter board as suspect until someone has checked it.
How concrete walls change the job
Inala's outer walls are solid, so a new power point on an outside wall can't be fed down a cavity the way it would be in a weatherboard house. Expect surface conduit or a route through the ceiling, and ask to see where it'll run before work starts.
Before anyone drills, tell the electrician the house is an original Commission home, and ask how they'll deal with anything they need to cut into.
Landlords and tenants in Inala
If a rented home has no approved safety switch on the power points, the owner must have one installed within 90 days of the tenancy starting. Without one, a licensed electrician generally can't do other installation work there unless the job includes fitting it.
Smoke alarms sit with the landlord too: tested and cleaned within 30 days before each tenancy starts, and interconnected photoelectric alarms in place by 1 January 2027. Tenants test and clean them at least once every 12 months.
What we'd do with an Inala rental
Get the safety switch, the smoke alarms and any power points the tenants have asked for quoted as one job. With concrete walls, planning the cable routes once means far less disruption than three separate visits.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.