What changes the job on the Gold Coast
Units and towers
At the 2021 Census, 21.7% of occupied Gold Coast homes were flats or apartments, and high-rise building has boomed here since the 1980s. Queensland's body corporate office points out, in its guidance on EV chargers, that wiring serving your unit can still be common property. Ask your body corporate manager before any cable goes through shared walls, ceilings or risers.
Fibro in the older suburbs
Southport has whole precincts of 1950s and 60s fibro bungalows. The QBCC says a house built before 1990 has a good chance of containing some asbestos, and lists fibro sheeting as a common example. You can't tell by looking, so if a wall or ceiling might be fibro, have a sample tested before anyone drills into it.
Roof runs mean the power goes off
Queensland's Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 says a business must make sure, as far as reasonably practicable, that the power to a building is switched off before its worker goes into the roof space. If your cables are running across the ceiling, plan for the house to be without power for part of the visit.
Queenslanders on stumps
Southport's older streets have Queenslanders raised on stumps from around 1900. Depending on how the house is built, cable can sometimes run underneath instead of through the roof, so mention the house style when you book.
Planning the points in a Gold Coast home
Count the spots, then the cables
Desk, TV, games console, a second Wi-Fi unit. Note how many cables each spot needs now, because nobody wants the same wall opened twice.
Pick where everything meets
Usually near where the internet enters the home. In a unit that may be a cupboard near the front door, so check there's a power point in it.
Check the route before the quote
Unit: ask the body corporate what's common property. Older house: find out whether walls are fibro. Two storeys: ask how cable will get between floors.
Book the power points in the same visit
Each data point needs a power point beside it, and that's the licensed part of the job.
Which part needs a licensed electrician in Queensland
New power points, a circuit for a data cupboard and any work at the switchboard are electrical work, and in Queensland that means a licensed electrician working for a business with an electrical contractor licence. After it's connected, you get a certificate of testing and compliance with the contractor's licence number on it.
We haven't covered the registration rules for the data cable itself on this page. Ask whoever quotes what they hold for cabling work, as well as their electrical licence number. The electrician who does both data and power regularly is usually the easiest single booking.
What you can set up yourself
You can
- Set up the modem, router and any plug-in Wi-Fi units.
- Use patch leads between wall points and your devices.
- Mark each spot you want a point with tape before the visit.
- Ask your body corporate manager for the building's rules on cabling.
Leave to a licensed electrician
- New or moved power points beside data and TV points.
- Power for a data cupboard, including a new circuit.
- Cutting into walls and ceilings that carry mains cables.
- Anything behind a switch plate or switchboard cover.
Our take
In a unit, we'd sort the body corporate question first, because it decides the route. In an older house, we'd find out whether the walls are fibro before the drill comes out. Then we'd book one electrician who does data and power together, have every point tested and labelled, and run it all in one visit with the power off for as short a time as possible.
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.