Bondi's buildings
Inter-war flats everywhere
Waverley Council analysed over 600 sets of plans to classify its Inter-War buildings, mostly flats built between the wars, and adopted design guidelines for them.
Some of Sydney's densest streets
Waverley says its residential density is the second highest in Sydney, and Bondi Beach had 10,386 people per square kilometre in 2023.
Four eras on one road
Along Bondi Road you'll find Victorian, Federation, Inter-War and contemporary buildings.
Ausgrid network
Bondi is inside Ausgrid's network area. Fallen wires and street outages go to Ausgrid on 13 13 88.
Wiring in a building from the 1920s or 1930s
An inter-war block has almost certainly been rewired at some point, but not always the whole building at once. It's common for units to be updated one renovation at a time, so the flat upstairs may have a modern board while yours doesn't. Signs worth reporting: lights that flicker when something else switches on, warm power points, and a safety switch that trips for no clear reason.
The building's main switchroom and common circuits belong to the owners corporation, so faults there go through the strata manager.
Renting in Bondi? Know the rules
NSW treats any electrical fault in a rental as an urgent repair, and the landlord must make sure it's done within a reasonable time. At the start of a tenancy the condition report records whether there's a safety switch and whether it works. If it's faulty, that's urgent too.
Landlords must check smoke alarms every year and fix a faulty one within two business days. If a hardwired alarm isn't repaired in time, a tenant can arrange it, but only through a licensed electrician.
What you can do, and what needs a licence
You can
- Press the test button on your safety switch, then reset it.
- Unplug appliances one at a time to find one that trips the power.
- Write to your agent or landlord about any fault, with the date.
- Report problems in hallways, stairwells or the car park to the strata manager.
Leave to a licensed electrician
- Anything inside the unit's board or the building's switchroom.
- Replacing hardwired smoke alarms.
- New circuits, including an EV charger, which also needs strata approval in NSW.
If we rented here
We'd put every electrical problem to the agent in writing straight away, because a fault in a NSW rental is urgent and the paper trail matters. If we owned a unit, we'd ask the strata when the main switchroom was last inspected. Either way, tell us the job and postcode and we'll match you with one licence-checked local electrician who works in older strata blocks.
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.