A wiring fault doesn't just trip a switch. It can burn a house down.
Most of the day is routine: switchboards, power points, fit-outs. The risk isn't in the routine part. It's in the one job where a connection is wrong and nobody finds out until months later, when the property has already caught fire or someone's been shocked. Public liability and product liability cover, built for the electrical trade.
Where an electrician actually gets exposed
Electrical work carries two separate risks that most tradies lump together as "public liability." One is what happens on site while you're there. The other is what happens after you've packed up and the job is signed off. They're not the same claim, and they're not covered the same way.
The fire that started after you left
You wire a new kitchen. Three months later a connection in the ceiling space overheats and starts a fire. The homeowner is out of the property for months while it's rebuilt, and their insurer comes looking for whoever's work caused it.
The shock on someone else's site
You're doing a switchboard upgrade in an occupied office. A cleaner comes through after hours, touches an exposed terminal you hadn't finished isolating, and is shocked badly enough to need hospital treatment.
The design advice nobody paid for
A builder asks you to recommend a system for a new build. You suggest a setup that turns out not to meet the load requirements once the place is fitted out, and the builder wants you to cover the cost of redoing it.
Who's going to ask you for it
Certificates of currency are routine on this trade
Head contractors, builders, and even some homeowners now ask for proof of cover before an electrician sets foot on site:
- Head contractors on a build typically want $10M-$20M public liability before you're allowed on site.
- Strata and commercial property managers want a current certificate on file before switchboard or common-area work.
- Licensing bodies in most states require you to hold public liability to stay registered.
The exclusion electricians assume is covered
Faulty wiring or a bad installation showing up after the job is finished is a completed-operations claim, not a public liability one. Plenty of electricians run bare public liability and assume it stretches to cover their own workmanship after the fact. It doesn't, unless product liability cover is specifically included.
The other gap: recommending a system, a brand, or a load setup is advice. If that advice turns out wrong, it's closer to a professional indemnity claim than a public liability one.
Common questions
I'm a sole trader with no staff. Do I still need this?
Yes. The claim doesn't care how big your business is. A fire caused by your wiring, or an injury on a site you're working on, lands on you personally as the licensed electrician who did the work.
Does public liability cover a wiring fault that causes a fire later?
Not on its own. That's a completed-operations exposure, which sits under product liability. Make sure your policy includes it rather than assuming standard public liability stretches that far.
A builder wants $20M cover before I can start. Is that normal?
Increasingly, yes. Head contractors are asking for higher limits than they used to, particularly on commercial jobs. Check the contract clause and make sure your policy matches it before you commit to the job.
I sometimes recommend systems or brands to clients. Does that change what I need?
It can. Recommending a system or material is advice, and if that advice turns out to be wrong, it's a different kind of claim to installing something badly. Tell us if design or recommendation work is part of what you do.
What if I'm working as a subcontractor under someone else's licence?
You can still be named in a claim even if you're subcontracting. Relying on the head contractor's policy is risky if their cover doesn't extend to your specific work, so it's worth holding your own.