Key Takeaways
- Electrical quotes in Singapore turn on 3 things: whether the job is a swap, a diagnosis, or a new cable run. Those are 3 very different amounts of work.
- Resolving a power trip costs S$90 in Singapore and takes about 1 hour 15 minutes — that is fault-finding, not a reset.
- Fixed-wiring work is regulated under the Electricity Act and needs a Licensed Electrical Worker (LEW). Urban Company references LEW for power-trip and circuit-breaker jobs.
- Changing a bulb or a plug-top fuse is fair DIY. Anything behind a faceplate or inside the distribution board is not.
- Reset a tripped breaker once. If it trips again, that is a fault, and resetting it a third time just removes the warning.
It’s Sunday evening in your Clementi flat and the power point behind the TV has gone dead. Nothing tripped, nothing smells burnt, the other sockets work fine. You search for an electrician and get a page of numbers to WhatsApp, none of them attached to a price.
Nobody can price that job properly from your description — and understanding why is what stops you being overcharged.
Why Do Electrician Quotes in Singapore Vary So Much?
Because “the socket is dead” describes a symptom, not a job. It could be a failed faceplate, a loose connection at a neighbouring point on the same circuit, a broken cable, or a problem at the distribution board — minutes apart in difficulty, hours apart in time.
Five things move the number:
| What the job involves | Why it moves the price |
|---|---|
| A like-for-like swap at an existing point — bulb, switch, wall fan | Predictable time, no new cable, no change to the circuit |
| A fault that has to be found first | You are buying diagnosis, and diagnosis has no fixed duration until it is done |
| A new cable run to a new position | Cable, chasing or trunking, then making good. The route drives the cost |
| Work at the distribution board | Regulated work on the fixed installation; the licence is part of what you buy |
| The age and load of the existing circuit | An old circuit sometimes cannot take a new appliance, which turns a swap into an upgrade |
That last row catches people out. Adding a water heater or an oven to a circuit that was never sized for it is not a socket job — and a water heater fault is worth checking carefully, since it’s plumbing and electrical at once.
How Are Electricians Charged — By the Hour or Per Job?
By the hour when you have several small jobs; per job when you have 1 fault. Hourly pricing buys the electrician’s time, so travel and setup are paid once — 3 bulbs, a wall fan and a loose switch in a single visit rather than 3 separate call-outs. Urban Company’s electricians start at S$39 by the hour.
Fixed per-job pricing buys the outcome, so if the job runs long that is not your problem. Our guide to booking an electrician by the hour covers how the hourly model works in practice.
Watch for a low quote that excludes materials, a call-out fee, or “making good” the wall afterwards. Ask what is inside the number before you agree to it.
When Do You Legally Need a Licensed Electrical Worker?
For work on your fixed installation, always. Electrical work in Singapore is regulated under the Electricity Act and licensed by the Energy Market Authority (EMA), and work on fixed wiring must be carried out by a Licensed Electrical Worker (LEW). That is a legal requirement, not a quality tier.
This is the part of a quote almost nobody asks about, and it matters most. A cheaper number from someone unlicensed is not a discount on the same work — it is different work, done outside the framework that exists because electricity kills people. Urban Company references LEW for power trip resolution and circuit breaker replacement, the 2 jobs that touch the distribution board.
What Electrical Work Can You Do Yourself?
Some of this genuinely does not need an electrician, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest:
- A light bulb. It is a paid service because some ceiling fittings are not safely reachable, not because it is skilled work. If you can reach it safely, change it.
- A fuse in a plug top. The plug comes apart with 1 screw and the fuse lifts out. Match the rating printed on the old one.
- Checking the appliance before blaming the socket. Plug something else in. A “dead socket” is often a dead fuse in the appliance’s own plug.
- Resetting a tripped breaker — once. Unplug whatever was running, flip it back, see what happens.
Now the boundary, and it is a hard one:
- Nothing behind a faceplate. Sockets and switches look like a swap and are not: live conductors, earth continuity, no way to verify your own work.
- Nothing inside the distribution board. The DB is the fixed installation, and that is LEW territory by law.
- Nothing that smells burnt, feels warm, or has browned around the socket. That is heat where there should be none. Switch the circuit off and book.
- Nothing that has already tripped twice.
Why Does Your Breaker Keep Tripping?
Because it is working. A breaker trips when a circuit draws more current than it should, or when current leaks to earth. Either way it is protecting the wiring and you, and resetting it repeatedly removes the warning rather than the fault.
Where it tripped tells you something. If one room or one circuit went dead, that circuit’s own breaker did it — look at what was running on it. If the whole flat went dark at once, that is usually the earth-leakage device, which points at moisture or a faulty appliance somewhere in the installation rather than a simple overload.
A safe first pass: unplug everything on the affected circuit, reset once, then plug items back in one at a time. If it trips on a particular appliance, you have found it. If it trips with nothing plugged in, the fault is in the wiring and stops being a DIY question. Power trip resolution is S$90 for about 1 hour 15 minutes because it is fault-finding, not a 5-minute reset.
Urban Company’s electricians in Singapore hold a 4.71 rating across 853 reviews, arrive within 30 minutes, and are background-verified with their profile visible beforehand. Prices are fixed and visible before you book — you can see the full electrician price list and book an electrician in Singapore in the app. If it turns out to be a plumbing fault instead, book a plumber; for everything else, there’s a handyman too.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does an electrician cost in Singapore?
It depends on whether the job is a swap, a diagnosis or new cable. Swaps at an existing point are predictable and sit at the low end; fault-finding and new circuits are not. Urban Company’s electricians start at S$39 by the hour, with published fixed prices per job on the electrician page.
Do I need a Licensed Electrical Worker for electrical work in Singapore?
For fixed wiring, yes. Electrical work is regulated under the Electricity Act and licensed by the Energy Market Authority, and a Licensed Electrical Worker is required for work on the fixed installation. Urban Company references LEW for power-trip resolution and circuit-breaker replacement specifically.
Why does my circuit breaker keep tripping after I reset it?
Because the breaker is doing its job. Something on that circuit is drawing too much current or leaking to earth, and the trip is the protection working. Repeated resetting removes the warning without fixing the cause. Reset once; if it goes again, stop and have it diagnosed.
What electrical work can I safely do myself?
Changing a bulb, replacing the fuse inside a plug top, and resetting a tripped breaker once are all reasonable. Stop at anything behind a faceplate or inside the distribution board. Fixed wiring is regulated work, and a wiring mistake is not the kind that announces itself.
Why does installing a new power point cost more than replacing a socket?
Because a replacement reuses the cable that is already there, while a new point needs a cable run from the distribution board or an existing circuit, plus chasing or trunking and making good afterwards. The length and route of that run drive most of the difference in price.
Is it cheaper to book an electrician by the hour or per job?
By the hour if you have several small jobs, since one visit covers the list and travel is paid for once. By the job for a single fault with a published fixed price, because you know the number in advance and the risk of the work running long is not yours.