Apartments and unit titles
Apartment electrician in Takapuna
Takapuna's town centre has been gathering apartments for years, and more homes are planned around Waiwharariki Anzac Square. Electrical work in an apartment is never only a wiring question: there is a body corporate, often a building manager, shared services behind your walls and neighbours on every side. We plan each apartment job around all of that.
Why an apartment job needs more planning
Auckland Council's Takapuna Centre Plan pictures the heart of Takapuna as a mix of shops, offices and high quality apartments, and that is how the town centre has been developing. For an electrician, an apartment changes the job before a single tool comes out. Some of the wiring is yours, and some of it belongs to everyone in the building.
The Unit Titles Act 2010 counts the wires, cables and conduits that carry electricity, phone and internet services as the building's infrastructure, and it makes the body corporate responsible for repairing and maintaining infrastructure that serves more than one unit. The Act also says an owner must notify the body corporate before starting additions or structural alterations, and needs its written consent for alterations that materially affect another unit or the common property. In practice that means a fault in a shared cable riser is a body corporate matter, while a new power point inside your lounge usually is not, and work that runs through a shared wall, the roof or the outside walls sits somewhere in between.
Apartment work we are asked to do
Extra power points and circuits
More outlets where you actually use them: behind the desk, beside the bed, on the kitchen bench, wired to a sub-board that can take the load.
Lighting upgrades
Older fittings swapped for LED, dimmers added, or new lighting designed for an open-plan living area. Our LED lighting page has the detail.
Heat pumps
Indoor units wired and placed well, with the outdoor unit's position agreed with the body corporate first. See heat pump installation in Takapuna.
Faults and tripping power
An RCD that will not stay on, a dead circuit or a scorched outlet, traced to its cause rather than simply reset.
Data points and wall-mounted TVs
A cable to the desk or the TV, and a television mounted on the wall with the cables out of sight.
The apartment's own switchboard
Replacing an old distribution board inside the unit, with modern circuit breakers and RCD protection.
How we run a job in an apartment building
Check the building's rules first
Before we quote, ask your building manager or body corporate secretary whether the operational rules say anything about contractors, such as working hours, lift use or access to the roof and plant rooms. If the work is an alteration the body corporate needs to hear about, notify it early.
Work out what is yours
We trace where your unit's supply comes from, what sits on your own board, and which cables serve more than one unit. That decides who needs to approve the work and who pays for any shared repair.
Do the work with the neighbours in mind
Dust kept down, common areas protected, and the power off only for the circuits we are working on, for as short a time as the job allows.
Test, certify and leave the paperwork
Completed work is tested, and new or altered wiring comes with its certificate, which you can pass on to the body corporate or keep for when you sell.
Owners, landlords and tenants
If the apartment is rented, there is one more person in the conversation. Tenants should let the landlord or property manager know about an electrical fault as soon as they find it, because the landlord usually arranges the repair. If you own the unit, keep in mind that the body corporate can also need access to it to repair shared services. When a fault cuts power to a unit at night, our electricians are available for call-outs at any hour; read what to do while you wait on our emergency electrician page.
Many apartment owners also ask about getting fibre and network points to the right rooms. That is covered on our data cabling and fibre page, along with what the rules say about fibre in rented homes.
Apartment electrical questions
Do I need body corporate approval for electrical work in my apartment?
It depends on the work. Replacing a light fitting or adding a socket inside your unit is usually yours to arrange. Anything that counts as an addition or structural alteration has to be notified to the body corporate before it starts, and needs its written consent if it materially affects another unit or the common property. If in doubt, ask the body corporate before booking the work.
Who pays to fix wiring that serves more than one apartment?
Under the Unit Titles Act the body corporate must repair and maintain infrastructure that serves more than one unit, so a fault in a shared cable is normally its job to fix, although the Act lets it recover the cost from an owner when the cable sits inside that owner's unit. We can help identify which side of that line a fault sits on.
Can I put a heat pump outdoor unit on my balcony?
Often, but check first. Fixing an outdoor unit to the building and running pipes through an outside wall can affect the common property, so get the body corporate's agreement before the installation is booked.
The rest of the building has power but my apartment does not. What should I do?
Check whether a breaker or RCD on your own board has tripped. If it will not reset, or trips again straight away, leave it off and call us on 021 156 4005. If the whole building or street is dark, check the network company's outage list first.
Can you add a power point on my balcony?
Usually, with a weatherproof outlet on an RCD-protected circuit. A balcony can be common property or part of your unit depending on the building, so check with the body corporate before the outlet is fixed to an outside wall.
Talk to an electrician about your Takapuna job
Call 021 156 4005 at any hour, or send the details below and we will get back to you.
More electrical services in Takapuna
Commercial electrician
Electrical work for offices, shops and hospitality venues in and around the Takapuna town centre.Read more
Switchboard upgrades
Old fuse boards replaced with circuit breakers and RCD protection, tested and certified.Read more
Heat pump installation
Heat pumps installed and wired for houses and apartments, with the outdoor unit placed for airflow and the sea air.Read more
LED lighting
LED downlights, strip lighting and lighting controls for homes, offices and shopfronts.Read more
Data cabling and fibre
Network points, patch panels and cabling from the fibre connection to the rooms that need it.Read more
Emergency electrician
Electricians available for call-outs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for homes and businesses.Read moreEnquiries
Contact us
Call 021 156 4005, or tell us what needs doing and where, and we will get back to you.
021 156 4005- Auckland
- Call-outs at any hour, any day of the week