Full Electrical Fit-Out for a New Build in South Yarra

The Situation

A couple in their mid-thirties had purchased a block in South Yarra, on one of the tree-lined streets between Toorak Road and the Yarra River, and were building their forever home. The architect had designed a three-level contemporary residence with open-plan living, a home office on the top floor, and a double garage at street level. The builder was an experienced local operator who had done several high-end residential projects in the Stonnington area.

The builder had worked with a few different electrical contractors in the past and was looking for someone who could handle the full electrical scope from slab stage through to handover. The brief was not simple. The owners wanted integrated smart home controls, a comprehensive LED lighting scheme designed by their interior designer, pre-wiring for a future home theatre, and an EV charger in the garage. They also wanted the electrical installation to be future-proofed so they would not need to chase cables through finished walls five years from now.

We were brought in during the design phase, before the slab was poured. That early involvement made all the difference.

What We Found

Working from the architect’s drawings and the interior designer’s lighting plan, we sat down with the owners and the builder to map out every electrical requirement room by room. This is the stage where most of the important decisions happen. Once the plasterboard goes up, running additional cables becomes expensive and disruptive.

The lighting design alone called for more than 60 LED downlights, a mix of pendant fittings and wall sconces, under-cabinet LED strip lighting in the kitchen and bathrooms, and exterior lighting for the front entrance, rear courtyard, and garage approach. Every fitting needed to be on a dimmer circuit, with separate zones for the kitchen, dining, living, bedrooms, bathrooms, and outdoor areas.

The smart home requirements added another layer of complexity. The owners had chosen a C-Bus compatible system, which required dedicated control cabling to every switch point and a central hub location. On top of that, the home office needed multiple data points, the living areas needed ceiling-mounted speaker pre-wires, and the garage needed a three-phase supply for the future EV charger installation.

We identified early on that the standard switchboard specification in the builder’s original scope would not be large enough for this installation. A standard 18-pole board would have been full on day one, with no room for future additions. We specified a 36-pole board with a dedicated section for the smart home control modules.

The Solution

We broke the electrical work into four stages, aligned with the build program so that we were on site at the right time for each phase without holding up the other trades.

Stage 1: Slab and Underground. Before the slab was poured, we laid all the underground conduits for the incoming power supply, the communications conduit from the street, and the earthing system. We also installed conduits under the garage slab for the future EV charger cable run. Doing this at slab stage costs almost nothing. Doing it after the slab is poured means cutting concrete, which costs thousands and leaves an ugly patch.

Stage 2: Rough-In. Once the frame was up and before the plasterboard went on, we ran all the cabling. This was the biggest phase of the job, spanning about four weeks on site. We installed more than 2,500 metres of cable across the three levels, including standard power circuits, lighting circuits, dedicated appliance circuits for the kitchen and laundry, the C-Bus control cabling, data cabling to every room, speaker cable to the living area and outdoor entertaining zone, and the three-phase submain from the main switchboard to the garage sub-board.

We photographed every wall and ceiling cavity before the plasterboard went up and provided these to the homeowner as a reference. If they ever need to locate a cable run in the future, they have a complete photographic record of where everything sits behind the walls. This is a standard part of how we work on new builds.

Stage 3: Fit-Off. After the plaster, paint, and joinery were done, we returned to install all the switches, power points, light fittings, the switchboard, smoke alarms, and the smart home hub. We worked closely with the interior designer to ensure every fitting was positioned exactly as specified, particularly the pendant drops in the kitchen and dining areas, where even a 20mm difference from the plan would be noticeable.

The switchboard was a Clipsal Resi MAX 36-pole unit with individual circuit breakers, dual RCDs, and a dedicated section housing the C-Bus relay modules. We labelled every circuit clearly and provided a full circuit schedule to the homeowner.

Stage 4: Testing, Commissioning, and Handover. Before handover, we tested every circuit, every light fitting, every dimmer, every data point, and the smart home system. We ran the RCDs through their test sequence, verified earth fault loop impedance on every circuit, and checked insulation resistance across the entire installation. We also programmed the initial smart home scenes with the homeowner, setting up lighting presets for different times of day and activities.

The EV charger pre-wire was left ready for connection. The three-phase submain was in place in the garage, terminated at a sub-board with a dedicated 32-amp circuit breaker waiting for whenever the owners purchase their electric vehicle. When that day comes, installing the charger itself will take less than two hours because all the heavy infrastructure is already done.

The Result

The build was completed on schedule, and the electrical installation passed its final compliance inspection without a single defect notice. The owners moved in to a home where every light responds to a single tap on their phone, the heating and cooling can be scheduled by zone, and the garage is ready for an EV charger the moment they need one.

The builder was impressed with the coordination. Having the same electrical contractor from slab to handover meant there were no gaps, no miscommunications, and no “that was the other sparky’s job” moments that can plague builds with multiple subcontractors. He has since engaged us for two further new build projects in the area.

Three months after moving in, the owners called us to install their EV charger. The job took 90 minutes, start to finish. That is the payoff of planning ahead.

“Carlin Co were involved from the very start and it showed. The smart home system works flawlessly, the lighting is exactly what we wanted, and the EV charger install later was a breeze because they had pre-wired it during the build. Highly recommend for any new build.”

– Daniel & Priya K., South Yarra

Key Takeaways for Homeowners

If you are building a new home, get your electrician involved during the design phase, not after the frame goes up. The decisions made before the slab is poured and during the rough-in stage have the biggest impact on what your home can do electrically for the next 30 years. Adding a circuit or a data point during framing costs a fraction of what it costs after the plasterboard is up.

Pre-wire for the future. Even if you do not own an electric vehicle today, running the conduit and cable during construction is a small addition to the build cost that saves thousands later. The same applies to home theatre wiring, outdoor speaker cable, and additional data points. You may not need them on day one, but you will be glad they are there on day 500.

Invest in a properly sized switchboard. A new home should have a board with at least 30 per cent spare capacity for future additions. A board that is full at handover is a board that needs upgrading the moment you add a spa, a shed, or an EV charger.

Areas We Service Near South Yarra

We completed this new build fit-out in South Yarra (3141) and regularly service the surrounding suburbs including Toorak (3142), Prahran (3181), Windsor (3181), Cremorne (3121), Richmond (3121), and Armadale (3143). See our full Melbourne service area and postcodes.

Related Services

• Residential Electrician Melbourne
• Switchboard Upgrades Melbourne
• LED Lighting Installation Melbourne
• EV Charger Installation Melbourne
• Data & Communications Cabling Melbourne
• Outdoor Lighting Installation Melbourne

New Build Electrical Services

This full electrical fit-out included downlight installation throughout, power point installation in every room, structured data cabling for the home network, kitchen electrical with dedicated appliance circuits, bathroom electrical for heated towel rails and exhaust fans, and ceiling fan installation in the bedrooms.