A complete power failure in a commercial building is not an inconvenience — it is a trading stoppage, a refrigeration risk, a security gap, and potentially a fire safety issue if emergency lighting batteries are the only thing keeping the building lit. A strata building with a dead common-area board means lifts down, garage doors inoperable, and corridors dark. The response to a genuine electrical emergency needs to be fast, methodical, and carried out by someone qualified to make the building safe — not a guess that restores power but leaves an underlying fault in place.
MetroPulse Electric operates an emergency electrical service across the metropolitan area. When you call after hours, a licensed electrician answers. We attend, assess, make safe, and where possible restore supply on the first visit. Where the fault requires parts or a planned repair scope, we leave the installation in a safe state with a clear written scope for the follow-on work.
Dead boards, tripped breakers, and power restoration
The most common emergency call is a circuit or whole board that has tripped and will not reset. The first question is why it tripped — a true overload, a fault on the downstream wiring, a failing appliance drawing fault current, or an RCD that has detected leakage. Resetting the breaker without identifying the cause is not a repair. If the board trips again under the same conditions, you have lost time and potentially made the fault harder to trace.
MetroPulse Electric's emergency electricians carry the test equipment to fault-find quickly: insulation resistance meters to identify wiring faults, clamp meters to check for load imbalance, RCD testers to verify safety switch function. We isolate the faulty circuit, confirm the rest of the board is safe, restore supply to unaffected circuits, and advise you on what needs to happen next for the faulty circuit before it is re-energised.
Burning smells, sparking outlets, and making the building safe
A burning smell from a switchboard, a sparking power point, or a light fitting that flickers and smells warm are not problems to monitor and see what happens. These are signs of a fault that is progressing toward failure, and in the worst cases, toward a fire. The correct response is to isolate the affected circuit immediately — turn off the relevant breaker if it is safe to do so, do not use the outlet or fitting, and call a licensed electrician.
- 24/7 emergency response for residential, commercial, and strata buildings
- Dead switchboards, tripped safety switches, and complete power failures
- Burning smells, sparking outlets, and electrical fault investigation
- Storm damage assessment and make-safe for flood or lightning-affected installations
- Priority response for strata buildings and commercial premises with multiple tenants
Storm damage and weather-related electrical emergencies
Severe storms can damage electrical infrastructure in several ways: falling trees or debris on overhead service lines, water ingress into switchboards, lightning surge damage to wiring and equipment, and mechanical damage to conduit or cable containment. Following a storm event, if there is any sign of electrical damage — scorch marks, water in the meter box, a service line that has come down — the correct action is to stay clear and call an emergency electrician.
MetroPulse Electric makes the installation safe first: isolating from the DNSP supply where required, isolating any damaged circuits, and confirming the wiring that remains energised is undamaged. We then produce a scope for the repair and coordinate with the DNSP if service line or metering infrastructure is involved. For commercial premises with solar systems, we also assess the solar inverter and DC wiring, which remains live even when the mains supply is isolated.
Priority service for strata buildings and commercial premises
A fault in a single residential property affects one household. A fault in a strata common-area switchboard can affect an entire building — every resident, every lift, the gate and intercom system, the fire panel's mains supply, and the car park lighting. MetroPulse Electric treats strata and commercial electrical emergencies with the priority they warrant. Our strata clients have access to the emergency line with direct contact details for the attending electrician, and we maintain familiarity with the buildings on our books so that whoever attends knows the layout, the switchboard configuration, and the building manager contacts before they arrive.
For commercial tenants and building owners, we also provide written post-emergency reports that document the fault found, the work carried out to make the installation safe, and the recommended permanent repair. That documentation supports insurance claims, satisfies body corporate records requirements, and gives the building manager a clear handover when the follow-on repair is carried out.
Frequently asked
First, try to identify if a specific breaker has tripped by checking which ones are in the off position. If resetting a breaker causes it to trip again immediately, do not keep resetting it — there is a fault on that circuit. Turn off or unplug appliances on that circuit before attempting a reset. If the whole board is dark, check that the main switch is in the on position. If nothing resets, or if you can smell burning, call MetroPulse Electric's emergency line. Do not attempt to work inside the switchboard enclosure.
There is an after-hours callout rate that applies outside standard working hours, on weekends, and on public holidays. We will confirm that rate when you call so there are no surprises. For genuine electrical emergencies — loss of power, burning smells, storm damage — the cost of leaving a fault unattended overnight is almost always greater than the after-hours callout rate. We do not encourage unnecessary call-outs, and if the issue can safely wait until business hours, we will tell you that honestly.
The building manager or strata manager is the usual first point of contact for common-area electrical failures, and they should have an emergency electrical contact on file. If the building manager is unreachable, the lot owner or resident can call MetroPulse Electric directly — we will attend, make the building safe, and contact the building manager as part of the response. For strata buildings on our books, we hold the contact details of the building manager and the owners corporation's emergency contact so that notifications happen automatically when we attend after hours.