The three things people mix up
A-Grade Electrician's Licence
Held by a person. Allows them to carry out electrical installation work unsupervised and to certify their own work. This is the licence every Grid Force electrician holds, and the one your site is asking about when it asks whether someone is 'licensed'.
Registered Electrical Contractor (REC)
Held by a business or a person operating as a business. Allows the holder to contract to do electrical installation work and to issue Certificates of Electrical Safety. A labour-hire electrician works under the host's REC — the host contracts and certifies; the electrician does the work.
Licensed Electrical Inspector (LEI)
A further registration allowing the holder to inspect prescribed electrical installation work. A separate role again, and a much smaller group of people.
Short version: the licence is the person, the REC is the business, the LEI is the inspector.
How to verify a licence
- 1Ask for the licence number and the name exactly as it appears on the card.
- 2Check it against Energy Safe Victoria's public licence search at esv.vic.gov.au.
- 3Confirm the name matches the person actually attending site — not a company, not a supervisor.
- 4Note the expiry date. Licences are renewed periodically and an expired licence is not a licence.
- 5Keep a record of the check with its date.
If you're engaging through a labour-hire provider, ask how they verify licences and how often. 'They showed us a photo of the card' is not verification.
Certificates of Electrical Safety
In Victoria, electrical installation work generally requires a Certificate of Electrical Safety, lodged by the responsible Registered Electrical Contractor, with prescribed work also requiring inspection by a Licensed Electrical Inspector. Because a labour-hire electrician works under the host's registration, the certificate is the host's to issue — a point worth being clear on before the work starts rather than at handover.
Interstate licences
Australia has mutual recognition arrangements between states, and an electrician licensed elsewhere can generally obtain Victorian recognition. The practical point is that they must actually hold the Victorian entitlement before working here — not merely be eligible to apply for it.