Licensed Electrician in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley

What electrical work does an electrician in Los Angeles handle?

We handle every common electrical job in Los Angeles homes and businesses: troubleshooting, outlets and switches, panel upgrades, whole-house rewiring, lighting, and EV charger circuits. One licensed team covers emergency calls, residential work, and commercial projects across the San Fernando Valley. So you make one call, and we match the right electrician to the job, usually the same day.

• Emergency repairs. 24/7 emergency electrical repairs for sparking outlets, burning smells, and dead panels. We answer the phone around the clock, and the trucks carry common breakers.
• Residential work. Home electrical repairs and upgrades: outlets, switches, ceiling fans, and troubleshooting. A typical outlet or switch job runs $150-$300, quoted before we start.
• Commercial and industrial. Electrical work for businesses: shops, offices, and light industrial units. We handle 3-phase power, dedicated circuits, and code corrections, scheduled around your hours.
• Panel upgrades. 200-amp panel upgrades for homes still on 100-amp service or failing 1960s panels. Typically $2,500-$5,500 in the Los Angeles market, permit included.
• Rewiring. Whole-house rewiring at $5-$15 per square foot, the typical range for the Los Angeles market. We replace knob-and-tube and aluminum wiring with modern copper, circuit by circuit.
• Lighting. Recessed lighting and LED upgrades, typically $150-$350 per can installed. Also dimmers, fixture swaps, and landscape lighting.

Because we work as a residential and commercial electrician under one license, a landlord with a storefront below and apartments above makes one call, not two. Still not sure which page fits your problem? Call (818) 421-5290, describe what you see, and we will point you the right way in 2 minutes.

How much does an electrician cost per hour in Los Angeles?

An electrician in Los Angeles typically charges $58-$115 per hour, plus a service call fee of $100-$250 that covers the trip and diagnosis. We credit that fee toward your repair, so you never pay twice. For most jobs, however, we skip hourly billing and quote one fixed price before we start. That number is the number you pay.

Common electrical jobs: typical ranges for the Los Angeles market

These are typical Los Angeles ranges for orientation, not a quote. Every job is priced by its own conditions, so your exact number comes from a free on-site look. Get a free estimate in minutes, or call (818) 421-5290.

Where a job lands inside its range comes down to access and materials. For example, a new outlet on a finished second-story wall costs more than one in an open garage, because fishing cable behind drywall takes time. Panel pricing likewise depends on your service size and whether the meter must move.

Why publish hourly rates at all? Because some troubleshooting is genuinely open-ended, and honest companies say so. If a fault hides somewhere in 60 feet of attic wiring, we quote the hourly rate up front, set a not-to-exceed cap, and update you as we go.

One more check before you hire anyone, us included. A California electrical contractor must hold an active C-10 license. And you can verify any company free at the Contractors State License Board. A legitimate electrician will never mind you checking.

Can an electrician come out the same day in Los Angeles?

Yes, in most cases we offer same-day service across Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Call before noon and we can usually reach Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, or North Hollywood that afternoon. We give you a 2-hour arrival window, then call 30 minutes before we arrive. For true emergencies, we answer 24/7.

That schedule is the point of hiring a local electrician: Los Angeles traffic punishes contractors who drive in from two counties away. We are based in the San Fernando Valley, in the 818. So Encino, Tarzana, and Woodland Hills sit close to home for us. Burbank and Glendale fit same-day scheduling in most cases too.

Same day never means rushed. We diagnose first, quote a fixed price, and start only after you approve it. Then we finish most small repairs, like a dead outlet or a failed switch, in that first visit because the trucks carry common breakers, wire, and devices.

Priority goes to safety problems. A breaker that will not reset, a hot panel, or a room with no power moves to the front of the day. Meanwhile, planned upgrades like ceiling fans ($150-$400, typical LA range) book on a firm date, usually within the week. That mix is why homeowners keep one electrician in Los Angeles on speed dial instead of three different specialists.

Is a flickering light or a burning smell an emergency?

A burning smell from an outlet, panel, or fixture is an emergency. Turn off the breaker for that circuit and call us at (818) 421-5290. A flickering light is usually less urgent; often it is a loose bulb or a worn switch. But if lights flicker across several rooms at once, the problem may sit in your panel or service connection, so call the same day.

One flickering lamp usually means the bulb or the switch, so start there. Whole-room flickering, especially when the AC compressor kicks on, points to a loaded circuit or a failing connection at the panel. In a 1960s Valley house with its original panel, that pattern deserves a same-day look.

Other warning signs can wait days, but not months. A warm outlet cover, a buzzing dimmer, or a breaker that trips weekly all point to loose connections, and loose connections build heat. So book a diagnosis soon, and we credit the $100-$250 service call fee toward whatever repair we find.

What wiring problems show up in older Valley homes?

Three problems dominate older Los Angeles housing: Federal Pacific and Zinsco panels installed in the 60s and 70s, aluminum branch wiring from the same era. And knob-and-tube wiring in homes built before 1950. Each one raises fire risk and can block insurance coverage. We inspect, then tell you plainly whether repair or replacement makes sense.

Federal Pacific (FPE) and Zinsco panels went into thousands of Valley homes from the late 1950s through the 1970s, from Northridge to Woodland Hills. Their breakers can fail to trip under overload, which is the one job a breaker has. Independent testing found high failure rates, and many insurers now surcharge or decline homes that keep them. A panel replacement runs $2,500-$5,500, the typical range for the Los Angeles market.

Knob-and-tube wiring shows up in pre-1950 pockets of Burbank, Glendale, and Studio City. It carries no ground wire, and its cloth insulation crumbles with age. So it cannot safely feed modern loads like window AC units. Replacing old wiring costs $5-$15 per square foot. And we can phase the work circuit by circuit.

Aluminum branch wiring had a short run in the late 1960s and early 1970s, right when large tracts of Van Nuys and Northridge went up. Aluminum expands and contracts more than copper, so connections slowly loosen at outlets and switches. Often the fix is approved copper pigtails at every device rather than a full rewire. And we will tell you plainly which your house needs.

Not sure what is behind your walls? During any service call, we can check the panel brand and sample a few devices at no extra charge. Valley homes also mix eras; a 1948 Encino core with a 1972 addition may carry all three problems under one roof.

Do I need a permit for electrical work in Los Angeles?

Yes, most electrical work beyond a like-for-like fixture swap needs a permit. In the City of Los Angeles, permits go through the Department of Building and Safety, LADBS for short. Burbank and Glendale run their own building departments. We pull the permit, schedule the inspection, meet the inspector, and include every fee in your written quote.

Permits apply to panel upgrades, new circuits, EV chargers, and rewiring. If your home sits in the City of Los Angeles, which includes Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, and North Hollywood, you can look up permit requirements and history at LADBS. Burbank and Glendale are separate cities, so their inspectors follow their own local rules.

Unpermitted work usually surfaces at the worst moment: escrow. Buyers' inspectors flag it, the sale stalls, and you pay rush prices to legalize it. So we pull permits up front and hand you the signed-off inspection record when the job closes.

Not everything needs paperwork, of course. Replacing a broken switch or swapping a light fixture like-for-like generally requires no permit. When in doubt, ask; the permit question takes 2 minutes on the phone and can save your escrow later. A licensed electrician in Los Angeles pulls the permit, meets the inspector, and hands you the signed card.

How do you price electrical work?

We price almost every job as one fixed number, quoted in writing before we start. You approve the price first, then we begin, and the total does not change unless the scope changes. For diagnosis, the $100-$250 service call fee applies, and we credit it toward the repair. Estimates for planned projects are free.

1. Tell us the problemabout 5 minutes

   Call (818) 421-5290 or request a free estimate. We ask what happened, how old the house is, and what your panel looks like, because those three answers shape the plan.

2. Diagnosis at your home30-60 minutes

   We test circuits, trace the fault, and show you what we found in plain English. The $100-$250 service call fee covers this visit, and we credit it toward the repair.

3. One written priceabout 15 minutes

   You get one fixed number covering labor, materials, and any permit before we start. Approve it and we begin; decline it and you owe only the service call.

4. The work, done to codesame visit for most repairs

   Most repairs wrap up on the spot because the trucks carry common breakers, outlets, and wire. Bigger projects, like a rewire, get a firm start date.

5. Inspection and walkthroughvaries by city

   For permitted work, we meet the inspector and close out the paperwork with LADBS or your city. Finally, we walk the finished job with you and leave the space clean.

Every job carries our workmanship guarantee, and the price you approve is the price you pay. If we open a wall and find something unexpected, we stop, show you, and re-quote before continuing. No surprises is a policy here, not a slogan.

Why hire one company for both electrical and plumbing?

Because most real projects touch both trades. A water heater swap needs gas or plumbing work plus a new circuit. A kitchen remodel needs both trades in the same week. A+ Electric & Plumbing, a licensed electrician and plumber serving Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, sends one team for both: one call, one schedule, one invoice, and no finger-pointing between contractors.

Here is how that plays out in practice. Switching to a tankless unit, for example, often demands more amperage than an older 100-amp panel can spare. So the plumbing side and the electrical side must coordinate. When both trades ride in the same truck, that coordination takes minutes, not a week of phone tag between two companies.

Smaller jobs stack up the same way. A garbage disposal swap involves a drain connection plus a switched circuit. And a bathroom remodel needs GFCI outlets (the shock-protecting kind required near water) alongside new supply lines. Our plumbing team shares one schedule with our electricians, so nothing waits on a second contractor.

Ready for a real number instead of a guess? Call (818) 421-5290, or get a free estimate. We will put the full price in writing before we start, and the estimate costs you nothing.

Frequently asked questions