Temporary pole hire is $600 + GST for the 12-week minimum. Standard-zone delivery is $350 + GST and quoted separately, making the typical standard-zone total $950 + GST. Delivery outside the standard zone or involving non-standard access is quoted by address and may cost more. You can review the available configurations on our temporary power pole hire page.
How much does a temporary power pole cost in Brisbane?
A temporary power pole in Brisbane is $600 + GST for the 12-week minimum hire, or $840 + GST for a 3-phase pole. Standard-zone delivery is $350 + GST and quoted separately, making the typical standard-zone single-phase total $950 + GST. Delivery outside the standard zone may vary by address. Electrical connection work is billed separately by the licensed electrician.
Those are the two numbers to plan around. Everything else in this guide explains what moves them and what sits outside them.
Temporary power pole hire price: what you actually pay
The full picture on a typical Brisbane residential build is four line items, and only two of them are ours:
- Pole hire, 12 week minimum, billed by us at $600, or $840 for 3-phase
- Delivery to site, billed by us at $350 inside the standard zone
- Electrical connection and the Form 2 EWR, billed by your licensed electrician
- Meter installation, billed by your electricity retailer
The hire rate is fixed. Standard-zone delivery is $350 + GST and quoted up front; delivery outside the zone varies by address. The electrician’s charge varies with the job.
How much is a 3-phase temporary power pole?
A 3-phase temporary power pole is $840 excluding GST for the same 12 week minimum, against $600 for single phase. Three phase means the supply arrives across three separate live conductors rather than one, which lets the pole carry a much bigger load. You need it when the site runs heavy plant, larger hoists, big compressors or several high draw tools at once.
Most residential builds do not need it. A house block running hand tools, a site shed and a kettle is comfortably single phase, and paying for 3-phase you will not use is money gone.
Your electrician works this out from the load calculation. Ask before the pole is delivered, because swapping a single phase pole for a 3-phase power pole partway through costs time you do not need to lose.
What is included in the hire price, and what is billed separately
Included in the $600 + GST hire: the pole itself, meter box and fitted safety switches, installation and retrieval at the end of the job. Delivery is separate: $350 + GST in the standard zone, or a variable address-based quote outside it. The builders site power poles page lists the configuration in full.
Billed separately: standard-zone delivery at $350 + GST, or a variable address-based delivery quote outside the zone; the electrician’s connection work and Form 2 lodgement; and the retailer’s meter installation.
The one that surprises people is the electrician. It is not an add-on we could bundle. Connecting a builder's supply is licensed electrical work, and a pole hire company cannot legally do it.
Temporary power pole hire prices across South East Queensland
The hire rate does not change by region. What changes is delivery distance and lead time. Each of these sits at the same $600 for a site pole and $840 for 3-phase, excluding GST.
Brisbane. Temporary pole hire is $600 + GST for the 12-week minimum. Standard-zone Brisbane delivery is $350 + GST. Addresses outside the zone and sites with non-standard access are quoted individually.
Gold Coast. $600 and $840, Energex territory. The growth corridor through Coomera, Pimpama and Ormeau is a regular run for us, so coastal jobs slot into an existing schedule rather than being treated as one-offs. Delivery is quoted on distance from Capalaba, which is the main difference from a Brisbane job.
Sunshine Coast. $600 and $840, Energex territory. The longest regular run we make, so lead time is the thing worth confirming rather than the rate. Caloundra through to Nambour is steady residential work, and booking a week ahead in busy periods avoids the pole landing after your electrician.
Ipswich. $600 and $840, Energex territory. Ripley and Springfield are among the busiest new-estate areas in the state, and the vast majority of those slabs run single phase. Flat, clear lots with good truck access make these some of the most straightforward installs we do.
Logan. $600 and $840, Energex territory. Yarrabilba, Park Ridge and Jimboomba. Estate work is straightforward; the acreage blocks further out are where a longer run from the connection point occasionally changes the pole position.
Moreton Bay. $600 and $840, Energex territory. Caboolture and the northern corridor, plus rural blocks on the fringe where the distance from the street to the switchboard is the thing to check before booking.
Redlands. $600 and $840, Energex territory, and effectively our home ground since the depot sits in Capalaba. The shortest delivery distance we quote, and usually the fastest turnaround.
Toowoomba. Same $600 and $840, but this one is genuinely different, and not on price. See the next section.
Repeating the hire figure in each region is deliberate: the 12-week hire rate does not change. Delivery remains separate and varies outside the standard zone.
Toowoomba and the west: Ergon Energy territory, not Energex
Toowoomba and the areas west of it sit in Ergon Energy territory, while all of south east Queensland sits in Energex territory. The pole is the same and the hire rate is the same. What changes is whose connection process your electrician lodges the Form 2 Electrical Work Request into.
That matters for one practical reason: approval timeframes differ between distributors, and they differ again at busy times of year. If you are building around Toowoomba, ask your electrician to confirm the current Ergon turnaround before you lock in a slab date.
Nobody else in this market states that distinction plainly, and it is the single most useful regional fact we can give you.
How long do you have to hire a temporary power pole for?
A 12 week minimum applies to every pole, which is where the $600 comes from: 84 days at the daily rate, not a separate booking fee. There is no maximum.
The minimum reflects fixed setup and collection work at both ends of the hire. Delivery remains a separate address-based charge, while licensed electrical connection work is billed separately.
Most residential builds keep a pole from slab through to permanent connection, which is months rather than weeks, so the minimum rarely binds. If your build stalls, tell us and we will leave the pole rather than pull it and charge you to reinstall.
Do you need an electrician as well as the pole?
Yes, and it is a legal requirement rather than an upsell. We deliver and install the pole. A licensed electrician makes the connection and lodges the Form 2 Electrical Work Request, the form that asks the distributor to approve and energise the supply. The pole must also comply with AS/NZS 3000, the Australian and New Zealand wiring rules covering temporary builder's supply.
The sequence that keeps a build moving: engage the electrician first, get the Form 2 lodged, then book the pole to land in time for the connection visit. Our Energex temporary power connection guide walks through the whole process.
The common failure is booking the pole first and discovering the paperwork has not started, which leaves a pole standing idle on site while the clock runs.
How to book a temporary power pole and what we need from you
Four things and we can quote firm: the site address, the connection date you are working towards, whether you need single or 3-phase, and your electrician's details if you have one lined up.
From there we confirm availability, quote the delivery figure against your exact address, and put the whole thing in writing before anything leaves the depot. We have been doing this out of Capalaba since 1960.
Send us the site address and your connection date and we will have a pole there.
Cheers, Doug
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Temporary Power Pole Hire
View our full range of temporary power poles for Brisbane & SE QLD builders.
