Electrical Apprentice Tool List for Australia
The tool kit a first-year electrical apprentice actually needs, based on the list a large commercial contractor issues. Includes the communications technician kit and buying advice.
Starting an electrical apprenticeship and wondering what to put in the toolbox? This is the tool list a large Australian commercial electrical contractor actually issues to its apprentices, organised so you can work through it category by category. It also includes the equivalent kit for communications technicians. Treat it as a solid baseline: your employer or RTO may issue their own version, so confirm before you buy everything in one hit.
Before you buy anything
- Wait for your employer’s list. Most companies hand one out in week one, and some supply part of the kit. Items marked optional below are exactly that.
- Buy insulated where it matters. Pliers, cutters, and the screwdrivers you use near conductors should be rated to 1000 V (VDE marked, AS 60900). Cheap uninsulated tools are a false economy on electrical work.
- Spend on the tools you hold all day. Side cutters, combination pliers, strippers, and drivers earn their price. A mid-range hacksaw cuts the same as a premium one.
- Mark and lock your gear. Engrave your name, keep the padlock on the box. Site theft is real.
- Keep receipts. Tools of trade are generally tax deductible.
Electrical apprentice tool kit
Screwdrivers
- Flat blade: small, medium, and large
- Phillips head: small and medium
- Insulated terminal screwdriver
Pliers and cutters
- Combination pliers (insulated, 8")
- Long-nose pliers
- Side cutters (8")
- Cable cutter (8", optional)
- Multigrips
- Wire strippers (1 mm to 6 mm)
- Quick-connect stripping pliers (e.g. Clipsal type)
- Tin snips (10")
Spanners and keys
- Shifting spanner (8")
- Open-ended spanners (6 mm to 19 mm)
- Ring spanners (6 mm to 19 mm)
- Socket set (6 mm to 25 mm)
- Stilson wrench (20 mm to 50 mm, as required)
- Tap wrench
- Allen keys (metric and imperial)
Crimping and termination
- Crimping tool (Utilux 00 or equivalent)
- Insulated lug crimping tool
- Bootlace crimper (where required)
Drilling, cutting and demolition
- Battery drill, 18 V with 13 mm chuck
- Hacksaw and junior hacksaw
- Keyhole saw
- Cold chisel
- Wood chisel (12 mm / half inch)
- Hammer (3 lb)
- Centre punch
- Jemmy bar (12" or 18", optional)
- Electrician’s knife
- Conduit or duct cutters (optional)
Measuring and marking
- Tape measure (8 m)
- Spirit level (300 mm)
- Steel square
- Plumb bob and string line
- Chalk line
Testing and reference
- Voltage tester (test lamp or similar)
- Multimeter
- Current AS/NZS 3000 Wiring Rules
- AS/NZS 3008 or equivalent cable data reference
Storage and general
- Toolbox and padlock
- Tool belt, carry tray or shoulder bag
- Torch
- Soldering iron (optional)
Communications technician tool kit
The comms kit shares most of the general hand tools above (screwdrivers, insulated combination pliers, long-nose pliers, multigrips, hacksaws, tape, spirit level, toolbox and padlock) and swaps the heavy electrical gear for termination and cabling tools. The items below are what set it apart.
Comms-specific tools
- Krone (punch-down) tool
- Line test set for fault finding on phone lines
- Scotch lock pliers (jelly crimp connectors)
- IC insertion and extraction tool
- Small-tip soldering iron and solder sucker
- Utilux pre-insulated crimp tool
- Small side cutters and surgical scissors (for sheath and lacing work)
- Insulated cable cutter (8")
- Customer premises cabling manuals (older lists still say AUSTEL; the current rules are administered by the ACMA)
Fixing and making good
- Battery drill (12 V) and mains drill
- Pop rivet gun
- Staple gun
- Claw hammer and 3 lb hammer
- Combination square
- Trowel (for making good chased walls)
- Electrical knife (approved safety type)
Worth knowing: in Australia, installing or maintaining customer premises cabling (phone and data) legally requires a cabler registration under the ACMA cabling provider rules, which is a separate ticket from the electrical licence.
Common questions
What tools does a first-year electrical apprentice need?
A basic kit covers screwdrivers (flat and Phillips in several sizes, plus an insulated terminal driver), insulated combination pliers, long-nose pliers, side cutters, wire strippers, a set of spanners and Allen keys, a crimping tool, a hacksaw, a hammer, a tape measure, a spirit level, a voltage tester, a multimeter, and a lockable toolbox. Most employers issue their own required list in the first week, so check before buying everything up front.
Do apprentices have to buy their own tools?
It varies. Many employers issue a required tool list and expect apprentices to supply and maintain their own hand tools, while power tools and specialised test equipment are usually supplied by the company. Check your employment agreement or award for tool allowance provisions, and keep receipts, as tools of trade are generally tax deductible.
Do electrical hand tools need to be insulated?
Tools used for electrical work should be insulated and rated to 1000 V (look for the VDE marking or compliance with AS 60900). That applies to the pliers, side cutters, and screwdrivers you use near conductors. Working de-energised is always the rule, but insulated tools are a second line of defence and most employers mandate them.
What extra tools does a communications technician need?
On top of general hand tools, a comms kit adds a Krone (punch-down) tool for terminating data and phone cabling, a line test set, Scotch lock pliers for jelly crimp connectors, a small-tip soldering iron and solder sucker, and cabling reference manuals. In Australia, customer premises cabling work also requires an ACMA cabler registration.
Where the calculators fit in
Once the tool kit is sorted, the maths starts. ElecCalc’s free calculators cover the calculations apprentices hit first: cable sizing, voltage drop, maximum demand, and conduit fill. There is also a growing set of practice quizzes for Cert III knowledge assessments and an electrical drawing symbols reference.
On site? Get the same calcs on your phone.
SparkyToolkit gives you offline calculators, AI standards lookup, and on-site drawing tools, all built by the same team behind ElecCalc.
Building something else? EmergencyAPI gives developers real-time AU emergency feeds (fires, floods, warnings) as GeoJSON.
Use the calculator
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