Quote it, wire it, and still find the paperwork in two years.
Electrical work leaves a paper trail that outlives the job. Notifications, inspections, Certificates of Acceptance — then an insurer asking about a panel you upgraded three summers ago. Keep the quote, the photos and the record on the customer, and that answer takes thirty seconds.
A week in an electrical shop
The work splits between big quoted jobs, a growing pile of EV charger enquiries, and service calls that turn into something larger once the cover comes off.
100A to 200A panel upgrade
Itemise the panel, the mast and service entrance, the ESA fee and the labour separately. Homeowners comparing three quotes can see what they are actually buying.
EV charger install
Enquiries arrive through your booking page with the panel photo attached, so you can rule out a service upgrade before you drive across town to look.
Knob and tube found behind the plaster
Photograph what you found, attach it to the job, and turn it into a second quote while you are still standing in the room.
A quote that survives being compared
Panel upgrades get shopped around, and the cheapest lump sum usually wins by default because nobody can tell what is in it. Broken into lines, yours is the one the homeowner can actually reason about — and the ESA fee stops looking like something you invented.
Sales tax comes from the province you set, so the HST line is right without you checking. Send it by text or email before you leave the driveway.
Valid 14 days
| Supply & install 200A main breaker panel | $1,450.00 |
| Mast, meter base & service entrance cable | $685.00 |
| ESA notification and inspection fee | $145.00 |
| Utility disconnect / reconnect coordination | $250.00 |
| Labour — 8 hrs @ $110/hr | $880.00 |
| Subtotal | $3,410.00 |
| HST (13%) | $443.30 |
| Total | $3,853.30 |
An illustration of a TradePilot quote, not a real customer or a real licence number. Ontario HST shown at 13% — TradePilot applies the rate for the province you set.
The ESA trail, kept with the job
Almost all electrical work in Ontario has to be reported to the Electrical Safety Authority through a notification of work, filed before the work starts or within 48 hours of it starting. When the work passes, ESA issues a Certificate of Acceptance to whoever filed the notification.
That certificate has a long tail. Insurers ask for it after a panel upgrade, a knob-and-tube replacement or a rewire. Buyers and their lawyers increasingly ask for it on renovated homes. The request lands years later, usually by phone, usually while you are up a ladder.
TradePilot doesn't file with ESA — that happens in ESA's own system. It keeps the job, the photos, the quote and your notes together under the customer, so when someone asks about that 2026 panel you can find it from your phone.
Let the EV charger enquiries qualify themselves
Every account gets a public quote-request page you can put on your van, your Google listing or a card. Customers describe the job and attach photos — the panel, the meter, where they want the charger.
Half of those you can price or rule out without leaving the shop. The rest you drive to already knowing whether you are quoting a simple circuit or a service upgrade, which is the difference between one visit and three.
One more thing worth checking
Licensed electrical contractors in Ontario have to display their ECRA/ESA licence number in correspondence, contracts and advertising — anywhere you communicate with the public. Quotes and invoices are correspondence. It is worth taking thirty seconds to confirm your number is actually on the documents you send, whatever you use to send them.
Summarised from the Electrical Safety Authority's published guidance, August 2026. Current rules at esasafe.com.
Questions electricians ask
Does TradePilot file ESA notifications for me?
Can I put the ESA fee on the quote?
Does it work out HST?
Can customers send photos with an enquiry?
I have two apprentices. Does the price go up?
Can customers pay by e-Transfer?
Try it on the next panel job.
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