New LED tubes flicker
The old ballast was left in circuit and does not match the tube. Either fit ballast-compatible lamps or bypass the ballast properly. Half-done retrofits cause most flicker complaints.
Electrical & Lighting26,236 businesses licensed for it
Lighting repair and replacement
Lighting is the most visible thing in a customer-facing business and the most commonly deferred repair in one. Work covers replacing failed fittings and drivers, tracing flicker and buzz to the ballast or the circuit, exterior and sign lighting, emergency and exit lighting that has to work when everything else fails, and LED retrofits that cut both the energy bill and the number of times somebody gets the ladder out.
Enter your ZIP to see the businesses listed for this trade nearest to your site, with their phone numbers.
- Free to searchno account, nothing to submit
- Public registersevery listing names its source
- License numberswhere the state publishes one
- Directyou call the business yourself
- Our estimate
- $160-$6,500
- Time on site
- 1-12 hrs
- Fault patterns covered
- 2
- Licensed for this trade itself
- 26,236
What lighting repair and replacement costs
Most of these jobs land near $420. The full spread runs $160 to $6,500, and the gap between those two ends is diagnosis against replacement rather than one business being dearer than another.
What moves it: how much of the job is parts, whether the fault is found in the first hour or the third, access to the equipment, and the hour of the day you call. We never speak to the businesses listed here, so there is no rate card behind any of this. It is our own band for the category, and there is no regional index: the figure does not change with your metro.
| How soon you need it | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled visitBooked in advance, no urgency multiplier applied | $420 | $160 to $6,500 |
| Same dayOur band multiplied by 1.12 | $470 | $180 to $7,280 |
| Emergency calloutOur band multiplied by 1.35 | $565 | $215 to $8,775 |
Our estimate from national cost bands, not a quote from any business. Every row is the same band with the urgency multiplier the site applies everywhere else, so this table can never contradict the headline number. Ask for a written price before the work starts.
Who is licensed to do this work
In California the classification that squarely covers this is C-10 electrical, and the register says who holds it. Every listing on this site shows the classification, the license number and the date we read it, with a link back to the register entry so you can check it against the state rather than against us.
Overlapping classifications exist and are labeled as overlapping rather than as a match: D-31 pole installation and maintenance. A general building contractor may hold the job and subcontract the trade, which is a real answer and a different one, so the card says which of the two you are looking at.
One thing worth being plain about: CSLB classifications do not distinguish commercial work from residential. There is no separate commercial license to hold and no register field that would prove one. That is why this page describes the equipment rather than the contractor, and why nothing here says a business has been checked out. We read a public record on a stated date. That is the whole claim.
Before you pay for a callout
Two minutes of checks that sometimes end the problem
We would rather you did not need a callout at all. These are the checks that end the most calls for this fault.
Try a quick fix first
Some issues resolve without a truck roll. Two minutes now can save the callout.
- 1
Count every fitting that is out and every one that flickers before you call. Lighting is trip-charge dominated and doing the whole room in one visit is dramatically cheaper per fitting.
- 2
Note whether a whole row failed together or fittings are failing one at a time. A row together is a circuit or a driver, one at a time is lamps.
- 3
Test your emergency and exit lights while you are counting. Most have a test button, they are a legal requirement in a public building, and they are the fittings nobody looks at.
- 4
If you are considering LED, ask for the retrofit price at the same visit. Replacing a failed fitting twice is worse value than replacing it once with something that lasts.
What the visit actually includes
- Lamp, driver, ballast or fitting replacement
- Circuit and switching check where a group has failed
- Emergency and exit light function test
- Safe disposal of lamps containing mercury
- Retrofit option priced alongside the repair where it applies
Diagnosis
How lighting faults usually present
Written from how these faults actually present on a working premises, not from a manual.
Exterior lights on all day
A failed photocell or a time clock that lost its schedule after a power cut. Cheap to fix, and it runs up the bill every day it is left.
Listed for this trade
Businesses listed for lighting
Read from public license registers, so there is no ranking here and no distance: this page has no location to measure from. Enter your ZIP to sort by who is nearest to your site.
By location
Lighting repair and replacement near you
Local pages show which businesses are listed for that metro, how far out they sit, and the local conditions that drive demand.
Counted from the businesses we have imported for each metro center inside a 25 mile radius, and counting only those whose own license classification names this trade. General contractors licensed widely enough to take it on and subcontract it are excluded here, and still appear in a search. A metro reads “none yet” until we load a register that covers this trade there.
All coverage areasQuestions owners ask
Lighting FAQs
Short, specific answers. If yours is not here, ask the business you call before you agree to the visit.
Are emergency lights actually required?
In a public commercial building, yes, and they have to be tested on a schedule your fire authority sets. It is one of the items an inspector checks and one of the few lighting faults with a legal consequence.
Is an LED retrofit worth it?
The saving comes from wattage and from lamp life, so the case is strongest where lights run long hours and the fittings are hard to reach. Ask for the wattage before and after rather than a percentage.
Can my handyman change a fitting?
Changing a lamp is not licensed work. Replacing a fitting, altering wiring or touching the circuit is C-10 electrical work in California, and doing it unlicensed is a problem for your insurance rather than a saving.
Related work
Often booked in the same visit
Batching jobs into one mobilization is the cheapest way to buy this kind of work.
Power lossPart of the premises dead, breakers that will not stay in, and no power at all.from $200PanelFailed breakers, hot panels, no spare ways and service upgrades for new equipment.from $280OutletsDead sockets, tripping GFCIs, scorched outlets and circuits for new equipment.from $160Lot lightingDark pole lights, failed photocells, damaged bases and wall packs that stay off.from $300
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Ready when you are
Need lighting sorted?
Search your ZIP to see the businesses listed for this trade nearest to your site, with the license numbers and phone numbers we hold, then call them yourself.
- Cost to search
- Free
- Account needed
- None
- Who you call
- The business