How to become an electrical line installer or repairer
Official title: Electrical line installers and repairers
Also called: Electric cable jointer, Electric power line worker
Electrical line installers and repairers install, repair and join electrical transmission and supply cables and related equipment.
Main tasks
- Installing and repairing overhead and underground electrical power and electrical traction lines
- Making joints in overhead and underground cables
- Adhering to safety practices and procedures, such as checking equipment regularly and erecting barriers around work areas
- Opening switches or attaching grounding devices to remove electrical hazards from disturbed or fallen lines or to facilitate repairs
- Climbing poles or using truck-mounted buckets to access equipment
- Identifying defective sectionalizing devices, circuit breakers, fuses, voltage regulators, transformers, switches, relays or wiring, using wiring diagrams and electrical-testing instruments
Ways in
- Apprenticeship: Cable Jointer (Power). Cable Jointer (Power) (強電流電纜接駁技工) is a designated trade under the Apprenticeship Ordinance (Cap. 47); the period of apprenticeship is 4 years (Cap. 47C). Apprentices sign a registered contract with an employer.
- Apprenticeship: Overhead Linesman. Overhead Linesman (架空電綫技工) is a designated trade under the Apprenticeship Ordinance (Cap. 47); the period of apprenticeship is 4 years (Cap. 47C). Apprentices sign a registered contract with an employer.
- Licence or registration: Registering body: Electrical and Mechanical Services Department. Law: Electricity Ordinance (電力條例), Cap. 406. Summary by Peernovo; check the body's current rules.
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: HK$21,000 a month
- About 387,500 people in 2025, and about 403,200 projected by 2028. (+4.1%)
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become an electrical line installer or repairer?
Ways in include: Cable Jointer (Power).
Do you need a degree to become an electrical line installer or repairer?
Usually not. Only 5% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Ways in include: Cable Jointer (Power).
Will AI change the work of an electrical line installer or repairer?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026