Per Share Information EPS (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015
Continuing operations
Net earnings attributable to common shareholders	$ 10,747	$ 3,927	$ 18,641	$ 9,258
Net earnings attributable to restricted shareholders	58	35	157	32
Net earnings from continuing operations	10,805	3,962	18,798	9,290
Discontinued operations
Net loss from discontinued operations attributable to common shareholders	0	(5)	0	(231)
Net earnings (loss) attributable to restricted shareholders	0	0	0	0
Net loss from discontinued operations	0	(5)	0	(231)
Net earnings attributable to common shareholders	10,747	3,922	18,641	9,027
Net earnings attributable to restricted shareholders	58	35	157	32
Net income	$ 10,805	$ 3,957	$ 18,798	$ 9,059
Weighted Average Number of Shares Outstanding, Basic	21,297,898	21,319,444	21,280,469	21,542,289
Effect of dilutive stock options and non-vested restricted stock	158,736	51,190	131,874	47,148
Weighted Average Number of Shares Outstanding, Diluted	21,456,634	21,370,634	21,412,343	21,589,437
Basic earnings (loss) per share attributable to IES Holdings, Inc.:
From continuing operations	$ 0.5	$ 0.19	$ 0.88	$ 0.43
From discontinued operations	0	0	0	(0.01)
Basic	0.5	0.19	0.88	0.42
Diluted earnings (loss) per share attributable to IES Holdings, Inc.:
From continuing operations	0.5	0.19	0.87	0.43
From discontinued operations	0	0	0	(0.01)
Diluted	$ 0.5	$ 0.19	$ 0.87	$ 0.42