Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014
Numerator:
Net income attributable to Hubbell	$ 73.3	$ 89.6	$ 215.8	$ 244.0
Less: Earnings allocated to participating securities	0.2	0.1	0.6	0.6
Net income available to common shareholders	$ 73.1	$ 89.5	$ 215.2	$ 243.4
Denominator [Abstract]
Average number of common shares outstanding (shares)	57.7	58.9	57.8	59.0
Potential dilutive common shares (shares)	0.2	0.5	0.3	0.4
Average number of diluted shares outstanding (shares)	57.9	59.4	58.1	59.4
Basic (USD per share)	$ 1.27	$ 1.52	$ 3.73	$ 4.13
Diluted (USD per share)	$ 1.27	$ 1.51	$ 3.71	$ 4.10