Rewiring a house

There are a number of noticeable factors when a property is in need of rewiring.

As mentioned before, a property that is 30 years old and has its original wiring will most likely need to be rewired, not just for safety reasons, but also in order to meet modern standards.

If you are interested in purchasing an older property, a thorough check must be completed by a licensed electrician before buying, to make sure the wiring is safe. 

The recommendation for an inspection is every 10 years for a property owned by you and every five years for a rented property; if you are extending part of your house or converting it, all new and updated wiring 

One of the most frequent questions asked by clients is "How much does it cost to rewire a property?"

The cost is dependent on a number of factors that you will have to consider.

For example, if your property is larger, such as a 4 or 5 bedroom house, the average cost will be between £3,500 and £6,500.

As size of a property increases, so does cost and the amount of time needed in order to rewire the entire property: a 1 bedroom house will take on average between 4-7 days, whereas a 3 bedroom house will take 6-10 days to rewire.

As a client, one of the most significant things to understand about rewiring is what is included in a full house rewire, as there will be changes in sockets and cables as well as wires.

A full house rewire is made up of two processes: the first process is usually completed before walls are plastered and ideally should be done without furniture or carpets, so if you are moving into a new property, we would advise that you have the property rewired before adding furniture, to avoid any future problems.

Generally, this process is called the "First Fix"; actual wiring is installed as well as back boxes for all sockets and switches in your property. 

Although it is possible to do the job yourself, we highly recommend that you get a licensed, qualified electrician to rewire your property, as it will need to be verified under all circumstances by an electrician anyway.

Rewiring a property is not for amateurs and can have serious consequences if not done properly, including fires and electrocution.

Not only could this put lives in danger, but insurance companies may not pay out in the event of a fire, due to the fact that the wiring was poorly and incorrectly done by an amateur. 

Rewiring your property is not illegal, however, it is regulated by law under