Does my house need rewiring?
Rewiring a house has many factors to consider such as cost, how long it will take and how the work will affect your day-to-day life whilst the project is ongoing.
To uncover what is involved during the rewiring of a home, we have compiled a guide to help answer any questions that you may have before you agree to allow someone to alter your wiring system.
How much does it cost to rewire a house?
The most popular question asked by people when considering rewiring their home is “how much will it cost to rewire my home?”
The price of the rewire depends on a number of factors, such as: whether the house is occupied or vacant, how many bedrooms there are, the overall size of the property, the age of the property, where you live in the country and who you hire.
The average cost to rewire a 3 bed semi detached house is £3,200 and can take up to 10 days to complete. This can act as a handy rule of thumb, with prices typically varying by £1,000 per bedroom.
As always, prices may vary depending on your regional location. Time is entirely dependent on the job: the bigger the job, the longer it will take to complete.
Included in the price of your house rewire, you can expect that previously old fittings and wiring will be removed, and also a new metal clad consumer unit installed. To comply with current regulations, all new installations are to have metal consumer units installed, due to increased fire safety measures.
Want to rewire your home yourself?
We have a course that has been designed specifically for anyone looking to become a domestic installer quickly at an affordable price. After completing the course you can either join a Government approved Part P scheme (depending on your experience), which will allow you to sign off your house rewire and other notifiable work or you can go through your local Building Authority.
If the only piece of notifiable work you are completing is your house rewire, then it might be easier to go through your local Building Authority and submit an application to perform the notifiable work. After submitting the application and carrying out the work, a registered electrician will be sent to certify that it complies with the regulations and sign it off.
What needs rewiring in the house?
The main reason for rewiring a house is due to out of date or faulty wiring. Faulty wiring can be very dangerous, causing 12,500 fires and 750 serious accidents in the home each year.
It is therefore essential that, if you spot a common fault, you get it tested and rewired by a qualified electrician. Some of the most common faults for you to check are:
- A consumer unit with wooden backing, cast iron switches, a black electricity cable or no labeling. This is evidence that your consumer unit is out of date and you should have it replaced
- Having less than two plug sockets in each room, broken or cracked sockets and rounded entries as opposed to 3-pin varieties can indicate that your plug sockets are out of date. Another thing to take note of is if the plugs ever feel hot, this will need to be inspected as soon as possible
- Flickering lights or lights which require frequent light bulb changing are another sign that your wiring may need to be changed as most bulbs should last from months to years depending on how often they are used and the type of bulb. For example, some LED lights can last for up to 50,000 hours. Rounded light switches are an indication of pre 1960 lighting and should be rewired with modern switches
If you’re going to have repairs made to your electrical systems at home, make sure that all of the wiring in your fuse box is also checked. If it is slightly out of date it is better to have it all rewired at once to ensure a safer home.
Finding the right person for the job
It is essential to hire a fully qualified electrician to rewire your house. Electricians in England and Wales are legally obligated to comply with the Part P building regulations. In order to be covered by insurance and not be a part of illegal activity you need to know what to look for when hiring an electrician. Some key tips are:
- Make sure they show you their qualifications before hiring them and make sure they are under a competent person with a provider such as NICEIC or ELECSA
- Have the electrician show you their public liability insurance and a warranty policy in case you need cover should anything does go wrong whilst they perform the job
- Once the work is complete you must make sure they give you a certificate from Building Control confirming that what they have done meets Part P of the Building Regulations
If you’re on a budget, alternatively, you can train to become a domestic electrician and rewire your own house! We understand expensive quotes can be quite daunting. Come and train with us to gain your electrical qualifications and get started!
We offer intense electrician courses for people in all situations, from complete beginners to those from associate traders. Take a look at our Domestic Electrician Course today!
If you enjoyed this post, take a look at our History of Wiring Colours to find out what warning signs you should look out for in your home!