HOW TO HIRE · ELECTRICAL

How to hire a rewiring electrician in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.

A full rewire is notifiable in England and Wales from start to finish. How to check the electrician, what to ask, and the certificates to hold at the end.

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THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring a rewiring electrician in five steps

  1. Start with an inspectionAn EICR shows whether the whole house needs rewiring or only some circuits.
  2. Check the registerIn England and Wales, search each business you are considering on the Registered Competent Person Electrical register.
  3. Get a room-by-room specificationSockets, lights, switches and circuits listed by room, so the three quotes cover the same job.
  4. Plan the disruptionFloors up, walls chased, days without power in parts of the house; agree who makes good.
  5. Hold back the final paymentUntil the Electrical Installation Certificate is in your hand and the compliance certificate is on its way.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

Registered Competent Person Electrical

In England and Wales, the rewire installs new circuits and usually a new consumer unit, both notifiable work. So the rewire is either self-certified under the Building Regulations by an electrician on a government-authorised competent person scheme, such as NICEIC or NAPIT, or notified to building control before it starts, and you pay for that inspection. Before the rewire, confirm the public liability insurance and its limit. You have Consumer Rights Act 2015 protection because the provider is a trader; and if the rewire is agreed in your home or online, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 usually let you cancel within 14 days, except for made-to-measure goods and the part of the work you asked them to start early.

Find the business name on the register before you confirm the rewire. For the rewire, see the insurance document and confirm the profile carries the trader and ID-checked badges. electricalcompetentperson.co.uk →

Electrical Installation Certificate

Every new circuit in the rewire is tested to BS 7671 and recorded on an Electrical Installation Certificate. Because the rewire is notifiable, the scheme also issues a Building Regulations compliance certificate: gov.uk says within 8 weeks in England, and the Welsh Government says the electrician should arrange it within 30 days.

Ask for the certificate, with the test results filled in, on the day the rewire is finished. gov.wales →

Building warrant (Scotland) and Northern Ireland

In Scotland there is no competent person register for electricians, and whether the rewire needs a building warrant depends on the building: the Scottish Government's 2019 research lists rewiring as needing one in flats and buildings over three storeys, not in houses of up to two storeys. For the rewire in Northern Ireland, the building regulations contain no Part P-style notification scheme for domestic wiring.

Scottish homeowners should ask whether the rewire needs a warrant before work starts, and who will certify it. gov.scot →

Asbestos and lead in older homes

HSE says asbestos insulating board and similar materials may only be removed by an HSE-licensed contractor, and leaded paint can sit under newer layers in older homes; both matter when walls are chased and boards lifted.

For a home built or refurbished before 2000, ask how the electrician will check for asbestos before cutting into ceilings or boxing. hse.gov.uk →

VAT

HMRC puts rewiring a house at the standard rate of 20%; once a trader's taxable turnover passes £90,000 it must register, charge the 20% and list it apart from the price of the work.

Ask for the VAT number, and look for VAT as its own line on the rewire quote and each stage invoice. gov.uk →

“Does the house need a full rewire, or only some circuits?”

A good answer: An answer based on testing or an EICR, not on the age of the house alone. A good electrician tells you when a partial rewire will do.

“Which scheme will certify the rewire?”

A good answer: A competent person scheme named, the electrician on the register, and a compliance certificate promised after the job.

“What is in the specification, room by room?”

A good answer: Number and position of sockets, lights and switches, any outside or EV supply, smoke alarms and data — written down.

“Who makes good, and to what standard?”

A good answer: A clear line between filling chases and full replastering and decorating; often the electrician fills and a plasterer finishes.

“Can we live in the house during the rewire?”

A good answer: An honest plan: first fix with the house partly emptied, power kept on to some circuits each night, and the number of days without kitchen power.

“How will you deal with asbestos or lead paint?”

A good answer: For an older house, a check before cutting into anything, and a stop if suspect materials are found.

“How will stage payments work?”

A good answer: Payments tied to first fix and completion, with the final sum due when the certificate is handed over.

Getting the quote right

  • A room-by-room specification of points and circuits
  • The consumer unit by make and type, with RCBO or RCD layout
  • Making good: filling chases, replastering and decorating stated as included or excluded
  • Smoke and heat alarms, outdoor supplies and data cabling listed if included
  • Who actually attends — the electricians and the plasterer making good, employed or subcontracted — and the business's VAT number, with VAT at 20% shown as its own line
  • The stage payment schedule
  • Testing, certification and scheme notification included

Walk away if

  • A quote for the whole house without visiting it
  • No competent person scheme and no plan to notify building control in England or Wales
  • A large deposit before work starts
  • No written specification, just a single price
  • Dismisses questions about asbestos in an older house
LOW
£3,800
TYPICAL
£6,500
HIGH
£10,000

What a rewiring electrician costs: £3,800–£10,000 per house

A full rewire is quoted per house from a room-by-room specification; the consumer unit, extra circuits and making good are the lines that move it most. Full Rewiring price guide →

Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.

KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE

Rewiring electricians near you, with the badges that matter shown

ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.

Or post the job free and let them come to you.

  1. Survey and specificationThe electrician inspects the house, tests the old wiring and agrees a room-by-room specification with you.
  2. First fixFloors lifted and walls chased; new cables run to every point while the old circuits keep some power on.
  3. Second fixSockets, switches, lights and the new consumer unit connected once plastering is done.
  4. TestEvery circuit is tested — continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth fault loop impedance and RCD operation — before it goes live.
  5. Certify and notifyThe Electrical Installation Certificate is handed over and the work notified through the scheme, which sends the compliance certificate.

First fix
Running cables and fixing back boxes before plastering.
Second fix
Fitting the sockets, switches and lights after plastering.
Chasing
Cutting a channel in a wall to bury a cable.
Making good
Filling and plastering the chases and holes afterwards.
Electrical Installation Certificate
The certificate for the new installation, with its test results.
Compliance certificate
The scheme's confirmation that the notifiable work meets the Building Regulations.

AFTER

When the job is done

File both certificatesThe Electrical Installation Certificate with the full schedule of test results, and the Building Regulations compliance certificate from the scheme.
Walk round every roomCheck each socket, switch and light against the specification and test the RCDs.
Get the guarantee and the circuit chartThe workmanship guarantee in writing and a completed chart at the consumer unit.
Rate the workOnly booked jobs can be reviewed on Locufy, so yours carries weight; if the rewire falls short, use the make-it-right step first and the provider is asked to fix it before the review is published.

STEP 1Put it to the electrician in writingDescribe the fault with the rewire, with photos, and say what would put it right. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 expects a trader to use reasonable care and skill; where that fell short you may require the work to be done again, or a lower price.
STEP 2Use Locufy's make-it-right stepRate the rewire under four stars and you are asked whether to send it to the provider first; we follow it through. Then the review goes up.
STEP 3Unsafe or uncertified workNotifiable work that nobody certified or notified is a matter for the council's building control in England and Wales, so report the rewire there if that is what happened; a missing compliance certificate can be chased through the electrician's scheme. For a dispute about the rewire with the trader, Trading Standards is reached through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 in England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 800 9060, or Consumerline on 0300 123 6262 in Northern Ireland.
STEP 4Money still in disputeIf the rewire is still not settled, you can claim without a solicitor: the small claims track takes claims up to £10,000 in England and Wales, simple procedure up to £5,000 in Scotland, and the small claims court up to £5,000 in Northern Ireland.

Hiring a rewiring electrician: questions people ask

In England and Wales the rewire is notifiable: a scheme-registered electrician self-certifies it, or building control is notified before it starts and inspects it, for a fee.

An Electrical Installation Certificate with the test results, and a Building Regulations compliance certificate from the scheme — within 8 weeks in England according to gov.uk, or arranged within 30 days in Wales.

£3,800–£10,000 a house, typically around £6,500. House size, lifting floors in an occupied home, the consumer unit and making good drive the price. Our Full Rewiring price guide explains what moves the figure, and the search above shows rewiring electricians working near your postcode.

It depends on the building. The Scottish Government's 2019 research lists rewiring as needing a warrant in flats and buildings over three storeys, but not in houses of up to two storeys.

Days rather than hours, and longer in an occupied house; ask for a written programme with first fix, plastering and second fix.

Often only filling the chases. Ask whether replastering and decorating are in the quote.

MORE GUIDES

More hiring guides in electrical

How to hire: Partial RewiringHow to hire: Consumer Unit / Fuse Board UpgradeHow to hire: Electrical Safety Inspection (EICR)How to hire: ElectricianHow to hire: Smoke & Heat Alarm InstallationHow to hire: Extra SocketsHow to hire: Lighting InstallationHow to hire: Data & Network CablingAll 701 hiring guides →

Rewiring electricians near you

Rewiring electricians in LondonRewiring electricians in ManchesterRewiring electricians in BirminghamRewiring electricians in GlasgowRewiring electricians in BelfastAll rewiring electricians on Locufy →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. gov.uk — Approved Document P: electrical safety in dwellings (England)
  2. Registered Competent Person Electrical register
  3. gov.uk — building work, replacements and repairs to your home (England)
  4. gov.wales — building regulations: electrics
  5. gov.scot — Building Standards Technical Handbook 2022 (domestic), standard 4.5 electrical safety
  6. gov.scot — Regulation of electricians in Scotland: Scottish building regulations (2019 research report)
  7. gov.uk — building regulations: use a competent person scheme
  8. HSE — deciding if asbestos work must be done by a licensed contractor
  9. HSE — construction hazardous substances: lead
  10. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
  11. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 54 — what you can ask for when a service falls short
  12. Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 30 — the 14-day cancellation period
  13. Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28 — contracts the cancellation right does not cover
  14. Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 36 — services started within the cancellation period
  15. Civil Procedure Rules Part 26 — the small claims track limit (England and Wales)
  16. Scottish Courts and Tribunals — making a claim under simple procedure
  17. nidirect — the small claims process (Northern Ireland)
  18. Buildings and construction (VAT Notice 708) — 2.1 Construction services: work to an existing building is normally standard-rated
  19. GOV.UK — VAT rates
  20. GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register