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The short version
- Most of a rewire's mess comes at first fix, when floors come up and walls are cut for cable.
- You can stay in the house during a rewire, but NICEIC warns it makes the job harder and dearer.
- In a home built or refurbished before 2000, tell the electrician about textured coatings before any cutting starts.
- A rewire is notifiable: you should get an EIC and, within 30 days, a Building Regulations compliance certificate.
Rewiring a house is disruptive. Floorboards come up, channels are cut into walls for new cable, and the power is off in some rooms or the whole house for spells. NICEIC puts a rewire at a few days to a week or two, depending on the size of the house. You can stay in while it happens, but that makes the job harder and dearer.
The disruption comes in stages, not all at once
A rewire usually runs in the same order, whatever the size of the home. Knowing which stage you are in tells you what the next few days will be like.
| Stage | What happens | What it means at home |
|---|---|---|
| Survey | The electrician checks the board and the old wiring and plans where new cable can run | Nothing is opened up yet |
| First fix | New cable is run under floors, through the loft and in channels cut into walls; new boxes go in for sockets and switches | The loud, dusty stage: furniture moved, boards up, rooms out of use |
| Making good | Channels and holes are filled and plastered | Wet plaster has to dry before anyone decorates |
| Second fix | Sockets, switches and lights are fitted and the circuits connected to a new consumer unit | Quieter, with the power off while circuits switch over |
| Testing | Every circuit is tested and the certificates written | The house is live again on the new wiring |
Where a rewire opens the house up
New cable has to reach every light, socket and switch, and it can only get there through the building. In a house with a loft and two storeys, that usually means three places: the loft, the floor between storeys, and the walls.
- The loft: cable for the upstairs ceiling lights usually runs here, so it needs clearing.
- The floor between storeys: boards come up upstairs to reach the downstairs ceilings. Fitted carpets have to be lifted.
- The walls: a narrow channel is cut above or below each socket and switch, then plastered over.
Can you stay in the house during a rewire?
Yes. NICEIC's view is that you can live in the house during a rewire, but it may make the project more difficult and more costly. Every room has to be emptied in turn, and the power will be off in parts of the house, or all of it, for long stretches.
What makes living in easier
- Clear each room before its turn, and take pictures, mirrors and shelves off the walls.
- Keep one room as a base: the one that gets done last, with a kettle and a phone charger.
- Plan home working, school runs and pets around the noisy first-fix days.
- Book decorators and carpet fitters for after the plaster has dried, not before.
Before the walls are cut: asbestos in older homes
HSE advises that asbestos may be in any home built or refurbished before 2000, and textured decorative coatings, often called Artex, are one of the places it turns up. Its presence alone is not a cause for concern. The risk comes when fibres are released into the air, which is exactly what cutting and drilling can do.
Do you need a full rewire at all?
Not always. Electrical Safety First says there are no set guidelines on when a house should be rewired: old wiring is not necessarily unsafe, and condition matters more than age. NICEIC, citing the same charity, gives a rule of thumb that a house over 30 years old with its original wiring will likely need updating.
The two do not quite agree, and the way to settle it for your house is an inspection.
That inspection, an EICR, shows what condition the wiring is in, and our guide to what an EICR checks and what its codes mean explains the report. For a home you own, Electrical Safety First recommends one at least every 10 years.
A partial rewire is smaller and less disruptive
Sometimes only some circuits need replacing, and the disruption shrinks with the job. Our guide price for a partial rewire is from £2,000 including VAT. A full rewire has no guide price because it depends on the house, so we quote it once we have surveyed it.
What you should have at the end
A rewire installs new circuits, so it is notifiable building work in England. A registered electrician certifies it themselves; otherwise the homeowner has to tell building control. Either way, you should end up with two documents:
- an Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) showing the new installation meets BS 7671, handed over when the work is finished
- a Building Regulations compliance certificate, which the installer has 30 days from completion to provide, while also telling building control
The new lighting circuits will have 30 mA RCD protection, which BS 7671 requires on every new lighting circuit in a home. NICEIC warns that missing certificates can cause problems when you sell, and our guide to the EIC covers what to do if one goes missing.
Rewiring a rented home
An empty property is the easiest to rewire, so for landlords the gap between tenancies is the obvious time. Keep the EIC and the compliance certificate with your other safety records. In England, the law still requires the electrics in a rented home to be checked at least every 5 years, and our landlord EICR service covers that inspection.
Rewiring is part of our electrician work across London. To book a survey, call 07727 619854 and tell us the age of the house, how many bedrooms it has and whether you plan to live in during the work.
Frequently asked questions
NICEIC puts it at anything from a few days to a week or two, depending on the size and complexity of the house. NICEIC also notes that living in during the work makes it more difficult and more costly.
Usually, yes, at least in places. The channels cut for new cable are filled and plastered, and the fresh plaster has to dry before it can be painted or papered. It makes sense to leave new decorating and flooring until the rewire is finished.
Yes. A rewire is notifiable work under Part P in England. An electrician registered with a competent person scheme notifies it for you and sends a compliance certificate within 30 days; if the electrician is not registered, the homeowner has to tell building control before work starts.
There is no fixed age. Electrical Safety First says condition matters more than age, while NICEIC gives 30 years with the original wiring as a rule of thumb. An EICR tells you which applies to your house.