House rewires, when are they needed and how do I know? We explain the process, when you should rewire your house and when it is necessary.

A new house rewire will also include a new consumer unit to the current BS7671 Wiring Regulations and an Electrical Installation Certificate lasting 10 years.

The only way to be sure if your house needs to be rewired is to have a registered competent Electrician test the full fixed electrical installation in your property. This is called an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) and depending on the size of your property, can take anything from between 4 hours to multiple days. Most 3 bedroom Semi-Detached houses will take roughly 8 hours to carry out a full and comprehensive EICR. A 7 page document will then be issued clearly reporting on the condition of the fixed wiring within the dwelling and what work, if any, are required.

From this point, you will have a better idea of the age, condition and ultimately the safety of your electrical installation and if it is time to have your house rewired or not. It can also give you an indication if any parts of the installation can be saved, and you could possibly only require a partial rewire.

What is a Partial Rewire?

One example of a partial house rewire, would be rewiring the ground and first floor lighting. This could be due to there being no circuit protective conductor (cpc) which is your earth. The wiring for the remainder of the circuits can (and most often is) satisfactory for this age of wiring. This could be an option, but then there are other factors to take into account.

How old is my Electrical Installation?

The general rule of thumb is that you can expect the wiring within an electrical installation to last around 50 year. So currently, anything post 1980 may require attention. That’s not to say any installation pre 1980 requires a rewire, it’s just a good indication and would subject to an EICR and it’s findings.

When is a good time to rewire my house?

Should you be moving to a new home, this is always a good time to think about getting your house rewired and at the very least tested with an EICR issued on completion. The house can be rewired before you move your furniture etc in, meaning the contractors can work at a faster pace and there’s the added bonus of not having your furniture in the house with the dust (house rewires can be a dusty affair!). Any ‘chases’ can be made good as you go through and decorate each room to your taste once you have moved in but most importantly you move into a home knowing the installation is safe and will last a considerable length of time.

Moving Home:

We always advise an EICR is produced or an Electrical Installation Certificate showing a rewire or a consumer unit (fuseboard) upgrade within the last 10 years. Getting a second opinion on the test results within the certification is always prudent and advised.

We’ve carried out many house rewires in Wellington, Taunton and across Somerset and you can see some of out feedback on checkatrade.com/grantselectrical

You can also check out our Gallery for photos of recently completed and ongoing house rewires at https://grantselectrical.com/gallery/