Rewiring a bungalow - how much?

[Coz]

We're potentially about to purchase a 2 bed bungalow that needs rewiring. I had thought about doing the bulk of the work myself but having read bits of the Part P documentation this is probably unwise!

So... how much for a certified electrician to rewire the property for me?

2 beds, suspended timber ground floor, solid (block?) internal walls, couple of new sockets in lounge, new sockets & appliance sockets etc in kitchen, downlights in kitchen & bathroom.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

[Apologies if this is in the wrong section]

 

[1john]

Get three quotes, get reccomendations for tradesmen, make sure they are members of a competent persons scheme. As a guide, the best you are going to get is that it will be of a similar price as a second hand car.

 

[Coz]

As a guide, the best you are going to get is that it will be of a similar price as a second hand car.

So anything from £200 - 50,000

Not even a ball park figure?

 

[EngStudent]

As a guide, the best you are going to get is that it will be of a similar price as a second hand car.

So anything from £200 - 50,000

Not even a ball park figure?

As John said, get three quotes. There are too many variables; will it be occupied? Will the electrician(s) be required to move furniture/lift carpets? Is the loft boarded? Electric cooker? Electric shower? TV aerial? Plastic sockets & switches or fancy metal ones?

Get three quotes.

 

[Coz]

As John said, get three quotes. There are too many variables; will it be occupied? Will the electrician(s) be required to move furniture/lift carpets? Is the loft boarded? Electric cooker? Electric shower? TV aerial? Plastic sockets & switches or fancy metal ones?

Get three quotes.

I can answer all those questions if it helps. Would just like an idea before deciding to buy the property, or not.

Occupied: No
Lift carpets: No
Floorboards: Yes
Loft boards: No
Electric cooker: Yes (gas hob)
Electric shower: No
Bathroom ext. fan: Yes
TV aerial: To be installed
Switches/sockets: white plastic
New consumer unit

The annoying thing is that I'm quite able to do (pretty much all) the work myself but not being a qualified/certified electrician gives rise to the issue of signing it all off.

 

[1john]

Not only do you have the problem of signing it off, it is unlikely that you have the equipment or knowledge to safely test the installation to check that it complies, also you more than likely do not have the relevent literature to design and calculate the circuits.

A ball park figure would be about £2k or £3k, it is really hard to say TBH. You may well find an electrician that is willing to design the installations and leave you full instructions of how to chase the walls out and where and maybe even run cables as long as he can inspect them fully but it would be sully to assume this so I would advise that you dont start anything until you find someone tidy that you trust and get him or her on side.

 

[delboybully]

I suggest you phone your local building control officer and have a chat with him/her. I am not a qualified electrician but I recently had an extension added to my home. I wired it all up myself, building control came round to inspect the cable runs before they were covered up, and then i had a new consumer unit installed and the whole system tested. All passed, job done! You will have to pay building control a fee but it will probably work out a lot cheaper for you. Only attempt this if you do know what you are doing with electrics (which you say you do)

 

[Coz]

I suggest you phone your local building control officer and have a chat with him/her. I am not a qualified electrician but I recently had an extension added to my home. I wired it all up myself, building control came round to inspect the cable runs before they were covered up, and then i had a new consumer unit installed and the whole system tested. All passed, job done! You will have to pay building control a fee but it will probably work out a lot cheaper for you. Only attempt this if you do know what you are doing with electrics (which you say you do)

I have emailed the local BC who have basically come back and said it would be cheaper to have a certified electrician deal with all matters of the installation rather than me do the work and have them inspect it! I feel somewhat as though I'm being fobbed off!

 

[delboybully]

I think you would be better off phoning them up and talking to someone rather than doing it through email. I found my building inspector very friendly and helpful. You want to speak to an actual building inspector.

I didnt have to pay any extra building control costs in regard to the electrics as these were including in the costs for my extension (total for whole extension was in the region of £350) so i cant see how it would be cheaper to have an electrician do the whole thing!

I am by no means an expert on these things but i think you have 3 options

1- Pay an electrician to do the whole job

2- Get an electrician to design the system and you do the cable laying, box cutting etc yourself and have the electrician fix the sockets and light fittings and sign it off (if you can find one that is ok with that)

3- Do the rewire yourself and get an electrician to install a new consumer unit and test the system. I posted this job on 'myhammer' and got quoted various amounts the lower of which were £200 with no feedback and £230 from someone with over 100 feedback (this is labour only- i purchased the consumer unit and other materials). If there is any problems with the testing this will be down to you, make sure you are in when the testing is going on so if there is a problem, eg. a broken ring, you can go find the fault

If i were you i would phone a building control officer and say that your are going to do the wiring yourself and you want it inspected. Ask what they need to see and also how much it will cost.

If you do the re-wire yourself then check the prices of materials from an electrical wholesaler or 2 (ask for a trade discount), they are often a lot cheaper and better quality than places like Wickes and B&Q

Good luck and keep us informed

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Yes, don't mess about with email, get on the blower and ask to speak with the actual inspector who deals with your area, don't bother speaking with the inspector who happens to be in the office. Get up a dialogue with him, chances are he'll be fairly helpful.

 

[Coz]

Latest reply from BC :

We do not have any qualified surveyor to inspect electrics and therefore would have to use a sub contracted electrician to inspect and supply you with your completion certificate. Otherwise it would mean requesting a charge for the Building Regulations application and a charge to cover the cost of what the electrician's work.
Therefore we have phased out this method of inspection and would ask you to deal directly with the contractor.

I prefer email as I have a speech impediment and get 'nervous' at times when dealing with people on the phone.

 

[D_Hailsham]

I have emailed the local BC who have basically come back and said it would be cheaper to have a certified electrician deal with all matters of the installation rather than me do the work and have them inspect it!

In my area the BC charges for a re-wire add up to £168, which is much cheaper than the £2-4k suggested as a ball park figure for a qualified electrician to do the job.

A breakdown of the costs is:

Plans - £60
Inspection - £108

However each plans submission and inspection is charged separately.

 

[delboybully]

I cant say for a re-wire but for my extension all the building inspector wanted to see was where the cables ran to make sure they were acceptable eg no diagonal cables in wall, no cables in insulation, cable in safe zones etc. I cant see how he needed any special skills that a normal surveyor would have. It was pretty obvious stuff really for anyone who has done even a little research. Did you point out to them that you are going to get a qualified electrician the install a new consumer unit and to test the system

Seeing as you get nervous on the phone, maybe you could ask someone else to speak the BC for you.

 

[1john]

In my area the BC charges for a re-wire add up to £168, which is much cheaper than the £2-4k suggested as a ball park figure for a qualified electrician to do the job.

A breakdown of the costs is:

Plans - £60
Inspection - £108

I didn't notice on your breakdown of the £168 where the labor, materials, insurance, van running, clerical, scheme registration, upkeep of tools and pension provision was, did you miss a bit out??

 

[D_Hailsham]

Plans - £60
Inspection - £108

I didn't notice on your breakdown of the £168 where the labor, materials, insurance, van running, clerical, scheme registration, upkeep of tools and pension provision was, did you miss a bit out??

Sorry, I didn't word it corrrectly.

The £60 is Building Control's charge for checking and passing the plans

The £108 is Building Control's charge for inspecting and passing the work.

It's not the cost of doing the work