Electrical Rewire in Scotland

If your property has not been rewired in the last 25 years, there’s a good chance it will need at least a part of it upgraded to bring it up to the latest safety standards.
As with all frequently used items, connections and components deteriorate over time – and cables can start to fail, or switches or sockets can start falling apart due to age.
As technology has evolved, what was safe many years ago, isn’t able to stand up to the new safeguards required for modern day living.
A full electrical rewire will bring your property up to the latest specifications, minimising chances of electrical faults and keeping you and your loved ones safe.

The best way to find out if you require a full or partial rewire is to consult an electrician, and they can carry out an EICR, letting you know the condition of the installation. These are recommended to be carried out every 10 years for your own domestic property, or 5 years for a rental property or whenever the tenancy has changed.

Quick checks you can make yourself without an electricians expertise can be done by:

• Checking the fuse box – If your fuses need a wire replaced to work and don’t have circuit breakers or an RCD they don’t conform to the latest safety regulations
• There are varying and mixed styling of sockets and switches in the property – this indicates there may have been a partial rewire at some point and may require further investigation
• There are surface mounted sockets near the floor level fitted to the skirting boards – due to newer regulations these points should be a certain distance from the ground to prevent them being damaged
• There is cable fixed to the surface of the wall or skirting boards (and not hidden within a wall or cavity)
• The colour and style of the cabling is either made from rubber, fabric or is lead insulated – these materials break down and deteriorate faster compared to the new PVCu types, which can lead to short circuiting. This is not only a fire hazard but in some cases, combined with an old fuse box, could lead to electrocution.
  The older cables typically have red and black cores inside, whilst the newer cables are typically grey/white, have blue and brown cores inside.

Multiple reasons could lead to an electrical rewire, safety is the main issue and keeping your property safe and up to the best protection by implementing the latest British Standards.

Aside from peace of mind by keeping yourself and your family safe, you can custom design the locations of the outlets, to positions that are the most convenient for you – better spots for charging mobile devices, adding more light to an area, or having a new light switch point, the options are endless to make your life easier and give your home a fresh future-proof facelift in the process.

And not only this, but you may also benefit from lowering your cost of home insurance premiums by having an up to date installation.

The full scope of an electrical rewire is replacing all your existing circuits cables with solid new conductors, replacing electrical outlets such as sockets and switches, and if required a new consumer unit with the latest safety measures.

In order to carry out the work by complying to regulations, this means concealing the new cables in safe zones within the wall, floor, attic, ceilings & fabric of the building.

As such it can create quite a dusty environment while we install the new cables and points as it generally involves lifting carpets and floorboards, channeling out the brickwork, drilling holes for new cables routes. The job will be required to be plastered after completion to secure and conceal the new cables in place.

The rewire will be done in two stages:

First Fix

Create channels and routes for new circuits, install back boxes and new copper cabling to points.

This is the stage which will cause the most disruption, and if there’s any other work planned, such as plumbing, decorating or floor laying, this stage absolutely requires to be done before or liaising with other contractors – you don’t want a new laminate floor laid, only to find out it needs to come back up!

We can also install CAT-6 cabling for internet service points as required, and any special solution requirements.

Second fix

Once all cables are in place, we can start fitting out the new outlets such as sockets, switches and light fittings (we have an optional LED upgrade service to change all lights to the new cost efficient devices).

Then we can install a new consumer unit, and once everything is done and complete, we’ll conduct a full test and commissioning of the system before producing an Electrical Installation Certificate to sign it off.