Guides
Hiring an electrician, explained
What the trade actually does, what things should cost, what a quote ought to contain, how to check somebody is who they say they are, and what to do when something trips, flickers or beeps.
All nineteen guides
How to check an electrician is registered
A scheme logo on a van is a claim. A registration number checked on the scheme's own search confirms the business was assessed, is insured, and can certify notifiable work. It takes about a minute.
Part P: which electrical work has to be notified
England narrowed the list in 2013. Wales did not follow and kept the wider original version. Scotland and Northern Ireland run separate regimes altogether, so the same socket can be notifiable on one side of a border and not the other.
Electrician hourly rate in the UK: what you are paying for
£45 to £90 an hour is the working range for a domestic electrician, with a minimum charge that usually covers the first hour or two. The rate is the smaller half of what a short job costs.
How long common electrical jobs take
Most domestic jobs are shorter than people expect and most rewires are longer. The variable that decides nearly all of it is not the work at the end of the cable, it is the route the cable has to take.
EICR codes explained: C1, C2, C3 and FI
One letter and one digit against each observation decides whether a report is satisfactory, what has to be fixed and by when. C3 looks like a failure and is not one.
Questions to ask an electrician before you hire
Six questions, asked before anybody agrees to anything, and a different set depending on whether the job is a small one, a notifiable one or a project.
Electrician qualifications in the UK: what each one means
Level 3, the AM2, the wiring regulations exam and the inspection and testing qualification are four separate things. Only one of them makes somebody an electrician, and the phrase Part P qualified is not any of them.
Electrical quote: what it should include
Eight lines. A quote with all eight on it can be compared line by line against another.
How to find a good electrician
Start from who is genuinely local, check one number, ask how they approach fault finding, and treat availability as information rather than as an obstacle.
Smoke alarm beeping? Why it chirps and how to stop it
A single chirp every minute or so is almost always a low battery, and on a mains alarm it is the backup cell. If a fresh battery does not stop it, the alarm itself has usually reached the end of its life, which for most is ten years from manufacture.
What is an RCD? RCD vs RCBO and which you need
An RCD cuts the power in a fraction of a second when current leaks to earth, and in a home it is set to trip at 30 milliamps. An RCBO does the same for a single circuit and adds the overload protection of a circuit breaker, so one fault switches off one circuit instead of half the house.
Lights flickering? Causes and when to call an electrician
One flickering light is usually the bulb, a lamp that has worked loose or an LED that does not suit its dimmer. Lights flickering across the whole house, or dimming each time something big switches on, point at a loose connection or a supply fault, and that is a job for an electrician or the network operator.
What is a consumer unit? What it does and when to replace
A consumer unit is the box, usually near the meter, that divides the incoming supply into circuits and holds the devices that switch each one off when something goes wrong. It is the modern fuse box, and replacing one is notifiable work in England and Wales that typically costs £450 to £900.
What is an EICR? What it checks and when you need one
An EICR, or electrical installation condition report, is an inspection and test of a property's fixed wiring that records anything unsafe or out of date. Private landlords in England must have one at least every five years; homeowners are advised to have one at least every ten.
Are solar panels worth it in the UK? When they pay back
Solar panels earn their cost back over years, not months: a 4kW system costs £5,500 to £9,500 fitted, and the return comes from the electricity you stop buying plus export payments for what goes to the grid. Whether that is worth it depends on three numbers you can find before signing anything.
Trip switch keeps tripping? How to find the faulty circuit
A trip switch that keeps going off is doing its job: something on that circuit is leaking current to earth or drawing more than the circuit can carry. Switching everything off and bringing circuits and appliances back one at a time usually narrows it to a single appliance or a single circuit before anybody is called.
Ring main vs radial circuit, and what a spur socket is
A ring main runs from the consumer unit round a set of sockets and back again, so every socket is fed from both directions. A radial runs out and stops at the last socket. A spur is a branch off either, and an unfused spur from a ring should feed only one single or one double socket.
No power in the house? The checks to make first
First find out whether it is only your home. If the neighbours and street lights are out too, it is a power cut, and 105 is the free number to report it in England, Scotland and Wales. If only your home, or part of it, has gone off, the cause is almost always a tripped switch at the consumer unit.
Emergency lighting regulations UK: what the law requires
The law does not list the fittings you need. It requires whoever controls a workplace, or the shared parts of a block of flats, to assess the fire risk and make sure escape routes stay lit if the mains fail. In practice that means emergency lighting designed to the British Standard, a monthly test, an annual full duration test and written records.