Listed Building Rewires Bath | Georgian & Heritage Rewiring

Rewiring Bath's Georgian and listed houses

The whole city of Bath has been a World Heritage Site since 1987, and its listed buildings run from the Grade I crescents to ordinary terraces of Bath stone. None of these houses was built with electricity. Most were wired in the twentieth century, some more carefully than others, and many now carry a patchwork of old and new circuits behind historic plaster.

A heritage rewire is about where the cables go as much as what they are. The aim is a modern, safe, fully tested installation that leaves cornices, shutters, panelling and lath-and-plaster ceilings as they were. That takes more planning time and less cutting, and it is how we price and programme these jobs.

Church nave during works, with spotlights mounted along the wall plate beneath the timber roof and a stone arcade below — Spotlights mounted along the wall plate of a church nave, during works. On heritage jobs the fitting, the route to it and the switch that controls it are all agreed before work starts.

Listed building consent and the World Heritage city

Listed building consent is required for works that alter a listed building in a way that affects its character, and that applies inside as well as out. Lifting historic boards, chasing original plaster, fixing to panelling, or replacing fittings that contribute to a room's character can all fall within it. Doing that work without consent where it is needed is a criminal offence.

The consent application is the owner's (or their architect's) to make. Our part is to make it straightforward. We survey, propose routes that use existing voids and previous cable paths, and set out fixing methods and accessory finishes so the conservation officer can see exactly what will and will not be touched.

What a Bath townhouse throws at an electrician

Cantilevered stone staircases with no void beneath, so circuits between floors have to find another route.
Deep cornices and ceiling roses that must not be cracked from below, so upper-floor work is done from above by lifting boards.
Shutter boxes, panelling and timber architraves that can hide a cable neatly, or be damaged by a careless one.
Basements and vaults where the supply comes in, often damp, often a long way from the rooms that need the power.
Previous wiring in old conduit or surface runs that can sometimes be reused as a route for new cable.

Period wall sconce lit on a staircase wall beneath a decorative cornice — A period wall sconce on a staircase wall beneath a moulded cornice. Fittings like this are positioned and fed so the cornice itself is left alone.

How we approach a heritage rewire

Survey and route plan. Every room, every void we can access, the board position and the earthing. We mark proposed routes and flag anything likely to need consent.
Scheme for consent. Routes, fixing methods, accessory finishes and light fitting positions written up for you or your architect to submit.
Protection. Floors, stairs and joinery protected before work starts. Boards lifted are numbered and put back in place.
Installation. New circuits run through the agreed routes to a new RCBO consumer unit, usually in the original board position so as not to open new routes.
Test and certify. Full testing, Electrical Installation Certificate and Part P notification through NAPIT.

Ceiling light fitting centred within a room with an original moulded cornice — A ceiling fitting in a room with a moulded cornice. On upper floors we work from the room above wherever we can, so the ceiling below is not cut.

How we price heritage rewires

No two listed houses are the same, so we don't publish a price list. The price depends on the size of the property, how it is built, the cable routes the fabric allows and how much of the wiring can stay. An EICR first shows which circuits are sound. We survey, then give you a fixed written quote.

Get a quote

For general rewires of unlisted Bath homes, see our rewires in Bath page. For lighting and wider heritage electrical work, including churches and commercial buildings, see heritage electrical work in Bath.

Heritage rewire questions

Do I need listed building consent to rewire a listed house in Bath?

Often, yes. Listed building consent is needed for alterations that affect the character of a listed building, and that includes internal work such as chasing historic plaster or moving fittings. Carrying out work that needed consent without it is a criminal offence, so the question is settled with Bath and North East Somerset Council before work starts. We help by preparing a clear scheme: proposed cable routes, fixing methods and accessory details.

Can you rewire without cutting into original plaster?

Most of the time. We reuse existing routes and service voids, lift original floorboards carefully and put them back like for like, run cables behind skirting and architrave lines, and use the shallowest neat surface fixing where nothing else works. Where a chase is unavoidable, it is only done with consent and filled with a lime-compatible base coat.

Will the switches and sockets look modern?

Only if you want them to. Our default range is Click Deco and Deco Plus screwless plates in chrome, brass, antique brass or brushed steel. For period rooms we also fit traditional-style brass and bronze accessories, and we will agree finishes room by room before ordering.

How much does a heritage rewire cost?

Every listed job is quoted per property after a survey, because the price depends far more on cable routes and the fabric of the building than on bedroom count. A listed flat in a converted townhouse is priced the same way, once we have seen it.

Do you work with our architect or conservation officer?

Yes. We work from the architect's drawings where there are some, and produce our own route plan and specification where there are not, so the conservation officer can see exactly what is proposed.