An old house in Bruton does not automatically need a rewire. Plenty of installations here can be put right with targeted remedial work, and some genuinely cannot. The way to tell the difference is a proper inspection and test, read honestly. This page explains how we make that call, with a real Bruton example where remedials, not a rewire, were the answer.
An Electrical Installation Condition Report looks at every circuit. We inspect the board, accessories, cable runs we can reach, earthing and bonding, then carry out dead and live tests: continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth fault loop impedance and RCD operation. Every reading goes on the schedule. That record is what turns a vague worry about old wiring into a decision you can price.
The inspection is priced on the number of circuits. Book it through our EICR page for Bruton.
Any C1, C2 or FI makes the report unsatisfactory. What matters for the rewire question is not the number of codes but where they sit. Ten codes scattered across fittings and one board can be cheap to clear. Three codes that all trace back to failing cable on most circuits point the other way.
The price depends on the size, construction and access of the property, so we don't publish a price list. An inspection is priced on the number of circuits. Remedial work is quoted in writing from the report, item by item, and a partial or full rewire gets a fixed written price after a survey.
A five-year landlord inspection in Bruton this year came back with a C1 on a burnt-out immersion heater element, C2s for unsupported cabling in the loft, a loft floodlight with no local means of isolation, and a broken switch. None of that needed a rewire. We cleared every coded item, re-tested and issued updated certification. The owner paid for the fixes the report asked for, not for a new installation.
That is the usual pattern when faults are in accessories, fixings, individual appliances or later additions rather than the cable running through the walls.
When those show up together, a full rewire is usually the cheaper route over the life of the house, and you finish with a new RCBO board, interlinked mains alarms, an Electrical Installation Certificate and Part P notification.
Anonymised jobs from this year. The Bruton job is the clearest example of remedials doing the job a rewire might have been assumed to need.
Bruton's medieval and Tudor cottages in the old core have low ceilings, uneven floors and walls where every cable route needs thought. Georgian townhouses have height and a lot of rooms. Victorian terraces are the most regular to work in. Converted mills and barns can have long runs and wiring installed in stages as the conversion went along. Each one changes how a rewire is planned and how long it takes. For listed buildings, see heritage rewires in Bruton.
Leave your details and a line about the job. We will ring you back to talk it through and arrange a survey or a written price.
Usually, yes. If the report confirms the cable is failing throughout, you go into the rewire with evidence and a clear scope. If it shows the cable is sound and the problems are fittings or the board, you may save thousands. Either way the decision is based on readings rather than the age of the house.
No. The law requires remedial or further investigative work to be done within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so, and written confirmation to go to the tenant and the local housing authority within 28 days of completion. That usually means fixing the coded items, not rewiring. We quote the remedials item by item and re-test once they are done.
A C1 means there is danger present now. With your agreement, we make it safe before we leave, which may mean isolating a circuit or a piece of equipment. The permanent repair is then quoted and carried out. In Bruton this year a burnt-out immersion heater element was coded C1 and then cleared as part of the remedial work.
Yes, and many people do. Clearing the C1 and C2 items makes the installation satisfactory, and you can plan a rewire for when the house is being redecorated or renovated. We just will not recommend spending heavily on repairs to cable that the readings say is close to the end of its life.
Older and larger houses typically take 2 to 3 weeks. A three-bedroom house of more regular construction is usually 5 to 10 working days, and a flat 3 to 4 days. We work circuit by circuit, so most people can live at home throughout.
Priced by the job, not by the hour. A written, fixed price after a survey, NAPIT certification on every notifiable job.
07889 334849