Full and partial rewires, planned around the villa the wire runs through.

What is included

• Full rewire of every final circuit (lighting, sockets, cooker, shower, immersion, garage, outbuildings) in modern 6242Y twin-and-earth, sized correctly for the run length and thermal derating
• New 18th edition Amendment 2 consumer unit, dual-RCD or all-RCBO to specification, with Type 2 SPD
• Main earth and equipotential bonding upgraded to current spec, TN-S or TN-C-S confirmed with UKPN as needed
• Metal-clad back boxes on all wall points, fire-rated downlight cans with correct thermal cutouts where the loft above is insulated
• Full test schedule (insulation resistance at 500V, earth-fault-loop, RCD 5x trip, continuity, polarity), Electrical Installation Certificate issued on completion
• Part P notification through Thanet District Council building control
• Reasonable chasing, first-fix and make-good back to plaster line; decorative finish is a separate trade the customer arranges or we sub-contract

Broadstairs Victorian villa constraints

The bulk of rewires we quote are on the two- and three-storey solid-brick Victorian villas that line Stone Road, Ramsgate Road, the streets behind Victoria Parade and the Kingsgate side approach. The house wants a rewire, but the house also has original cornicing, picture rails, wide floorboards and lath-and-plaster ceilings that a heavy-handed contractor can ruin in a morning. That is the constraint every quote is built around.

Cable-drop routes we prefer, in order

• Under floorboards, first-floor down. Lifting a strip of boards along the joists gives us a runway to feed lighting and upstairs sockets without touching the plaster below.
• Chimney breast voids and old gas-pipe chases. Every villa has them and they save yards of new chasing.
• Existing conduit or trunking. Where a 1960s or 1980s partial rewire left conduit in situ, we use it if it tests clean.
• Surface trunking in cellars and under-stairs. Ugly but honest, and reversible.
• Chased into brick. Only where nothing else works, and only in vertical drops per the safe zones of BS 7671.

What we do not do is cut horizontal chases across a lath-and-plaster wall between two sockets. That is the fastest route on a modern block wall and the slowest, most damaging route in a Broadstairs villa.

Full rewire versus partial rewire

A partial is honest work when the ground floor was already redone in the 1990s in modern PVC and the upstairs is still rubber-insulated. We can rewire the upstairs circuits back to a new board, leave the ground floor in place, and note the age split on the EIC. Insulation resistance at 500V decides the argument, not opinion. Any circuit that fails the 1 megohm floor gets rewired, any that passes with margin stays.

How long the disruption lasts

A typical 3-bed Victorian rewire is five to eight working days on site. The pattern is: day one, board off and first fix begins upstairs. Days two to four, first fix across all floors, boards lifted, drops made. Day five, second fix (accessories, board on, energise). Days six and seven if the property is larger or a chimney-breast run needs a specialist. We can work around a client who has to stay in the house, but a rewire is a dusty job and most customers move out for the middle three days if they can.

Testing and certification

Every circuit is tested twice: once dead at first fix (insulation resistance, continuity, polarity) and once live at energise (earth-fault-loop, RCD trip time). Test results are logged on the Electrical Installation Certificate against each circuit. Part P notification goes to Thanet DC building control the same week the job finishes, and the compliance certificate comes back to you by post.

Indicative pricing

Fixed price after a site visit that includes at least one insulation-resistance test on a representative circuit.

• £4,500 to £5,500 - small 2-bed terrace or flat, straightforward first-fix routes
• £5,500 to £6,500 - typical 3-bed Victorian villa, partial chimney-breast work included
• £6,500 to £7,500 - 4-bed villa or larger detached with garage, outbuilding, and more than one bathroom

Excludes plastering and decoration beyond first-fix make-good, and excludes any DNO cutout or tail changes. Listed or heritage properties are priced separately once the consent route is known.

Compliance in short

Work is completed to BS 7671:2018 Amendment 2:2022. Rewires are notifiable under Part P and are registered with Thanet District Council building control. Electrical Installation Certificate issued on completion, kept on file for six years.