London Electrician Charges & Prices
Find out how much it costs to hire an electrician in London
Electrician prices vary depending on where you’re located and the type of electrical work you want done. Rates may also vary depending on whether you need a domestic electrician for your home, or a commercial electrician for your business. Electrician prices in London also tend to be higher due to the cost of living also being higher in the capital.
How Electricians Charge
For small, simple electrical jobs, you may be quoted a fixed price, an hourly rate, or day rate, while for larger, more complex electrical projects you’ll either get an estimate, or a fixed price quote for the work. Labour & materials are quoted separately, with different guarantee periods.
Most electrical contracting companies have a regular price list for small simple jobs, like changing a socket or replacing a fuse board. Rewiring jobs, on the other hand, need a site visit before a firm price can be quoted. Rewiring prices depend on range of factors, not just limited to the size of the property.
The electrician prices quoted here are based on our own experience, as domestic and commercial electricians in central London, since the Millennium. All prices quoted are exclusive of VAT.
While this guide seeks to help you to get a feel for typical electrician costs in London, in an industry where safety is paramount, price should not be your only consideration when choosing an electrician. You’ll want to make sure that the electrician you choose is suitably qualified and experienced for the particular type of electrical work you want them to undertake, and has a track record of providing high-quality work and good customer service.
All Pimlico electricians are City & Guilds Level 3 qualified to BS 7671 Requirements for Electrical Installations NICEIC National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting approved, and considered a ‘Competent Person’ and able to work unsupervised.
Electrician Hourly Rates
The average UK electrician hourly rate is £40 – £80 per hour, with small independent electricians priced at the lower end, and larger firms, with higher overheads, at the top end of the scale. Expect also, to pay closer to top end of the scale, for an electrician in London, or in the South of England, compared to the rest of the UK.
At Pimlico Electricians, our standard hourly rate is £80 / hour + VAT.
Electrician Day Rates
Most UK electricians typically charge in the region of £300 – £500 per day for labour, with materials at extra cost, often based on a cost + x percent basis. Again, South England and London electrician day rates tend to be at the top end.
Fixed Price Quotes & Estimates
For larger jobs a site inspection may be needed so a price can be quoted, or an estimate given. Electrician quotes or estimates will detail the work to be provided, the expected number of hours for the job, and the material costs.
Lon larger jobs, Pimlico Electricians, we always provide a fixed price quote so you always know in advance how much the job will cost and there won’t be any nasty surprises at the end.
Electrician Call-Out Fees
Many UK and London electricians charge a minimum call-out fee. This is often the same as the electrician’s hourly rate, to ensure ensures that very small jobs are still worth an electrician’s time.
At Pimlico Electricians, we do not charge a minimum call-out fee, even on small jobs.
Factors Affecting Electrician Prices
Distance: if the electrical contractor needs to travel out of their normal area, they may charge extra to cover the extra travel costs.
Access: difficulties with access can increase time on site, resulting in higher labour costs. For example, access to a boarded-out ceiling void may increase the time required for rewiring. If internal walls are solid block, more time is needed to chase out, sink in new cables, and make good.
Emergency: if you need work to be done immediately, such as for an ‘out-of-hours’ electrical emergency situation, many electricians charge extra for this.
At Pimlico Electricians, we don’t charge extra for out-of-hours emergency call-outs.
Common Domestic Electrician Job Prices
Sockets & Switches
Expect to pay in the region of £50 – £80 per socket or switch, provided the wiring is already installed. If new wiring is required as part of the work, refer to the section on rewiring further down.
Earth Bonding
Earth bonding to water and gas pipes typically takes around 3-8 hours to complete depending on the size of the property. Expect to pay in the region of £150 for a small house or £350 for a larger home.
Replace a Fuse Box
A fuse box controls and distributes the electricity in your home. Old fuse boxes should be replaced by modern consumer units, especially when upgrading or extending your home. Note: older houses may also have wiring issues that need to be sorted out first, to meet current Building Regulations.
Fuse box replacement prices depend on the size of the consumer unit required. Expect to pay £250 – £800 to supply & fit a 10-Way Dual RCD Consumer Unit. Larger houses need a larger consumer unit to replace the old fuse box. Expect to pay £300 – £800 for a 15-Way Dual RCD Consumer Unit.
At Pimlico Electricians, our standard charge for a new Consumer Unit to replace your old fuse box is £620 +VAT. Read more about fuse boxes HERE.
Rewiring a House
If your house is over 30 years old, and still has its original wiring, it probably needs rewiring to ensure it meets current Building Regulations. Rewiring is one of the largest, most disruptive jobs your electrician will undertake, so prices are higher than most other electrical services.
You’ll need an on-site survey before a firm estimate or fixed quote can be provided, but a good rule of thumb for budgetary purposes is £800-£1000 per bedroom, as the larger the house, the more cabling is needed.
Based on this, you should expect to pay around £2500 – £3500 for a 2-bed house, £3000 – £5000 for a 3-bed house, and £4000 – £8000 for a 4 -bed house.
Pimlico Electricians provide a free site survey and fixed price quotes for all major wiring & rewiring projects, to include earthing and cross-bonding. Get a quote here or read more about the most common factors affecting the cost of rewiring your house HERE.
Electric Shower Installation
Because electric showers they combine water and electricity, it’s essential they’re installed correctly and safely. The work needs to carried out by either a Part-P certified plumber or an electrician.
Showers are powered by kilowatts (kW). The higher the kW the more powerful the shower and the bigger the cable needs to be. The shower will need its own circuit which needs to be RCD protected to meet regulations. Your consumer unit should already have RCD’s and hopefully, space for a new circuit. If not, a stand-alone RCD unit stand will also be required.
All electricians are certified to install the electrical aspect of the job, but not many plumbers. They need to be part-P certified. Therefore, if you use an electrician, then you may still need to a plumber for that side of the job. They will need to do all the works relating to water (i.e whether you need pipes in the wall).
An electric shower usually takes between 3-8 hours to install. Prices below are for labour (installation) only and don’t include the cost of the shower.
Expect to pay between £200 and £500 to install a new electric shower. If you already have an electric shower, the cable that’s currently installed may be sufficient to power your new shower. If that’s that case, and you simply need a new shower to replace your existing one, expect to pay closer to £80 – £150, for installation, plus the cost of the shower itself.
Extractor Fan Installation
Bathrooms with hot showers and high humidity, along with kitchens, utility rooms and WCs that don’t dry sufficiently, are most susceptible to damp if there is no good ventilation. At best, this can cause mould, or worse, problems such wall plaster and flooring rot. An extractor fan can help prevent these problems by removing excess moisture in the air in the room.
An extractor fan can help prevent these problems by removing excess moisture in the air within the room.
Expect to pay between £80 to £200 to install an extractor fan, excluding the cost of fan itself, the final cost being dependent on whether it is a wall-mounted or a ceiling mounted extractor fan, and whether it is a new fan in a new location, or a simple replacement for an existing fan.
Installing a new external wall-mounted fan requires drilling the wall to the outside. New ceiling fans usually need a ducting pipe to the eaves, venting out through a grille on the soffit. Wall fans generally have a less complicated setup and cost less to install from scratch.
If you are simply replacing an existing extractor fan, then the wiring, ducts and vents already exist, so the job can be done more quickly and cheaply. Unless parts need replacing, the cost will be less than compared to a new extractor fan installation due, to the extra fixtures that need to be installed from scratch.
The size of your room will determine the size of the extractor fan you require. Bathrooms generally need a more powerful fan than a kitchen because while kitchens are at some risk of damp issues due to moisture from cooking, bathrooms are typically more prone due to the condensation caused by showers and baths. Expect to pay more for a bathroom extractor fan.
Common Commercial Electrician Job Prices
PAT Testing
Portable appliance testing is used to examine electrical equipment and appliances and ensure they are safe to use. Generally PAT testing is only required for appliances used in a commercial setting, or where the property is being rented, in which case the landlord should get this done before the property is rented to a new tenant, and periodically thereafter.
While PAT testing isn’t required by law, it makes it easier to satisfy the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. A PAT testing certificate is issued on completion, along with every serial number of the appliances tested.
Most electricians charge a flat fee for PAT testing, that covers up to say 50 items. Expect to pay from £50 – £100, then an extra £1 – £2.50 per appliance over the set number. For a large site with a lot of appliances, quoted on a day rate, expect to pay around £400 – £500.
Many electricians also offer an extra service for failed appliances, such as replacing fuses, rewiring plugs and replacing faulty plugs. Expect to pay between £1.50 and £5 per item depending on the fault and work required.
Electrical Safety Certificates
An electrical safety certificate for an owner / occupied house, or an Electrical Inspection Condition Report or EICR for rented properties, is a report that shows if tehe sockets, wiring, light switches and consumer board meet modern safety standards. They are important when selling your home or whenever there is a change of tenant within a rented property.
The Electrical Safety Council recommends an electrical safety inspection and report to be conducted every 5 years or whenever rented property tenant changes, whichever one is sooner.
Expect to pay for an EICR can be between £120 – £300, depending on the size of the property and the number of electrical outlets, which correlates to the size of the building.
Pimlico Electricians charge £185 for an average size property EICR Report. Read more about EICR Inspection Reports HERE.
Get a Quote From Pimlico Electricians
We’ve done our best to give you a good idea of what you can expect to pay for an electrician in London for a variety of common electrical jobs. However, this guide is not a substitute for an accurate, fixed quote created specifically for you.
Request a FREE no obligation quote for your particular electrical needs here