The short answer
The electrical work for a typical UK rewire takes around 3–5 days for a one or two-bedroom flat, 5–10 working days for a three-bedroom house, and up to two weeks or more for larger four and five-bedroom homes. That figure is only the wiring, though. Once plastering, decorating and making good the chased walls and lifted floors are added, the overall project commonly runs to two to three weeks. The timeline lengthens if you are living in the property, if access is awkward, or if a new consumer unit and additional circuits are included. An empty house is always faster than an occupied one.
People usually ask this for two reasons: planning where to live during the work, and judging whether a quoted timescale is realistic. The figures below separate the wiring itself from the full project.
Typical rewire timescales
- 1–2 bed flat~3–5 days (wiring)
- 3-bed house~5–10 working days
- 4–5 bed house~2 weeks or more
- Plus making goodOften +1–2 weeks
- Empty vs occupiedEmpty is faster
How long the work takes by property size
A rewire is labour-led, so the timescale scales with the number of rooms, circuits and points rather than just floor area. The wiring stage is the disruptive part: lifting floorboards, chasing channels into walls for cables, and fitting back boxes for sockets and switches.
Two homes with the same floor area can still take very different lengths of time. A modern, easy-access house with timber floors and stud walls is quicker to wire than an older property with solid masonry and lath-and-plaster ceilings, even if the room count is identical. The figures below are therefore indicative ranges rather than a fixed schedule, and the right number for a specific property depends on its age, construction, layout and whether anyone is living in it during the work.
It also helps to think in terms of points and circuits rather than rooms. A rewire's labour is driven by how many sockets, switches, lights and other accessories have to be run and connected, and how many separate circuits feed them, far more than by the floor area in square metres. A compact house packed with sockets, downlights and a couple of extra circuits for a kitchen and a shower can take longer than a larger, more sparsely wired property. When an electrician quotes a timescale they are counting these positions, judging the construction, and estimating how long each run will take — which is why a walk-round of the actual property gives a far more reliable figure than any general table can.
| Property | Electrical work | Full project incl. making good |
|---|---|---|
| 1-bed flat | ~3–5 days | ~1–2 weeks |
| 3-bed house | ~5–10 working days | ~2–3 weeks |
| 4-bed house | ~7–12 working days | ~3 weeks |
| 5-bed detached | ~10–15 working days | ~3–4 weeks |
Indicative UK timescales for guidance, not a fixed schedule. Sources: Checkatrade and MyJobQuote rewiring guides.
Why the full project is longer than the wiring
The quoted electrical time rarely covers the whole job. A rewire involves three broad phases that overlap or follow one another:
- First fix: running new cables through walls, floors and ceilings, and fitting back boxes. This is the messiest stage and the bulk of the labour.
- Second fix: fitting the sockets, switches, light fittings and the new consumer unit, then testing and certifying the installation.
- Making good: plastering over the chased walls, filling, and decorating. This is often done by a separate plasterer and decorator, and the plaster needs time to dry before painting.
It is the making-good stage that stretches the calendar. The electrician may finish in a week, but plastering, drying and redecorating can add one to two weeks on top before rooms are usable again. The drying time for fresh plaster is effectively fixed — no amount of extra labour shortens it — so a realistic timeline always builds in several days between the plaster going on and the first coat of paint. This is the part homeowners most often underestimate when they hear only the electrician's quoted figure.
What slows a rewire down
Several factors push the timeline towards the upper end of the range:
- Living in during the work: the electrician has to work around furniture, people and a partial power supply, room by room, rather than racing through an empty shell.
- Property age and construction: solid walls, lath-and-plaster ceilings, awkward access and concrete floors all make running cable slower than a modern, easy-access build.
- Scope creep: adding more sockets, downlights, outdoor circuits, EV charging or a new consumer unit all add hours.
- A part rewire of just the kitchen, bathroom or one floor is much quicker than a whole-house job, but still needs making good.
The single biggest variable is whether the house is occupied. In an empty property the electrician can work continuously across every room, lift all the floors at once and run cable without protecting furniture or maintaining a partial supply, which compresses the schedule considerably. In an occupied home the same job is staged room by room or floor by floor so the household keeps some power and somewhere to live, and that stretches the elapsed time well beyond the raw labour hours. This is why the same three-bedroom house might be wired in a week empty but take two to three weeks occupied once the staging and the daily setting-up and clearing-away are accounted for.
It also helps to agree the sequence with other trades before work starts. If the property is being renovated, the rewire should come before plastering and decorating, because chasing walls and lifting floors would damage fresh finishes. Coordinating the electrician with the plasterer and decorator so each can follow on without long gaps keeps the overall project as short as it realistically can be. At the end of a rewire, the new work is certified with an Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) and, where the work is notifiable under Part P of the Building Regulations, registered with Building Control — usually automatically through the electrician's competent person scheme.
How a rewire is typically sequenced
Understanding the order of work helps you picture where the days go and plan around the disruption. A whole-house rewire usually runs in three overlapping phases.
- First fix (the longest phase): the electrician lifts floorboards, chases channels into walls and runs all the new cables back to the position of the consumer unit, fitting the back boxes for sockets, switches and lights. This is the dustiest, most disruptive stretch and accounts for much of the labour.
- Consumer unit and second fix: the new board is fitted, then the sockets, switches and light fittings are connected. The installation is tested at this stage — insulation resistance, earthing, polarity and RCD operation — before being energised and certified.
- Making good: a plasterer fills and skims the chased walls and ceilings, the plaster is left to dry, and a decorator redecorates. Floorboards are relaid.
In an occupied home the electrician usually works room by room or floor by floor, keeping as much of the house live as possible, which spreads the work over more elapsed days than an empty property. The drying time for fresh plaster is a fixed delay that no amount of labour can shorten, which is why the overall project routinely runs a week or more beyond the electrical work itself.
Frequently asked questions
Can you rewire a house in a day?
No. Even a small flat takes several days for the wiring alone, and a three-bedroom house typically needs 5 to 10 working days before plastering and making good. A one-day job would be a very minor partial rewire, not a whole-house one.
Is it quicker to rewire an empty house?
Yes, noticeably. An empty property lets the electrician work continuously across all rooms without protecting furniture or maintaining a partial supply, so the same job that takes two to three weeks occupied can be done significantly faster when the house is clear.
Does the timescale include plastering?
Usually not in the electrician's figure. The wiring may take a week, but plastering over the chased walls, letting it dry, and redecorating commonly adds one to two weeks. Always check whether a quoted timescale covers making good.
Sources & further reading
Figures on this page are typical UK ranges drawn from published sources and depend on your specific property. They are guidance, not a quotation. Legal duties are summarised for guidance — confirm the current position on GOV.UK.