Planning & Design Stage
Planning electrical work in York? Talk to me before you build
Loft conversions, extensions, kitchen refits, rewires, garden rooms and outbuildings, whether it is your home, your business or a property you let. The electrics get fitted near the end of a project, but nearly all the decisions behind them fall due near the beginning. Here is what has to be settled, when, and why asking costs you nothing.
The cheapest hour on your whole project is the one you spend with an electrician before anything is built. Nothing is committed, nothing is ordered, and every option is still free to change. I tell you what it costs before I start. I do the job properly. There is nothing extra at the end.
There is a reason I push this so hard, and it is not really about saving you money. Almost everybody doing building work has a budget, and my job is to get your electrics as safe as they can be inside it. Talking early is the single best value in that, because at drawing stage the safe answer and the cheap answer are usually the same answer. Once the walls are closed up they stop being the same answer, and that is the point where people start having to choose between the two. I would rather you never reached that point.
Why the electrics get decided early, even though they get fitted late
Sockets and switches turn up at the end of a job, so it is a perfectly reasonable assumption that electrics are a finishing trade you can sort out nearer the time. It is the most expensive assumption I see on renovations, and it is not really about the wiring. It is about the fact that the finished walls, ceilings and floors are the lid on everything I need to reach.
Cable is cheap. A cable route through a closed structure is not. Before the plasterboard goes on, moving a light two feet is a few minutes of my time. After the room is boarded, skimmed, painted and floored, the same change is a chase, a repair, a redecoration and a second visit. The work is identical. The access is what you end up paying for.
So the questions that matter are not technical ones. They are ordinary questions about how you will actually live in the room, and they need answering while the walls are still open.
Not how many lights, but how many separately switched groups, and which lights belong to which. This is the one people most often wish they had thought about. If every downlight in an open-plan room sits on one switch, your only two settings are all on and all off, and there is no way to change it once the ceiling is boarded.
Which wall the bed is against, which side the TV sits, where the desk goes, whether anything gets plugged in on the island. Socket positions are set at first fix. Furniture positions decided afterwards have to fit around them, rather than the other way round.
Spare ways in the consumer unit, the condition of what is already there, and what your incoming main fuse can carry. If the board needs replacing, doing it while the house is open is far cheaper than doing it afterwards, and it changes what the rest of your project can include.
The windows, and what closes them
Every build has a handful of moments where something permanent goes on top of something I need to get at. Miss one and it stops being an electrical decision and becomes a building job. These are the ones I watch for, in roughly the order they arrive.
| The window | What has to be settled before it shuts |
|---|---|
| Before the ground floor screed goes down | Everything buried in the ground floor zone. Kitchen layout confirmed, so appliance circuits land where the appliances land. Heating manifold position confirmed. Anything under a solid floor gets one chance. |
| Before insulated lining goes on external walls | Cables behind the lining, conduit fixed to the masonry, and back boxes set for every socket and switch on an outside wall. |
| Before insulation goes between the joists | First floor cables drilled through the joists. The quilt goes in after the cables, never before. This is also when I leave any circuit you might want later waiting in the loft. |
| Before the ceilings are plasterboarded | Every ceiling feed: lights, alarms, extractor fans, any camera or sensor position, and any concealed lighting in a pelmet or shadow gap. |
| Before tiling | Back boxes set to project the right distance for the tile depth, which means the tile has to be chosen first. A box set for the wrong thickness shows. |
| Before the floorboards go back down | All first floor cables complete. There are no callbacks here, because the boards are the finished floor. |
| Before the staircase goes in | Cable routes through the stair void and the feed for stair lighting. A feature or spiral stair closes this window completely. |
| Before fire protection goes on structural steel | Where the steel is an extraneous-conductive-part, which I establish by test rather than by assumption, the bonding connection to it. Once the steel is encased or painted, the connection point is inaccessible. |
None of that asks you to understand wiring. It asks someone who does to look at your programme once, early, and tell you which of your open questions has a deadline attached to it.
Decide it now. You can buy it later.
This is the most useful thing I can tell anyone at planning stage, and it takes pressure off rather than adding to it. Most of the items that catch people out are not things you have to purchase before the build. They are things you have to choose before the build, because the choice is what determines the cable.
Take a ventilation unit going into a roof space, fitted long after the walls are closed. Power to it is straightforward. Control is the part that bites. Some units want a switched or boosted feed from each room they serve, some want a control cable back to a controller, and some want neither. If the unit is chosen after the walls are shut and it turns out to want a boost signal from the bathroom, that signal cannot be run without opening finished work, which is exactly what the programme was designed to avoid.
So the answer is not to rush your shopping. It is to say out loud, before first fix, roughly what you are heading towards. Where it is genuinely uncertain, I would rather leave a coiled cable at the position and never use it, because the cost of leaving it is trivial and the cost of not having it is opening a finished room. I do the same with future work as standard: if you have a loft that might be converted in five years, the circuit gets run while the floor is up and terminated in a labelled junction box with around ten metres of spare cable beside it. Whoever picks it up later has enough cable to reach wherever the equipment ends up.
What the planning stage costs
Naming the limit of the offer out loud, so there is no awkward moment later.
Phone, WhatsApp, or email me the drawings. I will tell you what needs deciding and when.
On site, before anything is committed. You get the scope and the price in writing.
The electrical work itself is scoped on the survey and priced in writing before anything starts. If a larger build needs a full circuit design worked up from a set of drawings, I will tell you what that involves and what it will cost before I do any of it. How I work and what things cost →
Where to go next, by project
Pick whichever is closest to what you are planning. If you are a landlord upgrading or converting a let property, or planning a commercial fit-out, start at the landlord hub instead. If none of them fit, get in touch anyway and describe the project in your own words.
The order of works
When each trade comes, where the electrician fits in the sequence, and what you need to have decided before first fix. The centrepiece of this section. Renovation order of works →
Loft conversions
The decisions made too late in a loft: the lighting split, socket positions against low eaves, the extractor route, and the alarm arrangement for the rest of the house. Loft conversion electrics →
Rewiring a whole house
Full or partial. What is involved, how long it takes, and how a rewire is staged around a builder so the house stays liveable. House rewiring in York →
Consumer unit and fuse box upgrades
If your project needs new circuits, the board is often the enabling first step. Priced by circuit count, with an RCBO on every circuit. Consumer unit upgrade →
Is my board up to the current regulations?
The honest version of the question most people phrase as "is it 18th edition". What actually matters, what does not, and how to tell. 18th edition consumer units explained →
EV charger
Far easier to plan into a build than to retrofit. Cable route, supply capacity and the network operator application are all simpler while the walls are open. EV charger installation →
Bathrooms and en-suites
A bath or shower zone changes what the work counts as and therefore what has to be notified. Settle the shower position early, because it moves the lighting. Bathroom electrical work →
Garden rooms, garages and outbuildings
The supply is a separate job from the fit-out, and it wants to go in before the slab and the landscaping, not after. Outdoor and outbuilding supplies →
Lighting
Circuit splits, switch positions, dimming and the fittings themselves. The part of a renovation people enjoy deciding, and the part with the earliest deadline. Lighting installation →
How I work and what things cost
The process from first call to final invoice, what drives a price, and why I use the word estimate. Worth five minutes before you speak to anyone. How I work →
Will my fuse box cope? I test before I answer
This comes up on nearly every project, and the honest answer is that nobody can give you a reliable one by looking at it. Adding a circuit does not automatically mean a new consumer unit. It depends on how many spare ways the board has, what condition the existing circuits are in, and what your incoming main fuse can carry, which is set at the service head rather than at your board. Electrical Safety First says as much: a consumer unit need not be replaced merely because it has rewireable fuses, nor because it lacks RCD protection, nor because its enclosure is plastic [3]. Those things may still be worth changing, and often are. They are not, on their own, an automatic reason to rip a board off the wall.
So on any job where the answer matters, I test the existing installation before I commit you to anything. That testing is a priced piece of work, scoped and agreed with you before I do it, and it sits outside the free survey. It establishes whether the wiring will hold on a modern board, and it means nothing surfaces halfway through your build to hold the programme up. I have arrived at a York house and found the board plated with a total load limit well below what the owner assumed. I have opened boards carrying both the old red and black wiring and the newer brown and blue, which means every conductor has to be positively identified before it is reterminated, and that is what turns a four hour board change into a five hour one. Better you hear it from me at the start than see it on an invoice.
If the board does need doing, doing it as part of the build is much cheaper than doing it afterwards. If it does not, I will tell you that too. More on boards: the full consumer unit guide, or the plain-English version, fuse box versus consumer unit. You will hear it called a fuse box, a fuse board or a fuseboard, and they all mean the same thing.
Three things about your fuse box that people get wrong
All three come up in planning conversations, all three get repeated confidently by people who are not being dishonest, and all three can shape a decision you then pay for. Short versions here. The full working is on the consumer unit page.
Not in the wiring regulations at all. The 1350mm to 1450mm figure comes from Approved Document P of the Building Regulations, it is measured to the switches, and Approved Document P describes it as one way of complying with Part M in new dwellings rather than a rule you must follow [2]. The same paragraph records that Approved Document M recommends no height for consumer units at all, and the 450mm to 1200mm band people sometimes quote at you is for sockets and light switches, not for the board. So on a board change in an existing house there is no height anyone is obliged to hit. What matters in practice is that you can reach it to switch off in a hurry, and that I can reach it to test.
The non-combustible enclosure rule came in under Amendment 3 to the 17th Edition, with an implementation date of 1 January 2016, two and a half years before the 18th Edition existed [4]. It is carried forward unchanged in substance into the current standard, BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 [1]. The reason for it is fire containment: if a connection inside the board ever overheats, a steel box keeps the fire inside it instead of feeding it.
It is recommended, which is a different thing. The regulations make arc fault detection compulsory on socket-outlet circuits rated up to 32 A, and then only in four types of building: high rise residential buildings, houses in multiple occupation, purpose built student accommodation, and care homes [5]. If your house is none of those and someone tells you the law demands it, ask which regulation. I am glad to fit them if you want them, and I will tell you straight what they add to the price.
The longer version, including what matters when you are choosing a board: 18th edition consumer units in York, explained →
Who signs it off, and what you should end up holding
Most renovations include electrical work that has to be notified to building control. In England, the Building Regulations require notification where the work is the installation of a new circuit, the replacement of a consumer unit, or an addition or alteration to an existing circuit in a special location, which includes the zone around a bath or shower [6]. A loft conversion, an extension and most kitchen refits will hit at least one of those.
I am registered to self certify notifiable work under Part P, so I certify and notify the work myself. The paperwork lands with you and with your local authority without you arranging anything separately with building control or paying a separate inspection fee. There is no extra charge for it, it is part of the price of the job. You end up with the installation certificate and the Building Regulations compliance notification. Keep both, because they are the documents a solicitor asks for when you sell. Whoever ends up doing your electrics, ask early who is issuing the certificate and which scheme they are registered with. It is a short conversation at planning stage and an awkward one at completion.
One sequencing point that catches people out. I run second fix, testing and certification as one continuous block, not room by room as things are finished, because an installation tested in pieces has to be retested. So the shape of my involvement on a build is first fix once the studwork is up and before anything closes, then a single return once decoration is done for second fix, testing and certification together. That is why I ask you for a date rather than turning up in a trickle.
What late involvement actually looks like
On an inspection in York I found recessed downlights in the ceiling of an existing loft conversion that were not of the fire-rated type, discharging into a small enclosed roof void. Not a breached fire barrier, but heat building up in a confined space, and a defect on the report. It is a fair example of the pattern. Nobody did anything reckless. The fitting simply was not the right one for where it ended up, and by the time anyone was in a position to notice, the ceiling was finished. Fire-rated fittings cost very little more than the wrong ones. Choosing them afterwards means taking a ceiling apart.
Choosing who does the work matters as much as when: how to check an electrician is as good as they say. More of these, from real inspections: the What I Found series. And the loft-specific version of all of it, including the extractor route and the alarm question: loft conversion electrics in York →
Planning stage FAQ
When should I get an electrician involved in a renovation in York?
At design stage, before anything is ordered or built. The electrical work gets fitted late, but the decisions behind it are structural: how the lighting is split, where cables run, whether the consumer unit copes, and where the board sits. All of those have to be settled before floors, ceilings and walls close up. Send me the drawings or a few photos and I will tell you what needs deciding and by when. That conversation is free.
Does it cost anything to talk to an electrician at the planning stage?
No. The first conversation is free, and so is the site survey and the written estimate that follows it. I would far rather spend twenty minutes on your drawings now than be asked to add a socket to a room that has just been plastered. If your project needs a full circuit design worked up from a set of drawings, I will tell you what that involves and what it will cost before I do any of it.
Should I use my builder’s electrician or find my own?
Either can work. What matters is that whoever does it is registered to certify and notify the work, and that you know who is responsible for the paperwork at the end. Ask your builder who the electrician is, which scheme they are registered with, and who is issuing your certificate. If the answer is vague, that is worth chasing before the job starts rather than after. If you want me on the job, the earlier you say so the more useful I am.
What do I need to have decided before first fix?
Where the sockets and switches go, how many lighting circuits you want and what each one covers, where the TV and network points go, where any outside supply runs, what the heating controls are, and where the consumer unit lives. You do not have to have bought anything. You only have to have decided it. Choosing the extractor fan or the rooflight in principle is enough for me to run the right cable to the right place.
Will my fuse box cope with a loft conversion or an extension?
Sometimes, and it is worth finding out early rather than assuming either way. It depends on how many spare ways the board has, what condition it is in, and what your incoming main fuse can carry, which is set at the service head rather than at your board. Separately, I have found boards in York carrying their own plated load limit, well below what the owner assumed. Adding a circuit does not automatically mean a new board, and I will tell you if yours is fine. If it does need replacing, doing it before the build is far cheaper than after.
Does my renovation need building control sign-off for the electrics?
Some of it will. In England, the Building Regulations require notification where the work is the installation of a new circuit, the replacement of a consumer unit, or an addition or alteration to an existing circuit in a special location such as the zone around a bath or shower. Most loft conversions, extensions and kitchen refits include at least one of those. I am registered to self certify notifiable work under Part P, so I notify the work myself and you are not arranging anything separately with building control.
What happens if I change my mind about a socket after the plasterboard is on?
It stops being a two minute decision and becomes a chase, a repair and a redecoration, in a room that was finished. That is the whole argument for talking early. Before boarding, moving a socket costs me a few minutes of cable. After boarding and skimming it costs cutting into new plaster, and after flooring goes down on the floor above it can mean lifting a finished floor. I will always tell you the cheap version first if there is one.
Useful reading before you commit
- Renovation order of works: when does the electrician come?
- House rewiring guide: what is involved and how to prepare
- Understanding your consumer unit, when it fails and what to do
- BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 in plain English, the homeowner version
- How I work and what things cost, from first call to final invoice
- EICR in York: testing an existing installation before you build on it
References
- BS 7671:2018+A4:2026, IET Wiring Regulations, 18th Edition, published 15 April 2026. British Standards Institution. bsigroup.com
- Approved Document P (Electrical safety, dwellings), 2013 edition, paragraph 1.4 on consumer unit and accessory heights, and paragraph 0.2(g). HM Government. gov.uk
- Electrical Safety First, Best Practice Guide 1, Issue 5.1, October 2025, on when a consumer unit need not be replaced. electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk
- BS 7671 Regulation 421.1.201, non-combustible enclosures for consumer units in domestic premises, introduced by Amendment 3 to BS 7671:2008 with an implementation date of 1 January 2016 and carried forward into the current standard. IET consumer guidance on consumer units. electrical.theiet.org
- BS 7671 Regulation 421.1.7, arc fault detection devices: required on single-phase AC final circuits supplying socket-outlets not exceeding 32 A in high rise residential buildings, houses in multiple occupation, purpose built student accommodation and care homes, and recommended for all other premises. Corroborated by Electrical Safety First Best Practice Guide 1, Issue 5.1. electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk
- The Building Regulations 2010, SI 2010/2214, regulation 12(6A) as in force for England, reproduced at Approved Document P (2013 edition) paragraphs 2.5 to 2.6. legislation.gov.uk
Planning something in York? Tell me about it early
Drawings, a sketch on the back of an envelope, or just a description of what you want the room to do. Your home, your business, or a property you let. I will tell you what needs deciding, when it is due, and what it will cost. Free survey and written estimate before anything is committed.