The One-Day Rewire: Hour by Hour from Arrival to Handover
Most homeowners have never seen a house rewire happen. They know it takes a traditional electrician one to two weeks, they know it means living without power, and they know the house will be covered in dust. What they do not know is how a specialist team can complete the same work — to the same BS 7671 standard — in a single day.
This guide walks you through exactly what happens during a Manchester Compliance one-day rewire, hour by hour, from the moment our vans arrive to the moment we hand you the keys to a fully rewired, tested and certified home.
Before the Day: Survey and Planning
Every one-day rewire starts weeks before the team arrives. Our surveyor visits your property and completes a full assessment:
- Existing installation: What wiring, consumer unit and circuits are currently in place
- Property layout: Room sizes, floor and ceiling construction, access points, loft space
- New circuit design: How many circuits you need, socket and light positions, smoke alarm locations
- Special requirements: Cooker circuit, shower circuit, electric vehicle charger preparation, outdoor power
- Consumer unit specification: Board size, RCD configuration, surge protection
- Materials list: Every metre of cable, every back box, every accessory — pre-ordered and loaded onto the van
07:00 — Arrival and Setup
The team arrives at your property by 7 AM. A typical one-day rewire team consists of five to six electricians plus a plasterer. Two vans carry all the materials, tools and equipment needed for the day.
First 30 minutes:
- Team leader introduces the team and confirms the plan with you
- Dust sheets laid in every room, hallway and staircase
- Furniture moved away from walls where cable routes will run
- Existing installation photographed for records
- Consumer unit isolated and locked off — the old supply is disconnected
07:30 — Strip Out
The old installation is stripped out completely. This means:
- All old cables removed from walls, ceilings and the loft
- Old back boxes removed from walls
- Old consumer unit removed
- Old accessories (sockets, switches, light fittings) removed and set aside if you want to reuse any
Why full strip-out matters: Some companies offer a rewire that leaves old cables in place and simply runs new ones alongside. This is not a rewire — it is an additional installation that leaves dead cables in your walls. We remove everything old so that only new, tested wiring remains.
08:30 — First Fix: Cable Installation
This is the most labour-intensive phase and where the team's size makes the difference. While a single electrician would spend three to four days on first fix alone, our team of five to six works simultaneously across the entire property.
What happens:
- Loft work: Two engineers run cables through the loft space, feeding down to first-floor rooms through ceiling voids and wall cavities
- Ground floor: Two engineers run cables under floors (where accessible) and chase into walls for socket and switch positions
- Kitchen and bathroom: One engineer handles the high-demand rooms — cooker circuit, hob supply, extractor fan, shower circuit, bathroom zones
- Consumer unit area: One engineer prepares the new consumer unit location, runs the main tails, and begins wiring the board
Cable Routes
We use three main cable routing methods depending on your property construction:
1. Through cavities: In houses with suspended timber floors and cavity walls, cables run through floor voids and wall cavities with minimal surface disruption 2. Chased into walls: Where cables need to run on solid walls or in specific positions, we chase channels into the plaster, install the cable, and the plasterer fills and finishes the chase later 3. Through the loft: Cables for first-floor lighting and upstairs circuits run through the loft space
All cables are clipped, supported and protected according to BS 7671. Cable routes in walls follow the prescribed zones (vertically from accessories, horizontally at the top of walls) so that future trades know where cables run.
Back Boxes and Accessories
New metal back boxes are installed at every socket, switch and accessory position. We use metal boxes throughout — they provide a better earth connection and are required by BS 7671 for flush installations in walls.
12:00 — Midday Check
By midday, first fix is substantially complete. The team leader walks the property and checks:
- All cable routes are correct and match the circuit design
- Back boxes are level and at the right height
- Cable identification labels are in place
- No cables are damaged or incorrectly routed
- The consumer unit wiring is progressing correctly
12:30 — Consumer Unit and Second Fix Begins
Consumer unit installation:
The new consumer unit — a metal-clad board with dual RCD protection and dedicated RCBO circuits where needed — is mounted and wired. Every circuit is terminated at the board, labelled, and torqued to the correct specification.
A typical domestic rewire includes:
- 2 x lighting circuits (upstairs and downstairs)
- 2 x ring final circuits for sockets (upstairs and downstairs)
- 1 x cooker circuit (dedicated 32 A or 45 A radial)
- 1 x shower circuit (if electric shower fitted)
- 1 x smoke alarm circuit (mains-wired with battery backup)
- Additional radials as needed: garage, garden, outbuilding, EV charger preparation
As each room's first fix is complete and the plasterer has finished the chases, the electricians begin second fix:
- Sockets fitted to back boxes
- Light switches fitted
- Light fittings connected
- Smoke alarms installed
- Extractor fans connected
- Cooker connection unit fitted
- Shaver sockets, towel rails, outdoor sockets — everything on the circuit design
15:00 — Plastering and Making Good
The plasterer has been working alongside the electricians since late morning, filling chases and patching areas where back boxes were cut in. By mid-afternoon, the main plastering work is complete.
What gets plastered:
- All cable chases filled and skimmed flush
- Areas around new back boxes patched
- Any areas damaged during strip-out repaired
- Loft hatch area tidied
16:00 — Testing and Certification
This is the most critical phase. Every circuit is tested against the requirements of BS 7671 before the system is energised. The team leader or designated testing engineer completes:
Dead Tests (Power Off)
- Continuity of protective conductors: Confirming every earth path is complete and within resistance limits
- Continuity of ring final circuits: Confirming ring circuits are continuous with no spurs incorrectly wired
- Insulation resistance: Testing that cable insulation is intact and there are no faults between live conductors or to earth — minimum 1 MΩ at 500 V DC
- Polarity: Confirming that live, neutral and earth are correctly connected at every accessory
Live Tests (Power On)
- Earth fault loop impedance: Measuring the impedance of the earth path to confirm protective devices will operate within the required disconnection time
- RCD operation: Testing that each RCD trips within 40 ms at rated current and within 200 ms at half-rated current
- Functional checks: Every socket, light, switch and accessory tested for correct operation
- Voltage check: Confirming supply voltage is within acceptable limits
17:30 — Clean Up and Walkthrough
The team cleans the property:
- All dust and debris removed
- Dust sheets collected
- Furniture returned to position
- All packaging and waste materials removed
- Floors vacuumed or swept
- Demonstrates the new consumer unit and explains the RCD test button
- Shows you every room and confirms socket and switch positions
- Tests smoke alarms with you present
- Explains any areas where plaster needs time to dry before painting
- Answers any questions
18:00 — Handover and Documentation
You receive:
- Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC): The formal BS 7671 compliance document, completed and signed
- Part P Building Regulations notification: Confirmation that the work has been notified to Building Control via our NICEIC registration
- Circuit chart: A labelled diagram of your new consumer unit showing which circuit protects which area
- 6-year workmanship guarantee: Our guarantee covering the installation work
- Manufacturer warranties: For the consumer unit and accessories
Why This Works
The one-day rewire is not a shortcut. It is the same scope of work that a traditional electrician does over seven to ten days, compressed into one day by using a larger, specialist team. The key differences:
- Five to six electricians instead of one, each working on their designated area simultaneously
- Pre-planned circuit design so no time is wasted deciding routes or positions on the day
- Pre-loaded materials so no trips to the wholesaler during the job
- Dedicated plasterer working alongside the electricians so making good starts immediately
- Rigorous testing using calibrated instruments and formal certification
Book Your One-Day Rewire
Manchester Compliance is the North West's specialist one-day rewire team. We rewire two to five-bedroom houses across Greater Manchester, Stockport, Tameside, Oldham, Salford and Rochdale.
Call 0161 706 1360 for a free survey and quote, or email hello@manchestercompliance.co.uk.
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