Our published guide rates are £45–£90 an hour, £233–£473 for a typical job such as sockets or lighting, £80–£100 for the first hour on an emergency call-out, £150–£300 for an EICR on a three-bed, £450–£700 for a consumer unit upgrade and £3,000–£6,000 for a full three-bed rewire.
- An hourly rate tells you little. A faster electrician at a higher rate can cost less per job.
- Fault finding is charged for time because it is diagnosis, not a defined output.
- Bundling small jobs into one visit is the single biggest saving available.
- Testing and certification are part of the work, not an optional extra.
Our published guide prices
These are the figures we publish across this site. They are guide ranges for planning rather than a quotation for your property.
| Job | Typical Coventry guide price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Electrician, hourly | £45–£90/hr | Certified, Part P |
| Typical job | £233–£473 | Sockets, lighting, faults |
| Emergency call-out | £80–£100 first hour | Urgent faults |
| EICR (3-bed) | £150–£300 | Safety certificate |
| Consumer unit upgrade | £450–£700 | RCD protection |
| Full rewire (3-bed) | £3,000–£6,000 | Whole-house |
Where a specific job sits in those ranges depends on access, the condition of the existing installation, and whether remedial work is found during testing.
Why the hourly rate is the least useful number
People compare hourly rates, and it is the comparison that tells you least.
An experienced electrician who diagnoses a fault in ninety minutes at the top of the range costs less than someone working through it over half a day at the bottom. The rate is an input; what you are buying is the outcome.
The rate also conceals what is included. Does it cover testing and certification, or are those extra? Does travel count? Is there a minimum charge? Are materials at cost or with a markup? Two identical hourly figures can produce very different invoices.
The useful question is what the whole job will cost, and for most defined work that can be quoted. For diagnosis it cannot, which is the next section.
Why fault finding is different
Installation work has a defined output: a circuit, a board, a set of lights. It can be priced.
Fault finding has no defined output. The work is diagnosis — isolating circuits, testing insulation resistance in sections, splitting rings, progressively narrowing down — and how long it takes depends on where the fault is and whether it is even present while the electrician is there.
An intermittent fault that only appears after heavy rain is the hard case. It may need a return visit in the right conditions, and nobody can honestly quote a fixed figure for that in advance.
What you should expect is transparency as it proceeds: being told what has been ruled out, rather than receiving a bill with no narrative. And anything you have established yourself — which device tripped, which circuits, whether it trips with everything unplugged — genuinely shortens the work and the cost.
What a call-out charge covers
The published emergency figure of £80–£100 for the first hour reflects what an emergency visit actually involves: dropping other work, travelling at short notice, and arriving equipped to make something safe without knowing what will be found.
What it buys is attendance and making safe. It does not usually include the permanent repair, which is quoted once the fault is understood — and that is the right way round, because a permanent repair improvised at nine in the evening is rarely good work.
Worth knowing: a genuine emergency is a safety issue. Burning smells, scorching, a hot socket, exposed conductors, water near electrics, or total loss of power where that creates a risk. A socket that has stopped working in a spare room is not an emergency, and booking it as routine work costs considerably less.
What moves a quote
| Factor | Effect | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Access to the route | Large | Lifting floors or chasing walls versus surface trunking |
| Condition of the existing installation | Large | Testing may reveal remedial work before anything new can connect |
| Age of the property | Moderate | Older installations lack earthing and RCD protection |
| Occupied or empty | Moderate | Empty is faster and cheaper, particularly for rewires |
| Notifiable or not | Small to moderate | Notification and certification time |
| Making good | Large on bigger jobs | Plastering and decorating after chasing |
| Number of jobs in one visit | Large saving | Travel and set-up are paid once |
Where you can genuinely save
- Bundle. Make a list and have everything done in one visit. Travel and set-up are the same whether you fix one thing or six, and this is by far the biggest saving available.
- Do the diagnosis you safely can. Knowing which device tripped and whether it still trips with everything unplugged saves real time.
- Book routine work as routine. Paying an emergency rate for something that could wait until Tuesday is avoidable.
- Combine remedials with the inspection. If an EICR finds C2 items, fixing them during the same visit avoids a second mobilisation.
- Time it with other work. If floors are up or walls are open for other reasons, electrical work in that window is dramatically cheaper.
- Be clear about making good. Agree whether you are having chases filled, plastered, or plastered and decorated — and consider handling decoration yourself.
What should be included
Two things are part of the work rather than extras, and a quote that treats them as optional is worth questioning.
Testing. New or altered circuits are tested before being handed over. That is not a premium service; it is how you know the work is safe.
Certification. You should receive an Electrical Installation Certificate or a Minor Works Certificate, and notification where the work is notifiable under Part P. The certificate is what a buyer's solicitor asks for years later, and work with no paperwork becomes a problem at sale.
If a quote is notably cheap, these are the two things most likely to be missing from it.
Most defined work can be quoted properly. For fault finding we will give you our rate and an honest estimate of the time.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an electrician charge per hour?
Our published guide range is £45–£90 an hour. The rate on its own is not very informative though — a faster electrician at a higher rate can cost less for the same job, and rates differ in what they include. Ask what the whole job will cost, and what testing, certification and travel are treated as.
Why can you not quote a fixed price for fault finding?
Because the work is diagnosis rather than a defined output. How long it takes depends on where the fault is and whether it is present during the visit — an intermittent fault that only shows after rain may need a return trip. We give the rate and an honest estimate, and tell you what has been ruled out as we go.
What is a call-out charge?
Our published figure is £80–£100 for the first hour on an emergency call-out. It covers attendance at short notice and making the situation safe. The permanent repair is normally quoted separately once the fault is understood, because work improvised late at night is rarely the right fix.
Is an EICR expensive?
Our published guide figure is £150–£300 for a three-bedroom house. Be cautious of anything far below that, because a genuine EICR involves dead and live testing circuit by circuit over several hours. A cheap, half-hour inspection is a visual check and will not give you the information you are paying for.
How can I reduce the cost of electrical work?
Bundle jobs into one visit — travel and set-up are the biggest fixed cost. Book routine work as routine rather than as an emergency. Combine EICR remedials with the inspection visit. And if floors or walls are open for other building work, do the electrical work in that window.
Should certification cost extra?
No. Testing and certification are part of carrying out electrical work properly, not an add-on. You should receive the appropriate certificate and, for notifiable work, confirmation of notification. If a quote is unusually cheap, these are the items most likely to have been left out.
Quoted properly, or charged honestly
Defined work gets a fixed price. Diagnosis gets our rate, an honest estimate and a running account of what we have ruled out. Testing and certification included either way.