Electrical

Minor Electrical Work — Sockets, Switches, Lights and Fans

A cracked socket, a switch that has stopped working, a bare pendant that needs swapping for a proper light fitting, a bathroom extractor fan that has given up. Small electrical jobs like these are what this page covers.

The line is drawn clearly. Minor work on existing circuits — replacing and adding sockets, switches, light fittings and fans — is taken on. New circuits, consumer unit changes and any alteration within a bathroom or shower room are notifiable under Part P of the Building Regulations and need a registered electrician, so they are referred on rather than attempted.

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Living room walls painted charcoal grey with white ceiling and decorative black wall lights

What's Included

What We Can Help With

The work most often requested under electrical.

Sockets and switches replaced like for like
Extra sockets and switches on an existing circuit
Light fittings, pendants and downlights swapped
Dimmer switches and two-way switching
Extractor fans replaced like for like
Outside lights and PIR security lights
Cooker hoods and under-cupboard lighting
Doorbells, smart doorbells and chimes
Smoke and heat alarms replaced
TV, aerial and network points
Tidying and boxing in surface cables
Faults on lights and sockets traced

Worth Knowing

Where the Line Is on Electrical Work

Electrical work in England is split by the Building Regulations into work that must be notified to building control and work that need not be. Notifiable work means a new circuit, a consumer unit replacement, or any addition or alteration to a circuit in a bathroom or shower room. It has to be carried out and certified by an electrician registered with a competent person scheme, or inspected by building control. That work is referred on, every time.

Everything else — replacing a damaged socket, swapping a light fitting, adding a socket to an existing circuit in a living room or bedroom, replacing an extractor fan like for like — is minor work. It still has to be done properly: the circuit isolated and proved dead before anything is touched, the right cable and fixings used, connections tight and the finished job tested.

Old fittings are where most surprises live. A pendant that has been up for thirty years often has brittle cable and a ceiling rose that crumbles when it is opened; a socket on a loose back box will not hold a new front plate securely until the box is fixed. Neither is a problem, but both are the kind of thing that turns a five-minute job into a twenty-minute one, and they are mentioned at the time rather than hidden.

If a job turns out to need a registered electrician — a consumer unit with no RCD protection, a circuit that is not safe to add to, anything within a bathroom zone — you will be told plainly, and the rest of the list can still be done in the same visit.

In Practice

Typical Jobs

Real examples of the kind of job this covers.

Replacing a cracked double socket in a living room
Swapping a bare pendant for a new ceiling light fitting
Fitting a dimmer switch in a dining room
Replacing a noisy bathroom extractor fan like for like
Fitting a PIR security light beside a back door
Adding a socket behind a wall-mounted television

Why MR HANDY

Why Use MR HANDY for Minor Electrical Work

Small electrical jobs are rarely worth an electrician's call-out on their own, which is why so many homes have a socket held on with tape or a bare pendant where a light fitting should be. Here they are ordinary jobs, priced as part of a visit and often done alongside decorating, kitchen or handyman work.

Knowing where the boundary sits is part of the service. You will never be told that notifiable work is minor in order to keep the job, and if a registered electrician is needed you will be told what for, so you can book one for exactly that.

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Available Across

Electrical is carried out for homeowners and landlords across every area listed here.

Just outside these areas? Ask — coverage is not a hard boundary.

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Questions

Electrical FAQs

If your question is not here, ask — you will get a straight answer.

Do you take on notifiable electrical work?

No. New circuits, consumer unit changes and additions or alterations within bathrooms and shower rooms are notifiable under Part P and need an electrician registered with a competent person scheme. They are referred on, and you will be told exactly which part of the job that applies to.

Can you fit a light fitting I have bought myself?

Yes. Labour-only fitting is common. Send a photograph of the fitting and of the ceiling where it is going — an old rose, a heavy fitting or a high ceiling all affect how the job is done and what it costs.

Can you add a socket where there is none?

Usually, where an existing socket circuit runs nearby and the room is not a bathroom. Cables are chased into the wall and made good, or run in trunking where you would rather not disturb the plaster. Where a new circuit from the consumer unit would be needed instead, that is a registered electrician's job and you will be told so.

Can you issue an electrical certificate or EICR?

No. An Electrical Installation Condition Report has to come from a qualified electrician, as does the certification for notifiable work. If a landlord's EICR flags minor items — a damaged socket, a missing blank plate, a broken pendant — those repairs can be done here.

Do you do rewires?

No. A rewire is notifiable work in its entirety and needs a registered electrician. Making good afterwards — plastering chases, filling and redecorating — is covered, and it is often the part that is hardest to get done well.

Need Electrical Doing?

Send a description or a few photographs and you will get a clear, no-obligation price.

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