Built 1961 to 1990
Rewiring a 1960s–80s House: The Cable Is Probably Fine.
A 1962 house and a 1988 house are not the same installation, which is why this era gets quoted so inconsistently. In most houses of this age the answer is the fuse board and the lighting circuits, not the whole house.
310,712
Homes built 1961–1990
Across the 13 counties we cover
30.2%
Of all housing stock
The largest single era band
30 years
Span of this band
Which is why the answer varies
Three Things To Look At
You can narrow this down yourself in about two minutes
None of these require tools and none of them require taking anything apart. They will not replace a test, but they will tell you roughly which of three jobs you are looking at, and that is most of what people want to know before they ring anyone.
Check 01
Open the board. Fuse wire, or switches?
Porcelain or bakelite carriers that pull out, with a strand of wire inside, mean rewireable fuses. That is the older half of this era and it is the single most useful thing you can tell us on the phone. Rows of small rocker switches mean miniature circuit breakers, which is the later half. Both were ordinary when they went in. The difference matters because a fuse carrier offers no earth-fault protection whatsoever, and a blown fuse that somebody has rewired with the wrong gauge of wire offers no reliable overload protection either.
Check 02
Is there anything marked test, or a button?
An RCD is the device that disconnects when current leaks to earth, which is the fault that causes electric shocks rather than the fault that causes overheating. It carries a test button and is usually marked with a rating such as 30 mA. In a lot of houses from this era there is no RCD anywhere in the installation, because the board predates the device being fitted as standard. If you cannot find a test button, that is the finding, and it is the one most worth acting on.
Check 03
Look at the cable at a light switch, not a socket
Sockets in this era almost always have an earth. Lighting circuits are where it varies, and the earlier the house the more likely the lighting is run in two-core with no protective conductor at the switch or the ceiling rose. This is the check that decides whether you are looking at a board job or a board job plus rewiring the lighting circuits, and it is the single biggest reason two houses ten years apart get very different quotes. Do not take a faceplate off to check this yourself. It is a two-minute job for us with the power isolated.
Breakers plus an RCD, and sockets and lights that both have an earth, is a good result. It means your installation is closer to a 1990s house than to a 1960s one, and the work is likely to be capacity rather than replacement. Fuse wire and no test button anywhere is the other end of the band, and the board is where that starts. Our fuse board page covers the generations of board in detail.
What This Era Actually Contains
The band spans a changeover, and that is the whole story
Every other era on this site has one answer. A pre-1961 house has rubber cable. A house from 1991 onward has PVC and an earth on every circuit. This band contains the transition between those two, which is why dating the house tells you less here than anywhere else.
Cable that depends on which end of the era you are in
The early part of this band still turns up rubber-insulated cable, the same material that defines the pre-1961 era, because a house built in 1962 was wired to the practice of its day and that practice had not changed overnight. By the later part of the band, PVC twin-and-earth with a bare copper conductor between the cores is what you find, and that is the same family of cable being installed today. A house in the middle can have both, because it was partially rewired at some point. This is why we test rather than date.
A board with no earth-fault protection at all
Where the board still carries rewireable fuses, there is no residual current device anywhere in the installation. That is the substantive difference between this era and everything after it. A fuse protects the cable from overload and it does that job perfectly well. What it does not do, and was never designed to do, is disconnect when current finds a path to earth through a person. Adding that protection is usually the highest-value hour of work available on a house of this age.
Lighting circuits with no protective conductor
Common in the earlier part of the band and much less so by the 1980s. Two-core wiring to switches and ceiling roses caused no problem with the all-insulated fittings of the period. It becomes a live issue the moment somebody fits a metal light fitting or a metal switch plate to a point with no earth to connect it to, and that happens routinely during ordinary redecoration by people with no way of knowing. Where we find it, rewiring the lighting circuits alone is often the whole job.
Circuit counts designed for a different household
A house wired in 1970 was designed around a kitchen with a cooker, a kettle and not much else. It now runs an induction hob, a dishwasher, a washing machine, a tumble dryer and a car on the driveway. The cable is often perfectly capable; the number of ways in the board is not, and neither is the number of separate circuits. That is a capacity conversation rather than a safety one, and the two get conflated in quotes far more often than they should be.
The measurement that separates the two halves is insulation resistance. It shows whether the insulation around the conductors is still doing its job, circuit by circuit, and on this band it is the difference between a board upgrade and a rewire. Earth continuity is the second one, because that is what finds the lighting circuits with no protective conductor. See testing and certification for the full list and what the 1–4 report coding means.
Four Things You May Be Told
This is the era most likely to be over-quoted, and here is why
None of the statements below are lies. Each one is a true thing stated in a way that points at a bigger job than the evidence supports. Knowing the distinction is worth a lot of money on a house of this age.
“The house is from the seventies, it needs a full rewire.”
Age on its own is not a diagnosis, and on this band it is a particularly poor one because the band is thirty years wide. What decides the job is insulation resistance, earth continuity and whether the lighting circuits have a protective conductor. Those are measurements, and they take about twenty minutes.
“There is no RCD, so everything has to come out.”
The absence of an RCD is a board problem, and a board is a day. It says nothing at all about the condition of the cable behind it. Where the cable tests sound, fitting a board with per-circuit protection resolves the actual risk without touching a wall.
“Fuse wire means the wiring is dangerous.”
Rewireable fuses protect against overload and they do it reliably when the correct gauge of wire is fitted. What they do not do is protect against earth faults. That is a real gap and it is worth closing. It is not the same statement as the cable being unsafe.
“It is cheaper to do the whole house while we are here.”
Sometimes true and worth hearing out, particularly where the house is empty or already being renovated. But it should be an argument someone makes from test results, with the alternative priced beside it, rather than an assumption you are handed. Ask for both numbers.
Ask any quote on this era one question
What did the insulation resistance and earth continuity readings say, circuit by circuit? A quote built on measurements can answer that in a sentence. A quote built on the year the house was built cannot, and on a band thirty years wide that is the difference between a day and a fortnight.
Where This Stock Is
Every county we cover has more of this era than any other
Dublin carries the highest share at 33.2%, but the striking thing about this band is how flat it is. Unlike the pre-1961 stock, which concentrates heavily in Dublin, this era is spread evenly across the region. If you live in a house we work on, the odds are it is from this band.
| County | Homes 1961–1990 | Share of stock |
|---|---|---|
| Dublin | 167,952 | 33.2% |
| Wicklow | 16,829 | 31.7% |
| Waterford | 14,093 | 30.4% |
| Louth | 14,129 | 29.4% |
| Kildare | 22,990 | 28.4% |
| Kilkenny | 10,011 | 27.8% |
| Offaly | 7,691 | 27.3% |
| Westmeath | 8,989 | 27.1% |
| Longford | 4,113 | 26.3% |
| Carlow | 5,577 | 25.9% |
| Meath | 17,715 | 24.9% |
| Wexford | 13,660 | 23.6% |
| Laois | 6,963 | 22.8% |
Source: CSO Census 2022, table FY033A, period of construction of occupied dwellings. Data pulled 2026-08-05.
What It Costs
Three different jobs, and most of the decision is which one
We publish real ranges rather than hiding behind “contact us for a quote”, but they are a guide, not a quote. Every house is different. The accurate number comes after we have tested the installation, and what you get then is a fixed written price.
| The job | Typical range | What moves the price |
|---|---|---|
| Fuse board upgrade, sound wiring behind it | See the fuse board page | Number of ways, board position, surge protection |
| Lighting circuits rewired, sockets left alone | Quoted from test results | Circuit count, attic access, ceiling type |
| Full rewire, 3-bed semi | €7,000 – €12,000 | Spec, making good, occupied or empty |
The outlier on this era is the attic, not the walls
Houses from this band usually have a usable attic and a straightforward ceiling void, which is exactly where lighting cable runs. That is why rewiring the lighting alone is so much cheaper here than the equivalent job on a pre-1961 house with lath and plaster. Where an attic has been converted or heavily insulated over the joists, that advantage disappears and the job changes shape. Tell us at quote stage if yours has been converted.
The figures above are indicative ranges for guidance only. They are not a quote and not an offer. Rewiring varies enormously with floor construction, wall type, circuit count, access and the condition of what is already behind the plaster. None of that can be judged from a photograph or a phone call. Jamie gives you an accurate fixed price in writing after the installation has been tested.
The full cost guide
Cost by property type, the six things that move the price, and what a partial rewire saves against a full one.
And we’re set up to act on it. J Cowman Electrical Contractors has been Safe Electric registered since 2021 under registration A6700, carries public liability cover up to €6.5M, and runs a 10-strong crew across Wexford, Dublin and the rest of Leinster. Every job is certified to IS 10101 and the completion certificate is handed over on the day the work finishes, whether that job is a board change or a full rewire.
1960s to 1980s houses: what we get asked
My house was built in the 1970s. Does it need rewiring?
It depends which end of the decade and what has been done since, which is a genuinely different answer to the one you get for older or newer stock. Houses from this era span the changeover from rubber-insulated cable to PVC twin-and-earth, so two houses ten years apart can need completely different work. What settles it is a test: insulation resistance circuit by circuit, earth continuity, and whether the lighting circuits have a protective conductor. Where the cable is PVC and it tests sound, this is usually a fuse board job rather than a rewire. Where the cable is still rubber, it is a different conversation. We test before we quote, and we tell you when the answer is the cheaper one.
There is no RCD on my board. How urgent is that?
It is the most worthwhile thing to fix on a house of this age, and it is a day's work rather than a project. An RCD disconnects when current leaks to earth, which is the fault that causes electric shocks. A rewireable fuse does not do that and was never intended to. If your board is fuse carriers with wire in them, there is very likely no earth-fault protection anywhere in the installation. Fitting a board with an RCBO on every circuit closes that gap and also means a fault takes out one circuit rather than half the house. It does not repair anything behind the board, which is why we test the circuits first.
What is the difference between fuse wire and a trip switch?
A rewireable fuse is a strand of wire in a removable carrier. When too much current flows, the wire melts and the circuit goes dead until somebody fits a new strand. It works, but it depends entirely on the right gauge of wire being used, and over fifty years plenty have been rewired with whatever was to hand. A miniature circuit breaker does the same job with a mechanism you reset by flicking it back up, so there is nothing to fit wrongly. Neither device protects against current leaking to earth. That is a separate device, the RCD, and it is the one most often missing in this era.
The lights have no earth. Does that mean a full rewire?
Usually not. Where the sockets test sound and only the lighting circuits lack a protective conductor, rewiring the lighting alone is a defined piece of work rather than a whole-house job, and it is much less disruptive because lighting cable runs largely through the attic and the ceiling void rather than chased down walls. Whether that is the right call depends on how the rest of the installation tests. The reason it matters is that a metal light fitting or a metal switch plate connected to a point with no earth is a genuine hazard, and light fittings get changed during ordinary decorating by people who have no reason to check.
How much does this cost?
It depends which of three jobs you actually need, and they are far apart. A fuse board upgrade on a house with sound wiring is the smallest of them and it is priced on our fuse board page. Rewiring the lighting circuits only sits between the two, and it is quoted from test results because the number of circuits varies. A full rewire on a three-bed semi is €7,000 to €12,000. The point of testing before quoting is that the gap between the cheapest and dearest of those is most of the decision, and nobody should be guessing which one you need. All figures are indicative ranges for guidance, not a quote.
Can I stay in the house while the work is done?
For a board change, yes, with the power off for the few hours it takes to change it over and test the circuits back in, typically a morning. For rewiring the lighting circuits only, yes, working room by room. For a full rewire on this era, most people move out or move into one part of the house, because floors come up and power is off for extended periods. We give you a day-by-day plan with the quote so you know which rooms are affected when, and we sequence around whichever rooms matter most to you if you ask.
Is a house from this era safe to live in as it is?
In most cases yes, and it is worth separating two different statements that get blurred together. Safe Electric's own framing is useful here: an installation may not comply with the current standard without being unsafe. A house wired in 1975 was installed and certified to the rules of its day. What has genuinely changed is the level of protection now expected, particularly earth-fault protection, and what has changed in your house is how much you now plug into it. Those are both real, and neither of them means the installation is dangerous today. A test tells you where you actually stand rather than where the decade suggests you stand.
Will I get a certificate?
Yes, on the day the work finishes rather than posted afterwards. A Completion Certificate is legally mandatory for electrical works other than minor works, and only a Registered Electrical Contractor can issue one. Ours comes with the test results attached rather than a one-line pass. Keep it. A buyer's solicitor will ask for it, and so will the next electrician who works on the house, because a previous set of readings is genuinely useful for spotting what has changed.
My extension was wired in the 1990s but the original house is 1968. What now?
That is one of the most common situations on this era and it is a good outcome rather than a complication. What it usually means is that part of the installation is already sound and modern, and the work is confined to the original section. It also means there is a junction between two eras somewhere, and how that was made is worth looking at, because uncertified additions spurred off whatever circuit was closest are a genuine finding. We test the whole installation so the quote covers what is actually there rather than what the deeds say the house is.
Should I do it before I sell, or leave it to the buyer?
There is no rule requiring an electrical certificate to sell a house in Ireland. What happens in practice is that a surveyor flags an older installation, the buyer's solicitor asks for a certificate, and the sale slows under a closing deadline. Getting the installation tested before the house goes on the market turns that from a chain-holding emergency into a small planned job, and on this era it frequently shows the wiring is sound and only the board is dated, which is worth knowing before a buyer's surveyor gets to frame it. If work was done previously and the certificate is missing, that is the thing that actually stalls sales.
Where to go next
Written and checked by
Jamie Cowman, Registered Electrical Contractor
Jamie runs J Cowman Electrical Contractors and holds Safe Electric registration A6700, which is what allows a Completion Certificate to be issued on this kind of work. Everything on this page reflects how the job is actually priced and sequenced on site, not a generic specification.
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