Does my house need a rewire?
Nine quick questions about your home’s age, fuse board, cabling and warning signs. We’ll give you a clear risk verdict — and the exact signals behind it — so you know whether a rewire is really on the cards.
✓ 100% FREE · NO SPAM · RESULT SHOWN BEFORE ANY FORM
What the Rewire Checker Does
A full house rewire is one of the biggest electrical jobs a homeowner ever pays for, so the first question is always the same: do I actually need one? Most people guessing the answer get it wrong in both directions — some live for years on perished 1960s rubber cabling because the lights still come on, others panic and rewire a perfectly sound 2010 installation that only needed a new socket.
This checker settles it. You answer nine plain-English questions about when the house was built or last rewired, the type of fuse board, the state of the sockets and cabling, the earthing and bonding, and any warning signs like scorch marks, tripping breakers or a burning smell. Each answer scores quietly toward a hidden risk total, and at the end you get a clear three-tier verdict — your wiring looks healthy, worth investigating, or action needed — together with the specific signals that drove it so it's never a black box.
It's age- and condition-based, which makes it different from our Fault Finder: the Fault Finder diagnoses a live symptom you have right now, while the Rewire Checker assesses the underlying condition of the whole installation. If the result is anything other than green, the next step is an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) — the formal test that confirms whether a partial or full rewire is needed for safety and IS 10101 compliance.
Who It's For
- Homeowners in older houses (pre-1980 especially) who've never had the wiring assessed
- Buyers about to purchase and weighing up whether the property hides a five-figure rewire
- Anyone planning a renovation or extension who needs to know if the existing wiring can carry it
- People seeing warning signs — scorch marks, warm sockets, a burning smell, frequent trips
- Landlords checking whether an installation will pass an EICR before a new tenancy
How It Works
1. Answer nine questions
House age, fuse board type, sockets, visible cabling, earthing and bonding, warning signs, electrical behaviour, inspection history, and whether you're renovating or buying. Plain English, no jargon, about two minutes. No personal details required to see the result.
2. Get your risk verdict
A low / medium / high verdict with a breakdown of exactly which answers pushed the score. Pre-1980 builds, rewireable fuse boards, cloth or rubber cabling and scorch marks all weigh heavily — modern boards with RCDs and recent inspections pull it back the other way.
3. Decide what's next
If it's healthy, file the result and book a periodic EICR when due. If it's medium or high, the next step is a Safe Electric–certified EICR or rewire estimate — we test every circuit, tell you whether it's a partial or full rewire, and issue the certificate.
Why Use the Rewire Checker
- Settles the 'do I need a rewire?' question in two minutes
- Shows the exact signals behind the verdict — never a black box
- Age- and condition-based, so it catches risks the Fault Finder won't
- No sign-up to see the result — the verdict comes before any contact form
- Built by a Safe Electric A6700 contractor against IS 10101, the national wiring standard
House Rewire FAQs
How do I know if my house needs a rewire?
The strongest signals are age and cabling: houses built or last rewired before about 1980 often have rubber-, lead- or cloth-sheathed cabling that degrades and becomes a fire risk, plus old rewireable fuse boards with no RCD protection. Add warning signs — scorch marks, a burning smell, warm or discoloured sockets, breakers that keep tripping — and a rewire becomes likely. The only way to confirm it is an EICR, which this checker tells you whether you need.
How much does a full house rewire cost in Ireland in 2026?
A typical 3-bed semi runs about €11,000–€13,000 and takes 5–8 days, including a new consumer unit with RCD/RCBO protection, full testing and Safe Electric certification. Larger or older properties with more circuits cost more. A partial rewire — replacing only the worst circuits — can be a fraction of that where the rest of the installation is sound.
What is IS 10101 and how is it different from ET 101?
IS 10101 is the current national rules for electrical installations in Ireland, published in 2020, and it replaced the older ET 101 standard. A modern rewire is wired and tested to IS 10101 — which mandates things like RCD or RCBO protection on socket and lighting circuits, proper main and supplementary bonding to water and gas, and full test certification.
Is old rubber or cloth wiring really dangerous?
Yes. Rubber-insulated cabling from the 1950s–70s, and the lead- and cloth-sheathed wiring that predates it, becomes brittle as the insulation perishes. Once the insulation cracks, conductors can touch and arc, which is a genuine fire risk. If you can see fabric-covered or rubbery cabling in the attic or under the floors, treat it as a full rewire candidate and get it inspected.
Can I do a partial rewire instead of a full one?
Often, yes — if the result is medium rather than high. Where a board is modern and most circuits are sound, we can replace only the deteriorated runs, add RCD protection, and bring the installation up to standard for far less than a full rewire. The EICR is what tells us which circuits need to go and which can stay.
Other Tools
Emergency Fault Finder
Got a live electrical fault right now? Diagnose the symptom and get safety advice.
Open tool →Free Estimate Tool
Get a ballpark price for a full or partial rewire in 60 seconds.
Open tool →Electrical Health Check
A broader safety audit of your installation, not just the rewire question.
Open tool →