Electrician in Bournemouth

Electrical work across Bournemouth

Whether it is a flat, a house or a small shop, the work is the same list. Fault finding when a circuit trips or a room loses power. Sockets, switches, light fittings and extractor fans. Consumer unit replacements. Electrical installation condition reports for owners, buyers and landlords, and landlord certificates with the remedial work that follows. Additional circuits for kitchens, showers and car chargers, and rewiring in part or in full.

Peter covers Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch from Eastleigh, does the work himself, and gives a written price before anything starts. Quotes are free and carry no obligation.

A lot of Bournemouth is flats

Much of the town is flats — purpose-built blocks along and behind the seafront, and large Victorian and Edwardian houses in places like Boscombe, Westbourne and Charminster that were divided up long ago. That changes the first question on a lot of jobs, which is not so much what is wrong as whose it is.

In a flat, your own consumer unit and the circuits after it are usually yours. The supply coming into the building, the meters, the landing lights, the door entry and anything in a shared cupboard usually belong to the building, which means a freeholder or a managing agent. If you are not sure which side your problem is on, tell me what you can see and I will help you work it out before anyone pays for anything.

Houses that used to be one house

Conversions are where the odd things turn up. A house split into flats decades ago may still have a circuit that wanders between them, a hallway light fed from somebody’s flat, or a board added when the conversion happened and left alone since. None of that is unusual, and none of it is a reason to panic — it just means it is worth tracing what feeds what before changing anything.

Shops with flats above

Along the high streets in Boscombe, Winton, Westbourne and Charminster Road there are plenty of shops with flats over them. The two normally have separate supplies, and it is worth keeping it that way. If you run the shop and own the flat, or the other way round, I can look at both in one visit, but they are dealt with as two installations.

Making one visit count

Bournemouth is further from my base in Eastleigh than Southampton is, so if there are a few small things on your list, tell me all of them at the start. You are better off having them looked at together than booking them one at a time. Street parking near the centre and the seafront is restricted in a lot of places, so if you have a drive, a permit or a space I can use, mention it.

Building work, outbuildings and charging

Not every job is a repair. Extensions, loft conversions and garage conversions are best wired while the walls are still open. Agreeing where the sockets and lights go early avoids ripping things out later, and it usually keeps the cost down. Out the back, a garden office, workshop or shed wants its own protected circuit rather than a lead trailing through a window. Outdoor sockets and lighting need fittings made for the weather.

Charging a car is much the same question. An EV charge point needs a circuit of its own, so what matters is your board and the supply coming into the property. In a block of flats, what the building allows comes into it too.

Not sure where to start?

Ask first. I’d much rather explain your options than quote for the biggest job on the list. After 15 years I can usually tell you what’s worth doing now and what isn’t urgent, and what each one costs. It also helps to mention everything at once, so it’s one visit rather than two. Quotes are free. Let’s have a chat.