How we chose
We started from the more than forty electricians Google Maps shows across Telford. Scheme memberships were sourced from the NICEIC, NAPIT and TrustMark registers, each firm’s own website and platforms such as Checkatrade and Which? Trusted Traders [1] [2] [6]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Eleven firms met all three. We looked first at what customers say — the star rating itself, since beyond a small handful of reviews volume adds nothing — then qualifications, then whether the firm has traded two years or more and whether its cover is stated, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated early September 2026.
How to hire
Match the person to the job first. An electrician owns wiring, consumer units, lighting, fault-finding and certifying electrical work — not gas boilers, which belong to a Gas Safe registered engineer, and it is illegal for anyone else to do that work [7]. For rented homes, the law in England requires the installation to be inspected and tested at least every five years, with the report shared with tenants [5]. When you first enquire, say which rooms, which circuits and what symptom you have.
Know which jobs count as notifiable. Adding a new circuit, replacing a consumer unit, or altering wiring in a bathroom or other special location must meet Part P of the Building Regulations and be certified or notified through a registered competent person [10] [4]. Smaller jobs such as replacing a socket faceplate or a light fitting are not notifiable but must still be safe. If your job is notifiable, say so in your enquiry and ask who will notify it.
Check competence before you book. Search the NICEIC or NAPIT online registers for the business name and ask for its registration number, then confirm the number yourself rather than taking a logo on a van at face value [1] [2]. TrustMark membership points to a firm that has passed checks on trading practices and customer service as well as competence [6]. Ask for public liability insurance details and, for larger jobs, a recent local reference you could verify. Electrical Safety First publishes plain-English guidance on when to call a professional — read it before you agree anything [3].
If you let property, the EICR is your core document. An Electrical Installation Condition Report records the state of the wiring after inspection and testing, with each fault coded by urgency, and landlords in England must hold one no more than five years old and share it with tenants [5]. A typical inspection costs £100–£330 excluding VAT [9]. Owner-occupiers need no EICR by law, but one is sensible before buying an older terrace or after years without electrical work. Ask what each coded fault means and book the remedial work the report calls for.
Get two or three itemised written quotes that separate labour, materials and VAT on the same written scope, so you compare like with like [8]. Each quote should name the circuits and fittings, the start date, access arrangements, how making-good is handled, and payment stages — a deposit for materials is normal, while full payment before completion is not. Treat an outlier, far above or below the rest, as a question rather than a bargain, and ask what is included or excluded.
On the day, check the electrician tests before and after the work and issues the right paperwork: an Electrical Installation Certificate for new circuits or a Minor Works certificate for small jobs, plus a Building Regulations compliance notification where a competent person scheme applies [4]. File these with your house papers — you will need them when you sell or let. If anything feels rushed or uncertified, pause the job and ask for the paperwork before you pay.
Telford and Wrekin adds its own layer. The borough holds eight conservation areas, including Wellington and the Severn Gorge, and most of the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site sits inside one, with extra controls on minor home changes [12] [13]. If your home lies in one of these areas, say so in your enquiry and check the council's planning pages first. Without a registered competent person, the council's building control team offers full-plans, building-notice and regularisation routes, with inspections at key stages and a completion certificate at the end [11].
A typical job runs like this. You send the job list with board photos, and the firm replies with questions or a visit date. The visit produces an itemised written quote on one fixed scope. On the day, the electrician isolates the circuits, tests before and after, and talks you through what changed. The certificate and any building-control notification follow, and only then pay the balance [4].
Insist the written quote names every circuit and fitting, the start date, access and parking, how making-good is handled, the full price with VAT shown separately, and which certificates you will receive [8]. The council recommends holding the completion certificate before making final payment [11]. File quote, invoice and certificates together, photograph the labelled board, and keep the bundle findable at sale or re-let.
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough Telford ranges run like this: replacing a light fitting £50–£200; two extra double sockets £125–£450; an outdoor socket £100–£500; a like-for-like electric shower £300–£600; a consumer-unit replacement £500–£1,500; an EICR safety inspection £100–£330; and a full rewire of a three-bedroom semi £4,000–£18,000 [9]. These figures come from a Which? survey of 19 traders in November 2025, include labour and materials but exclude VAT, and Telford usually sits below London and South East prices [9].
Access moves the price most: chasing cables into walls costs more than surface wiring and may need replastering, and occupied homes take longer to rewire than empty ones [9]. The age and condition of the existing wiring, the length of cable runs, travel and parking across Telford, and whether old fittings are taken away all add or subtract.
Ask whether the quote includes a call-out fee and whether VAT is added on top, since published ranges exclude it [9]. Firms in this round all offer quotes or quote forms but publish almost no example rates, so treat any single fixed price for a large job with no breakdown as a question, not an answer.
Get the scope in writing before work starts — exactly which circuits, fittings and making-good are included, which certificates you will receive, and what changes the price if the electrician finds worse wiring than expected. Agree payment stages and keep every quote, invoice and certificate together [8].
Small jobs move on access: a like-for-like swap takes far less time than new cable chased into a finished wall, and chasing may mean replastering [9]. Say whether walls are solid or stud, and send a board photo, when you enquire.
Extra sockets, outdoor sockets and shower circuits move on cable length and board position: a long run, or one with no free slots, adds labour and parts [9]. A labelled board photograph helps price the run without a second visit.
Board replacements move on the state of what they connect to: tidy, labelled wiring keeps the day short, while testing that turns up faults stretches the remedial work [9]. Agree what happens to the price if testing finds worse wiring than expected.
Inspections and rewires move on size and occupancy: more circuits take longer to test, and an occupied home slows a rewire [9]. Landlords booking several certificates together can put the lot on one written scope.
Red flags
Quotes a rewire or consumer-unit swap without visiting or asking for photos of the board and wiring.
Cannot give a current NICEIC or NAPIT registration number you can check yourself on the scheme register [1] [2].
Finishes notifiable work with no certificate and no mention of Building Regulations notification [4] [10].
Asks for full payment in cash before starting, with no written quote or terms [8].
Treats urgent faults on your electrical report as nothing to worry about instead of quoting the remedial work.
Gives one fixed price for a large job with no breakdown of labour, materials and VAT [8].
Will not put the scope, price and start date in writing before lifting a tool.
Will not say who notifies notifiable work to building control, or claims notification is unnecessary for a new circuit [4] [10].
Starts chasing walls or lifting floors before agreeing what making-good is included in the price.
Presses for an answer on the doorstep, with a discount that lasts only until they leave.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.