Renovating the electrics in an old house: where do you start?

In an older home the question is rarely whether something needs doing to the electrics, but what, and in which order. An installation from the 1960s or 1970s was usually laid out for a household with a radio, a television and a few lights. Today an induction hob, dishwasher, tumble dryer, EV charger and sometimes a heat pump hang off it. You do not see that difference from the outside, but it is there in the wiring and in the meter cabinet.

So start by looking rather than replacing straight away. Open your meter cabinet calmly and note a few things: is there an RCD, do you still use porcelain caps with a fuse wire, and do you see discolouration, rust or scorch marks? Then walk through the house and note sockets with just two holes and no earthing contacts, loose or warm sockets, and wiring with a cloth or brittle sheath. This first round already tells you a lot.

This is a decision aid, not a sales pitch. Not every older installation has to go out all at once. Some parts are still fine, others need attention and a single sign calls for quick action. The aim is that you can gauge for yourself what is urgent and what can wait, so you call in a certified electrician purposefully rather than replacing at random.

Some shortcomings are a matter of comfort, others of safety. Safety always comes first. The most important component is the RCD: it trips within a fraction of a second on leakage current, for example if you touch a broken appliance or if moisture gets into a circuit. If the RCD is missing, your installation lacks that protection entirely, and that is the reason to look at this first.

Next comes the earthing. In older homes part of the installation is sometimes not earthed: you recognise it by sockets without earthing contacts, the metal contact strip at the side or top. Without earthing, a faulty appliance can make the casing live without the protection stepping in. Certainly in wet rooms such as the bathroom and the kitchen, good earthing is not a luxury but a requirement. Missing earthing contacts and missing earthing therefore rank high on the list.

Finally, the visible warning signs: scorch marks or discolouration around a fuse, a scorched smell near the meter cabinet, or fuses that keep tripping because there are too few circuits. Overload makes wiring warm, and heat is the run-up to damage and, in the worst case, fire. If you smell something scorched, touch nothing and call an electrician. These signs do not wait for a planned renovation.

Once the acute risks have been removed, the question is how to tackle the rest. Roughly, there are two routes. Renewing in stages means bringing the installation up to date step by step: first the meter cabinet and the RCD protection, later the wiring per floor or per room. That spreads the costs and the disruption, and it suits a home you live in where you cannot open everything up at once.

All at once is often the wisest choice if you are renovating anyway. If your home is open during a big renovation, with walls being plastered or floors coming out, the cable routes are literally there for the taking. Renewing wiring then involves far less chasing and breaking than doing it later while the home is occupied. And you hand the whole thing over at once to NEN 1010, instead of a patchwork of old and new.

The choice therefore depends on your situation: your budget, whether you are renovating, and how urgent the shortcomings are. A good rule of thumb: fix anything unsafe straight away, and let the rest ride along on a natural moment, such as a renovation or a new kitchen. A certified electrician thinks along and, together with you, sets an order that suits your home and your plans.

The surest start is an inspection to NEN 1010 by a certified electrician. They test the installation, check the RCD, the earthing, the circuits and the wiring, and assess whether the whole thing is still safe. You get no gut feeling but a reasoned picture: what is really unsafe, what is outdated but still acceptable, and what can happily last a while yet. Exactly the information you need to decide, and to avoid paying for work that is not needed.

Such an inspection is also valuable when buying an older home. You then know beforehand what you are buying and can weigh the cost of renewal into your plans. And during a renovation the inspection sets the order: what do you take along now the home is open anyway, and what can wait. The outcome is a plan, not a surprise afterwards.

Why certified? Work on the fixed installation belongs, under NEN 1010, with a professional who knows the standard and is insured. That is not only safer, it also counts for your insurance: if something goes wrong with work that was not installed to the standard, for instance a fire from a wrongly connected circuit, your insurer can refuse the damage. An installation renewed by a certified professional and up to standard gives you that certainty, in black and white and demonstrable.