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Kitchen and bathroom electrics
Sockets, cooker circuits, fans, showers and alarms for a new kitchen or bathroom: first fix, second fix, testing and the certificates, alongside your fitter.
A new kitchen or bathroom is the best time to sort the electrics: the walls are open, the old fittings are coming out, and everything can be tested and certified in one go. We work directly for homeowners and alongside kitchen and bathroom fitters, builders and housing contractors.
In Welwyn Garden City alone we’ve done the electrics on 218 bathroom upgrades and 109 kitchen upgrades since 2024, on a housing improvement programme for Novus Property Solutions. They follow the same checklist and end with the same paperwork.
What a new kitchen usually needs
- Sockets: the kitchen ring is often rewired or extended for the new layout, with USB sockets where they’re wanted.
- Cooker circuit: its own circuit for the oven and hob, with a cooker switch you can reach.
- Appliances: switched spurs or outlets for the fridge, washing machine, dishwasher and microwave, placed where the switches can be reached once the units are in.
- Extractor: an outlet for the cooker hood. Put it on the kitchen drawing: we’ve had to return to a finished kitchen because the hood outlet was missed off the plan.
- Lighting: ceiling lights, under-cabinet lights and the switching for them.
- Heat alarm: kitchens get a heat alarm (not a smoke alarm), interlinked with the rest of the house.
What a bathroom usually needs
- Light and switch: a light suitable for its zone, and a pull cord or a switch outside the room.
- Extractor fan: on a fused spur with an isolator so it can be serviced. Fans with a boost setting need it set properly: on one call-out the boost had been set to the same speed as the trickle, so it never cleared the steam.
- Electric shower: its own circuit from the fuse board, sized for the shower (one we fitted needed a 40A breaker), with an isolator switch.
- RCD protection on everything in the room.
See also bathroom extractor fan not working and electric shower not working.
Smoke, heat and carbon monoxide alarms
On the Novus programme, a kitchen or bathroom upgrade also brings the home up to an LD2 alarm standard, using interlinked mains alarms with battery backup: smoke alarms in the living room, hall and landing, a heat alarm in the kitchen, and a carbon monoxide alarm near the boiler. It’s worth doing at the same time in any home. See LD1, LD2 and LD3 explained.
First fix and second fix
First fix is everything before the walls are closed: new cables, back boxes, and the circuits run to where the sockets, lights and appliances will go. Second fix is after the units, tiles and plaster: fitting the sockets, switches and lights, connecting the appliances, and testing. Fitters need us twice, so we agree both dates with them at the start.
Certificates you get
- Electrical Installation Certificate for new circuits (a Minor Works certificate for small changes).
- Building Regulations (Part P) notification where the work is notifiable, such as a new circuit or work in a bathroom. As NICEIC-approved contractors we notify it for you.
- An EICR on the rest of the house, if you want one while we’re there. On the housing programme it’s standard.
- Alarm records for the new alarms, and a photo report of the work, before and after.
A real kitchen in Welwyn Garden City, April 2025
In a house on the programme, our engineer Luke rewired the kitchen ring and the cooker circuit, core-drilled the wall for a new extractor, fitted a heat alarm and brought the house up to LD2, and added a USB socket. At second fix he connected the oven, hob and microwave, checked each one was working, and tested the circuits, including recording the trip times of the arc fault detection devices (AFDDs) protecting the kitchen ring and the cooker. The house got an Electrical Installation Certificate, an EICR and the alarm records.
Questions we’re asked
Do I need an electrician for a new kitchen?
Yes, for anything beyond like-for-like swaps. New circuits, a new cooker circuit or moving sockets need a qualified electrician, and new circuits are notifiable under Part P. We work with your fitter so the electrics are ready at each stage.
What is kitchen electrics first fix?
First fix is the cabling and back boxes before the walls are closed and the units go in. Second fix is fitting the sockets, switches, lights and appliance connections afterwards, then testing and certifying.
How much do new kitchen electrics cost?
It depends on how much changes: a few new sockets is very different from a rewired ring main and a new cooker circuit. Send us the kitchen drawing and we'll give you a fixed price.
Does a bathroom extractor fan need its own switch?
A fan needs a way to isolate it for servicing, usually a fused spur or fan isolator outside the bathroom. It can run from the light switch, a pull cord or a humidity sensor.
Can you work with my kitchen or bathroom fitter?
Yes. Most of our kitchen and bathroom work is alongside fitters and builders. Send us the plan and the fitter's dates and we'll book first and second fix around them.
Do you do kitchen and bathroom electrics for landlords and housing providers?
Yes. In Welwyn Garden City we've done the electrics on 218 bathroom and 109 kitchen upgrades since 2024 for Novus Property Solutions, with alarms brought up to LD2, testing and full paperwork.
Written by SEGplc. Last updated 21 October 2026.
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