Electrician Budget Calculator

Electrical work is one of the harder lines to budget on a kitchen extension, because the total depends less on floor area than on what you are filling the room with: every socket, every downlight, and every appliance circuit adds to the bill. A registered electrician typically charges £200 – £350 per day, but most quote an extension as a package rather than by the day, split across first fix and second fix.

This calculator builds the estimate the way the trade does. Enter your room count, socket count, and light fittings, flag whether the fuse box has to move, and add any outdoor or smart-home work. The result splits into first fix labour, second fix labour, fittings, and certification, so you can hold a quote up against each line instead of one lump sum.

How electricians price the work

The bill lands in two visits. First fix is the cabling stage: running cables for lighting, sockets, and appliance circuits through the walls and ceiling before the plasterer arrives. Second fix comes after plastering, when faceplates go on, downlights and light fittings are connected, and the installation is tested. Both scale with the number of sockets and fittings, which is why the socket and light sliders move the total more than anything else.

Fittings are the line homeowners most often miss. Many electricians quote labour only, leaving you to supply the downlights, chrome sockets, and switches yourself. On one real project those accessories added roughly a third on top of the quoted labour figure, so always ask whether a quote covers supply and fit of every accessory.

The extras that move the total

Two optional items can reshape the budget. The first is the consumer unit. The consumer unit (the fuse box) must sit close to the electricity meter under the three-metre tail rule, so if your meter moves during the build, the board often has to follow. Budget £500 – £800 for that work; on one documented extension it came to £690. A new board also brings a surge protection device as standard under current wiring rules.

The second is certification. Any new circuit is notifiable under Part P, and your electrician must be registered with a competent person scheme to self-certify it. At the end of the job they issue an Electrical Installation Certificate, the document building control needs before signing off the extension. The calculator carries a fixed certification line so this is never a surprise.

A worked example

Take a two-room extension with 20 double sockets and 15 downlights, and no fuse box move. Feed those numbers in and the calculator splits the estimate across first fix labour, second fix labour, and fittings, then adds the certification line, landing on the range shown above. Now tick the consumer unit move: the total climbs by £500 – £800, in line with the £690 a real Oxfordshire kitchen extension paid to shift its board within reach of a relocated meter. Add outdoor lighting or smart-home cabling and each appears as its own line, so you can see exactly what each choice costs before you brief the electrician.