Emergency electrician in London

Treat it as an emergency if there is any risk to people. That means a burning smell, smoke, sparks, a socket or switch that is hot to touch, water near electrics, exposed wires, or anyone feeling a shock. Losing all power in winter, or with someone at home who relies on medical equipment, is urgent too.

Some faults are a nuisance rather than a danger. One dead socket, a single light that will not come on, or a doorbell that has stopped can usually wait for a normal appointment, as long as nothing smells hot. If you are not sure, answer the quick questions on this page and we will tell you which it is.

The London Fire Brigade says it has attended 26,376 electrical fires in London since 2017. It lists scorch marks, flickering lights, hot plugs and sockets, and fuses or breakers that go for no obvious reason as signs of loose or dangerous wiring.

If the whole home goes dark, look outside. Are the street lights and your neighbours' windows off too? If so, it is almost certainly a fault on the network, and no electrician can fix it. Call 105, which is free, or check the UK Power Networks power cut map.

Most of London is supplied by UK Power Networks. Ealing, Hounslow and Hillingdon are served by SSEN, according to the Mayor's answer to the London Assembly. You do not need to know which: 105 routes you by postcode.

If only your home is off, look at the consumer unit (the fuse box). A switch in the down position means something inside your property has tripped it. Our page on no power in the house goes through the checks.

London's housing shapes what goes wrong. The Valuation Office Agency counts 29% of the capital's homes as built before 1919 and 57% as flats. Older houses have usually been rewired in stages, so old and newer cable meet in floor voids and lofts. Electrical Safety First notes that black rubber cable was phased out in the 1960s, yet it still turns up in homes that have never had a full rewire.

Flats bring their own problems. A leak from the flat above can reach your lights. Hall lights and door entry run on a separate landlord supply. The cables that carry power up a block may belong to the network operator or the building owner. Part of an emergency visit is working out which side of the meter the fault is on, so the right person pays for the repair.

Anyone can call themselves an electrician. For notifiable work, such as a new consumer unit or a new circuit, the law in England says the electrician must be registered with a competent person scheme or the work must be notified to the council's building control. Ask to see their scheme registration and check it on the scheme's online register. For an EICR, ask what qualifications the inspector holds for inspection and testing.