Electrical work you can do yourself
Most electrical installation work must be carried out by a registered electrical installation company. You can do certain straightforward tasks yourself, but only if you know what you are doing. Remember that unauthorised electrical installation work is a criminal offence. Never chance it! A mistake can have fatal consequences.
Electricity is deadly. Whenever you work with electricity, the right expertise and extreme care are vitally important. If you are not qualified to work with electricity, the result may be fire, damage and injury – and in the worst case death. If you are at all unsure, always hire an electrical installation company to do the work.
You can do certain straightforward tasks yourself, but only if you know what you are doing. If the work cannot be properly checked, for example if you want to replace an existing wall outlet or an existing switch up to 16 A, you must hire an electrical installation company. If you want to make changes to the permanent electrical installation, such as an outlet in the kitchen or concealed wiring in walls, you must always hire a registered electrical installation company.
Things to consider when hiring an electrical company
Work you can do yourself
- Replacing a broken old-style fuse or resetting a tripped MCB
- Changing light bulbs
- Changing light fittings
- Fitting extension leads
- Fitting inline switches and plugs
- Repairing and replacing parts of broken extension leads and power cords
- Changing an existing switch up to 16 A which is housed in a dedicated enclosure or box
- Changing an existing wall outlet up to 16 A which is housed in a dedicated enclosure or box.
To do any of these tasks, you must know what you are doing. It must also be possible for the work to be properly checked. If you are in any doubt, hand the work over to an electrical installation company.
Work you cannot do yourself
Examples of work that may only be done by an electrical installation company or an authorised electrician:
- Altering permanent installations
- Replacing an unearthed wall outlet with an earthed one
- Installing 230 volt underfloor heating and heating cables
- Laying cables underground.
Connecting safely
At Kopplasäkert.se, our connecting safely web site, you can easily find out which electrical jobs you can do yourself at home, and when you need to hire an electrical installation company.