Electrics are one of the items buyers can’t judge at a viewing and sellers rarely mention. The question we answer most often is whether the place needs a full rewire or whether a new board and some remedial work will do. Here is what each cost on jobs we priced this year.
What we priced
- RCD (30 mA) protection added within an existing board: €600–1,500.
- New distribution board with RCD protection, remedial work and certification in an apartment: €1,800–3,500.
- Full rewire of an apartment while the walls are open: €6,000–12,000.
- Full rewire of a house, with new board, earthing and bonding, sized for a heat pump and induction cooking: €9,000–14,000.
- Stone farmhouse with no RCDs, no bonding in wet areas and undersized cable: full rewire with an earth electrode and dedicated kitchen circuits, €6,000–7,000.
- 1883 manor house, partial rewire, board upgrade and certificate: €10,000–18,000.
- Compliance audit and instrument testing on a badly renovated house: €400–700, with €2,500–5,500 for partial remediation, or €9,000–16,000 if the audit calls for a full rewire.
When a new board is enough
If the cabling is modern, the circuits are sensibly laid out and the problem is an old board without proper RCD protection, a new board, testing and a certificate usually does it. That’s half a day to a day for a certified electrician, with no chasing of walls.
When it needs a full rewire
- No earth, or old two-core cable.
- Undersized cable, or cable that’s brittle or cloth-covered.
- Circuits that don’t work, junction boxes left open, cable taped together inside walls.
- You’re gutting the kitchen and bathrooms anyway. Most of the disruption is already being paid for, so rewiring at the same time is usually the better decision.
Certification
New work and rewires should be done by a registered electrician to the current rules and certified on completion. If you’re buying, ask the seller for any electrical certificate and the date of the last work. A house renovated without one is a question for the renovation file.
Before you buy
We test sockets and RCDs where it’s safe to, look at the board, the cable we can see and the earthing, and tell you which of the two you’re likely to need, with a cost range. See the pre-purchase inspection, or what we find behind new finishes.
Figures are from our own inspection reports in 2025 and 2026, ex IVA, with names and addresses left out. Every house is different, so treat them as a guide to scale, not a quote.
General information. Electrical work in Portugal must be carried out and certified by a registered electrician.
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