WPP Electrical Ltd logo
  • Established 1985over 40 years in the Borders
  • 9 full-time electriciansAll 18th Edition qualified
  • SELECT 17074 · ECA 1683735NSI, MCS, OZEV & RECC
  • £10m / £5m insuredEmployers' & public liability
  • Free fixed-price quotesSupplied free, no obligation

Service overview

What an electrical installation actually covers

An electrical installation is everything between the incoming supply and the point where you plug something in: the main switchgear, the distribution boards, the submains, the containment, the final circuits, the earthing and bonding, and the certification that proves the lot is safe to energise. We install all of it in-house.

What the service covers

Our installation work runs from a single new circuit in a Coldstream cottage to a full three-phase distribution system in a production unit. It covers new-build first and second fix, complete rewires of older Borders stone properties, consumer unit and panel board replacement, submain runs between buildings, external and yard supplies, lighting installations including LED replacement schemes, small power and data containment, machinery and plant connections, and the inspection and testing that closes the job out. Every installation is designed and completed to BS 7671, and every electrician on site holds their 18th Edition qualification.

Who it is for

We work for four groups of client. Homeowners and landlords who need a rewire, a new consumer unit or a safe extension supply. Commercial occupiers, offices, shops, hotels, village pubs and community buildings, who need a fit-out wired and certified around a trading date. Industrial sites needing three-phase distribution, machine supplies and planned maintenance. And farms across Berwickshire and North Northumberland where the installation has to survive dust, damp, livestock and pressure washing. Around three quarters of our work is commercial, industrial or agricultural, but domestic work is genuinely welcome and always has been.

When it is needed

You need an installation rather than a repair when the existing wiring can no longer be extended safely, when an EICR has returned C1 or C2 codes across several circuits, when you are changing the use of a building, when you are adding load the current supply was never sized for (a heat pump, a bank of EV chargers, a new production line), or when the fabric of the building is open and rewiring now costs a fraction of rewiring later. Rubber or fabric-sheathed cable, a rewireable fuse board, no RCD protection, or sockets that warm up under load all mean the installation has reached the end of its working life.

Why professional work matters

An installation is judged on what you cannot see: cable sizing against the actual load and route, disconnection times, correct earthing and bonding, and honest test results recorded on a certificate. Get those wrong and the fault surfaces years later as nuisance tripping, overheating terminations or a failed inspection at the worst possible moment. We are SELECT (17074) and ECA (1683735) approved, SMAS Worksafe SSIP accredited, and we produce Risk Assessment Method Statements for virtually all jobs, which is what a site manager, an insurer or a building control officer will ask for first.

The cost of leaving it

What it costs to leave an ageing installation alone

Electrical installations rarely fail politely. They degrade quietly for years and then present a bill on somebody else's timetable, usually a trading day, a harvest or a house sale.

  • Small faults compound into full rewires

    One deteriorated cable in a shared conduit run means the rest of that run is the same age and the same condition. Patching circuit by circuit costs more over five years than doing the installation once, because every patch pays a fresh call-out, a fresh isolation and a fresh set of test results.

  • Fire and shock risk sits in the terminations

    Loose or heat-damaged terminations, undersized cables and missing RCD protection are the failures that start fires and cause shocks. None of them are visible from the room. They are found by inspection and testing, or they are found by an incident.

  • Insurance and compliance exposure

    Commercial insurers, letting agents and licensing bodies routinely ask for a satisfactory EICR. An installation with unresolved C1 or C2 codes can invalidate cover or stop a lease, a sale or a licence renewal, usually at the point where you have no time to fix it.

  • The mistakes we are called in to undo

    The recurring ones: extending a circuit that was already at capacity, fitting a new consumer unit onto wiring that was never tested, using a general electrician for three-phase machinery, and accepting a verbal price with no schedule of works. All four cost more to correct than to do properly first time.

  • Downtime is the real number

    For a commercial or industrial client, the installation cost is rarely the expensive part. A day of lost trade, a stalled production line or a spoiled cold store is. Planned installation work scheduled around your operation is far cheaper than an unplanned outage.

Our process

How the job runs, start to finish

  1. 01

    Step 1: Site survey and inspection

    We attend, look at the incoming supply, the boards and the existing circuits, and establish what capacity you actually have. On occupied or commercial sites we agree access, isolation windows and RAMS at this stage.

  2. 02

    Step 2: Design and fixed-price quote

    You get a written schedule of works with cable sizes, board specification and circuit schedule, priced as a fixed sum. Free quotes supplied.

  3. 03

    Step 3: Installation

    Our own electricians carry out the work: nine full-time, with two regular sub-contractors when a programme demands more hands. Containment first, cabling second, accessories and boards last, worked around your access windows.

  4. 04

    Step 4: Inspection, testing and verification

    Every circuit is tested: continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth fault loop impedance and RCD operation. Nothing is energised for use until the results are recorded and correct.

  5. 05

    Step 5: Certification and handover

    You receive the Electrical Installation Certificate, the circuit schedule and test results, and a walk-through of the board. If anything we installed is not right, we come back and put it right.

Payment by bank transfer (preferred) or card. Deposits on larger jobs only, agreed case by case before we start.

What you get

The difference it makes on your site

One contractor, one set of certificates

Electrical, fire and security, solar and EV charging are all carried in-house under our own accreditations. Nobody hands your job to another firm and nobody argues about whose certificate covers what.

Priced before we start

Fixed-price quotes on the great majority of work, with smaller jobs on time and materials where that genuinely costs you less. Deposits on larger jobs only, agreed in advance.

Installed to last decades

Correct cable sizing, proper containment and mechanical protection mean the installation survives the environment it lives in, including farm buildings and wash-down areas.

Lower running cost

Rationalised circuits, LED lighting and correctly sized supplies cut consumption and reduce nuisance tripping, which is the operational cost of a tired installation.

Fully insured and audited

£10m employers' liability and £5m public liability cover, SMAS Worksafe SSIP accreditation and RAMS for virtually all jobs, everything a principal contractor needs on file.

We come back

There is no formal written workmanship guarantee in this trade and we will not pretend otherwise. What we will say is that we always return to put right anything we have done incorrectly.

In detail

Methods, materials and the variations we install

Installation work is specified by the environment it sits in. A retail unit, a grain store and a listed cottage need three different answers to the same question.

Single-phase and three-phase distribution

Domestic and small commercial premises are generally single-phase, with a metal-clad consumer unit and RCBO protection per circuit so one fault does not take out the building. Larger commercial and industrial sites run three-phase, with a main panel board, submains to local distribution boards and correctly balanced loads across phases. Where machinery starting currents are high, we design for them rather than discovering them at commissioning.

Cable, containment and mechanical protection

Twin and earth in domestic voids; steel wire armoured for external, buried and inter-building runs; SY and LSF where flexibility or low smoke emission matters. Containment ranges from conduit and trunking in offices to galvanised tray and cable ladder in industrial units. In agricultural buildings we specify for dust, ammonia, pressure washing and rodent damage, because standard domestic practice does not survive twelve months in a livestock shed.

Rewires in older Borders property

Stone-built and traditional properties around Coldstream, Kelso and Wooler rarely have convenient cable routes. We plan runs to minimise damage to lime plaster and original joinery, work in phases where the property is occupied, and stage the rewire so the household keeps power, heat and hot water throughout. Consumer unit position, earthing and main bonding to incoming water and gas are addressed as part of the rewire rather than left as a later variation.

Residential versus commercial differences

Domestic installations are governed largely by BS 7671 and building standards, and the client is the occupier. Commercial and industrial installations add duty-holder responsibility under the Electricity at Work Regulations, periodic inspection intervals, emergency lighting and fire alarm interfaces, RAMS, permits to work and, frequently, out-of-hours access. The technical standard is the same; the documentation, phasing and coordination are not.

Inspection, testing and EICRs

We carry out Electrical Installation Condition Reports on domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural installations, and we issue Electrical Installation Certificates and Minor Works Certificates as appropriate. Where an EICR returns coded defects, you get a priced remedial schedule rather than a list of codes and a shrug.

Situations we are regularly called for

Fit-outs before a trading date, extensions and loft conversions, farm building conversions, board changes after an insurance inspection, supply upgrades ahead of heat pumps or EV charging, external lighting and yard supplies, and fault-finding on installations that have grown organically for thirty years.

Accredited for this work

  • SELECT17074
  • ECA1683735
  • NSI Approved (Fire)NSI-000082/FS/S
  • BAFESP203 Registered
  • MCS via NAPITNEP-66400
  • OZEV ApprovedEV chargers
  • RECCRegistered
  • SMAS WorksafeSSIP approved

Before you call

Electrical Installation: your questions answered

How much does an electrical installation cost in the Scottish Borders?

Every installation is priced on its own scope: cable runs, board specification, access and making good all move the figure. What we can commit to is the method: a free site survey, a written schedule of works and a fixed price for the great majority of jobs, so the number you approve is the number you pay. Smaller works are sometimes better value on a time-and-materials basis, and we will say so if that applies to you.

How quickly will I get a quote?

Free quotes supplied. Larger commercial and industrial installations require design work and typically take one to two weeks to price properly.

How long does a full rewire take?

It depends on property size, whether it is occupied and how accessible the cable routes are. We give you a programme with the quote and work in phases where you are living or trading in the building, so you keep power, heating and hot water throughout.

Are you qualified and accredited?

Yes. We are SELECT approved (17074) and ECA approved (1683735), NSI approved for fire, MCS certified via NAPIT (NEP-66400), OZEV approved for EV charging, RECC registered and SMAS Worksafe SSIP accredited. All nine of our full-time electricians hold 18th Edition qualifications.

Are you insured?

We carry £10m employers' liability and £5m public liability cover. Certificates are available for your records, and we produce Risk Assessment Method Statements for virtually all jobs.

What guarantee comes with the work?

Product and equipment warranties depend on the manufacturer and are set out at quotation stage. We do not issue a formal written workmanship guarantee, and we would rather be straight about that than invent one, but we always come back and put right anything we have done incorrectly.

How long should a new installation last?

A properly designed installation should serve for decades, with periodic inspection at the intervals appropriate to the property type and use. What shortens that life is added load the original design never allowed for, so if your use of the building changes, tell us before the circuits tell you.

Do you handle emergencies and out-of-hours work?

Emergency call-outs are available, and we cover out-of-hours work for agricultural and domestic emergencies. Out-of-hours calls are answered for existing customers; otherwise leave a message and we return urgent calls promptly. Out-of-hours call-out is charged at approximately 1.5 times the standard hourly rate.

Which areas do you cover?

We are based at Unit 4 Home Place in Coldstream and work throughout the Scottish Borders and North Northumberland, including Duns, Kelso, Eyemouth, Greenlaw, Chirnside, Jedburgh, Berwick-upon-Tweed and Wooler.

How do I pay?

Bank transfer is preferred, and card payments are accepted. Deposits are required on larger jobs and are agreed case by case before work starts.

Related services

Electrical Installation near you

Working from Unit 4 Home Pl, Coldstream TD12 4DT across the Scottish Borders and North Northumberland.

See the full list of service areas, read about the company, or return to the homepage.

Get a price

Get your installation priced.Free quotes supplied.

Send us the job, a rewire, a board change, a fit-out or a full three-phase distribution system, and you will have a written, fixed price back quickly. No obligation, no sales calls.

01890 882981
  • Established 1985 | over 40 years' experience
  • SELECT 17074 · ECA 1683735 · SMAS Worksafe SSIP
  • £10m employers' and £5m public liability cover
  • Free quotes supplied

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Related electrical services and areas we cover

Not sure which trade you need? Read about the family-run team behind WPP Electrical, browse recent commercial, industrial and agricultural electrical projects, or request a free fixed-price electrical quote.

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