How Much Does It Cost To Change/Move a Light Switch?



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Cost to Change/Move a Light Switch




Job
Description
Labour
1To reposition a light switch a couple of feet away. 2 men – 3 visits inc. materials (see below)
£195
2 To fit a flush light switch in new position in a ground floor room. 1 sparks, 1 labourer, 1 plasterer, 1.5 days (the bedroom above needs clearing) inc. materials
 £440
3 To fit a flush light switch in a new position in a bedroom with an accessible attic. 2 men 1 day.
 £320

“Labour” at £175 a day (tradesman) £100 (labourer), includes incidental fixings etc. and tipping. “Materials” if mentioned, are larger things (a boiler) and stuff only you can choose (tiles etc).  Also VAT must be added all round.

Information Sheet on Light Switches


We’re assuming that what you want is an existing switch removing and repositioning or a second switch fitted to create a 2 way system. This article isn’t about just changing a face plate. (See trained monkeys for this).

Fitting a completely new switch means finding the relevant lighting circuit and that can be a nightmare. The only place you can be certain to find it is right in the centre of the ceiling (at the light), so a lot of furniture and floor boards in the room above have to be lifted.

All the highly relevant legal electrical requirements you should be made aware of are to be found in our general article on Electrics. Ignore them at your peril!

Re siting an existing switch is easier than fitting a new one because the cables are already there. All the rules regarding cable routes and junction boxes apply here as well though, so the same problems will arise! Then there’s the redecoration.

There are prescribed routes that embedded electrical cables have to take, so don’t be surprised if the sparks doesn’t “chase out”  the most direct route between the existing switch position and the new one. “As the crow flies” obviously isn’t in the European Union’s electrickery department’s vocabulary.

We’ve assumed all the above jobs require a plasterer and then a return visit from the “sparks”, when the plaster has “gone off”,  so they get a bit expensive!


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