Electrical design drawings in Lambeth

Converted houses and the flats within them

Only 24.8 per cent of Lambeth households live in a house, and 33 per cent own their homes. A large part of our work here is therefore inside converted houses, where the original supply arrives at one point and several flats share it. Rewiring one flat without understanding the shared intake is how a landlord ends up with tripped fuses on every floor.

We record the existing meter positions, tails, consumer units and any shared supplies, then draw new circuits so each flat can be isolated alone. Where a basement or loft flat is added, the load calculation is checked against the incoming supply, and the borough's design guide is read alongside it: the Lambeth Design Guide SPD Part 5: Basements matters where the new space goes below ground.

Lawful development certificates are common here, with 401 applications in the latest reporting year. A clear electrical layout, dated and drawn, is the kind of evidence that sits well in a file when a use or an alteration has to be shown to be lawful.

Conservation areas, listed buildings and visible fittings

Lambeth has 64 conservation areas and 953 listed building entries. In an area so heavily designated, a visible fitting is more than a detail. A meter cabinet on a stucco front, a surface-mounted conduit on a brick elevation or a charge point on a terrace forecourt should be sited with the elevation in mind.

Internally we mark every chase and every floor lifting point where a historic ceiling or staircase is involved. Our architectural drawings in Lambeth set out the designations, and the electrical sheet is drawn so the consent officer can see which fabric is cut and which is untouched.

Survey first: wiring in a converted Lambeth house

Converted houses hold surprises. A flat on the second floor may be fed from the ground-floor meter cupboard, a loft room may hang off the bathroom lighting circuit, and an old fuse board may still serve a basement. Our survey sheet records each of those facts, with photographs where they help.

With the survey in hand we can say honestly which parts of the installation can be extended and which should be replaced. That honesty is the point: a quote built on a guess comes back as a variation, and a landlord's budget does not like variations.

National rules and what we issue

Notifiable work must be certified within 30 days, fixed lighting must achieve 75 lumens per circuit watt, and a new dwelling's charge point must offer 7 kW. We build all of it into the issue.

Each pack has a plan per floor, a consumer unit schematic and a fittings schedule, checked by a second technologist. The set joins your building regulations drawings in Lambeth and SAP calculations, and a neighbouring borough's version is at electrical design drawings in Southwark. The electrical design drawings hub covers the service in full.