You're allowed to perform minor electrical work in your home or holiday home. Larger projects must be left to an electrician.

Don’t touch heating cables

Many people believe they can save money by installing heating cables themselves, and then asking an electrician to connect them to their home’s electrical system. If you're not qualified, you are not authorised to lay, fit or connect to heating cables wired to mains electricity. This work may only be performed by professionals.

Don’t get an insurance shock

Any work not performed by a professional may be liable to overheating, which can result in a fire. If the insurance company can prove that the work was performed by an unauthorised person, they may reduce their payout. This means you may not receive enough to cover the damage.

What you can do yourself:

• Change cover plates on switches, sockets and junction boxes
• Fit and replace electric radiators if they have a portable lead with plug
• Connect to or replace double pole plugs up to 25A, with or without earth
• Connect to or replace double pole connector plugs and device plugs up to 16A, with or without earth
• Connect to and repair items such as table lamps and wall lamps with portable leads, including power switches
• Connect to or replace lamps hanging from ceiling hooks or similar, which are connected via terminal blocks or plug and socket. The lamps must not be wired in to the mains system

Any work that is not on this list must be left to the professionals