Before you sign, settle what a complete rewire includes. Check how finished walls will affect the work.
Define what “whole house” includes
Ask for a room-by-room list of what “rewire the house” means. Ask which circuits the electrician will replace. Get a list of the outlets and lights each circuit serves. Ask which wiring will stay. Include the attic, basement, garage, outdoor outlets and permanently connected appliances. Get any excluded circuit named before the walls close.
Fairfax County’s electrical plan-review checklist checks branch circuits, receptacle locations, lighting outlets, grounding and protective devices separately. Use those categories when you read the quote. Will the electrician replace cable along existing routes? Will they add needed outlets? Will they separate appliance circuits? Will they change the panel too? Ask which circuits need ground-fault protection, called GFCI, under the code that applies to your work. Ask which need arc-fault protection, called AFCI.
The checklist helps the county review designs. It does not mean every residential rewire needs drawings. As the county electrician guide explains, the permit route depends on the building and scope. Fairfax’s residential electrical guide says ordinary trade permits generally do not require plans. A written circuit list still helps you compare bids. You can also use it to check what you got.
Source: Fairfax County Land Development Services (LDS), Electrical Plan Review Record, updated July 2024, no separate effective date stated; Electrical (ELER)—Residential, undated guidance, no effective date stated. Gathered 2026-09-23.
If aluminum wiring prompted the quote
The county guide explains why you cannot tell the wire type from your house’s age alone. If an electrician finds aluminum branch wiring, ask whether the quote covers replacing it or repairing its connections. Those are different jobs.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says replacing it all with copper is best for eliminating the aluminum-wire hazard. Its guidance also recognises COPALUM repairs. When that method is unavailable, it recognises AlumiConn connectors as an alternative. A repair must cover the affected connections throughout the system, including fixtures, appliances and junction boxes. Changing visible outlets alone is not enough.
Ask the contractor to name the repair method in writing. CPSC does not consider twist-on connector pigtails an acceptable permanent repair. Its recommendations distinguish this branch wiring from larger aluminum conductors serving equipment or the service entrance.
For a full replacement, ask how the electrician will disconnect the old system. CPSC describes fitting new copper circuits while leaving abandoned aluminum cable inside walls. “Rewired” does not necessarily mean every old cable was pulled out.
Source: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Repairing Aluminum Wiring, Publication 516, June 2011 guidance, no separate effective date stated. Gathered 2026-09-23.
Decide how the crew will reach the wiring
Walk through the proposed cable routes before accepting a promise of minimal wall damage. Ask where the crew expects to cut ceilings or walls. Ask whether they can work through unfinished spaces. Ask what happens if a planned route is blocked. Get patching, trim repairs, paint and cleanup included in the quote. Settle who will provide each trade.
Are you rewiring alongside a kitchen remodel, finished basement or other interior work? Fairfax’s residential alteration guide also applies. It covers residential renovations. It says you may need separate trade permits. Have the contractor settle what the combined job includes before demolition. You need to know who will handle the surrounding building work.
For homes built before 1978, EPA generally requires paid contractors who disturb paint to follow its Renovation, Repair and Painting rule. The rule has exclusions. It expressly includes electrical work. Ask how the contractor will check whether the rule applies. Ask who will contain dust. Ask who will clean the work area. Treat this as part of getting to the cables. Settle who is responsible before anyone cuts painted surfaces.
Source: Fairfax County LDS, Addition/Alteration (ALTR)—Residential; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Renovation, Repair and Painting Program: Contractors; both undated guidance, no effective date stated on these pages. Gathered 2026-09-23.
Compare the complete price, including unfinished work
We could not verify a county-specific installed price for whole house rewiring in the primary sources we reviewed. We did not find enough evidence to give you a price per room or square foot. The county guide already covers permit fees. Those charges do not cover the electrician’s labour, cable or wall repairs.
Give bidders the same circuit list. Ask them to price electrical work, optional additions, panel work, permits and finish repairs separately. Check any allowances. If a price assumes easy access, what does it cover when access proves difficult? Get a written price for extra work before it starts. Make sure it only goes ahead with your agreement.
Fairfax’s consumer guidance recommends a contract naming materials, subcontractors, cleanup, dates and warranties. It also recommends tying payments to completed stages. If different crews handle the work, give “electrical complete” and “rooms repaired and painted” separate milestones. Ask who pays to correct failed work. Ask who returns to finish devices after painting. If a lower bid leaves those tasks to you, add their costs before comparing it with the others.
Source: Fairfax County Department of Cable and Consumer Services, Hiring a Contractor, undated guidance, no effective date stated. Gathered 2026-09-23. Bid questions apply that guidance to rewiring; no local installed-price figure was established.
Plan power interruptions around the inspection stages
Before work starts, ask which rooms will lose power at each stage. Ask which essential appliances you can still use. Ask when the electrician expects to restore power to each area. We could not verify how long a whole-house rewire takes specifically in Fairfax. A contractor needs to assess your routes and scope before promising an outage or completion date.
The county guide explains inspections before you cover the wiring and at the end of the job. Make sure the patching crew’s schedule allows for inspection. Virginia requires electrical work to be inspected before you cover it up, where applicable. Get any defects corrected. Have the work reinspected before later work hides it.
Have the electrician agree with the inspector how they will inspect work done in stages. Get them to settle how they will inspect wiring routed through existing finished spaces, too. Do not assume photographs automatically replace access or approval. If your remodel includes plumbing or mechanical work, Fairfax requires you to schedule related inspections together. A delay in another trade can affect when you can close the walls. Name the person who coordinates that schedule in the contract.
Source: Virginia DHCD, 13VAC5-63-130, Section 113—Inspections, amendment effective 2024-01-18; Fairfax County LDS, Building and Trade Inspections, undated guidance, no effective date stated. Gathered 2026-09-23.
Close the job against the promised scope
At handover, walk through the circuit list with the electrician. Ask them to show which outlets, switches and fixed equipment each circuit serves. Ask them to explain the protective devices. Ask them to identify every circuit they kept. Keep the agreed changes and warranties with the permit record. That saves guesswork when you need a repair later.
Check the final inspection result. Check the rooms too. Virginia says final approval completes the permit. That approval covers the work associated with it. Check what the permit covers. Approval does not prove that an excluded circuit was replaced.
Fairfax’s consumer guidance recommends withholding final payment until the project is complete and inspected. Put that payment milestone in your agreement before you sign. Include the finish repairs the contractor promised. An electrical job can pass its final inspection while a wall is still unfinished.
Source: Virginia DHCD, 13VAC5-63-130, Section 113.8—Final inspection, amendment effective 2024-01-18; Fairfax County Department of Cable and Consumer Services, Hiring a Contractor, undated guidance, no effective date stated. Gathered 2026-09-23.