Earthing installation in Amsterdam from € 425 including 21% VAT. Many pre-war Amsterdam properties were never earthed at all, which leaves the RCD only partly effective. Run the check below to see what your situation is.
You do not need to measure anything. Tick what you can see with your own eyes in the meter cupboard, kitchen and bathroom. We translate that into what is likely wrong and what it costs to fix.
This is an indication based on what you can see yourself, not an inspection. Certainty only comes from measuring earth electrode resistance — included in our € 295 inspection.
You do not need to touch or unscrew anything. These four things can be checked with the naked eye — and together they give a fairly reliable picture.
A socket with earth has two metal strips or clips at the top and bottom of the round recess. If you only see two holes and otherwise smooth plastic, there is no earth. Check several rooms: it is common for the kitchen to have earth and the bedroom not.
Look for a thick green/yellow wire. On a sound installation it runs from the main earth bar to the consumer unit and on to the water and gas pipes. If you see no green/yellow anywhere, there is a good chance there is no earthing — or that it was once disconnected.
A block with a button marked T. If that is missing, you lack the protection earthing is meant for. If it is there but there is no earthing, it still works — but not in every situation it was designed for.
In older installations the metal water pipe was used as earthing. That has long been forbidden, partly because pipes are replaced with plastic during renovations — and the earth disappears without anyone noticing. If you see an earth clamp on a water pipe, have it checked.
If you ever feel a light tingle when touching a washing machine, hob or tap, do not wait. That is voltage with nowhere to go because there is no earth. Switch off the relevant circuit and call the same day.
Whether the earthing that is there actually works. An earth electrode can be rusted through, a clamp vibrated loose, or the bond interrupted somewhere halfway. That only shows up in a measurement — which is why an inspection is worth more than a glance in the cupboard.
Two photos are usually enough: one of the open meter cupboard and one of a socket up close. We look and say what we see — free of charge, even if the answer is that nothing needs doing.
Most people think of earthing as lightning or surge protection. That is not what it is for. Earthing gives fault current on a metal appliance casing a path that does not run through your body.
Suppose a wire in your washing machine rubs against the casing. Without earthing that casing is live and nothing happens — until you touch it while your other hand is on the tap. Then the current runs through you to earth.
With earthing that same current leaves immediately via the earth conductor. The RCD sees current disappearing and trips within a fraction of a second. You only notice that the washing machine stops.
That is why earthing and RCD form a pair. An RCD without earthing still works — it also sees leakage through a person — but only after you already feel the current. With earthing it trips before anyone is involved.
Besides the earth electrode itself there should be a bond between the main earthing terminal and the metal water and gas pipes, and in the bathroom between all metal parts. That is called equipotential bonding, and it prevents a voltage difference between two things you touch at once — for example the tap and the bath. It costs €165 and it is exactly the part missing in older homes.
We see it regularly: someone once had an RCD fitted, but earthing was never installed. That is better than nothing, but it is not what the system is designed for. We therefore always quote those two together — and say you should do them together too.
Earthing installation is not disruptive work, but there are choices that make the difference between something that looks right on paper and something that still works in ten years.
First establish whether there really is nothing, or whether something is present that no longer works. We measure earth electrode resistance and check continuity from the unit to the final circuits.
In Amsterdam usually a driven earth rod or an earth plate, depending on access to the crawl space or garden. In an apartment without its own ground contact we connect to the building’s main earthing — that involves the HOA.
An earth bar at the meter cupboard, with an earth conductor of sufficient cross-section to the consumer unit. Everything clamped and accessible so it can still be re-measured in ten years.
Bond to the metal water and gas pipes, and in the bathroom between the metal parts themselves. This is the part almost always missing in older homes and that does a surprising amount for safety.
This is where the price varies. If existing cables already have a third core that was simply never connected, it is a matter of testing and connecting. If not, each point needs a new cable — then it becomes a partial rewire.
Earth electrode resistance, continuity through to the last socket and the trip time of every RCD. All values go on a signed measurement protocol — that is your proof that it works.
Do your existing cables already have a third core? In homes from about 1975 onwards often yes — it was then simply never bonded through. Then you stay at € 425 to € 600 and are done in half a day. If there is two-core wiring, each point needs a new cable, and then we talk partial or full rewiring. We establish that difference at the survey, before you sign a quotation.
In many Dutch cities the housing stock was largely renewed after the war. Not in Amsterdam: the nineteenth-century belt, De Pijp, Oud-West, large parts of Zuid and the whole centre are buildings where the original electrical installation was extended rather than replaced.
A townhouse split into four apartments in the 1980s got four meters but often one shared earthing system — or none. At the split the focus was on kitchens and bathrooms, not on what happened in the crawl space.
Where the metal water pipe once served as earthing, later renovations replaced it with plastic. The earth clamp is still there, but it connects to nothing. This is the most common form of “earthing that looks present” we find.
In a third-floor apartment you cannot drive an earth rod into the ground. Earthing must then come from the building’s main system, which falls under the HOA. That does not make it impossible, but it is a process: approval is needed and sometimes the main system must be repaired first.
We map what exists, measure what it does, and when a shared system is involved we prepare the technical dossier you can take to the HOA. That costs € 245 and in practice saves a meeting full of questions nobody can answer.
General picture from our own surveys; your building may differ. Replace these rules with your own records once you have measured enough homes.
Then it becomes an HOA process. We supply drawing, readings and insurance details in one dossier so the meeting can take a technical decision instead of an argument.
Including materials, labour, measurement and protocol. What is not included: running new cables where no third core exists — that is listed separately below.
| Earthing installation — electrode and main earth bar | per home | € 425 |
|---|---|---|
| Earthing installation with difficult access | per home | € 550 – 750 |
| Repair or reconnect existing earthing | per home | € 245 |
| Equipotential bonding water and gas pipes | per home | € 165 |
| Bathroom equipotential bonding | per bathroom | € 145 |
| Replace earth conductor to the consumer unit | per metre | € 38 |
| Measure earth electrode resistance with report | per home | € 95 |
| Connection to the HOA main earthing system | per home | € 285 |
| Technical dossier for HOA approval | per job | € 245 |
| Test and connect an existing third conductor | per punt | € 45 |
|---|---|---|
| Restore earth pins in kitchen or bathroom | per punt | € 145 |
| Pull a new cable with earth in conduit | per metre | € 44 |
| Chasing in brick | per metre | € 17 |
| Close the chase, plaster-ready | per metre | € 14 |
| Replace socket with earthed outlet | per punt | € 65 |
| Partial renewal, kitchen and bathroom | per home | from € 2.300 |
| Consumer unit 1-phase — 6 circuits | per unit | € 745 |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer unit 1-phase — 9 circuits | per unit | € 945 |
| Fit a 30 mA RCD | each | € 215 |
| NEN 1010 inspection with signed report | per home | € 295 |
| Test the installation with advice report | per installation | € 225 |
All amounts include materials, labour and 21% VAT, valid in 2026 for Amsterdam and surroundings. Earthing and a new consumer unit are almost always done together; combined that comes to between € 1,170 and € 1,900. Full price list →
€ 425 including 21% VAT for a typical home. That covers the earth electrode, main earth bar, earth conductor to the consumer unit, resistance measurement and protocol. With poor access — no crawl space, no garden, or an electrode through paving — it becomes € 550 to € 750.
Bonding to water and gas pipes costs € 165 extra and in practice always belongs with the job. What is not included is bringing earth to every socket where no third core exists — that becomes a partial rewire.
Look at a socket: with earth you see two metal strips at the top and bottom of the round recess. Only two holes and otherwise smooth plastic means no earth. Check several rooms — sometimes the kitchen has earth and the bedroom does not.
Also open the meter cupboard and look for a thick green/yellow wire. If you see none, there is a good chance there is no earthing system. What you cannot see yourself is whether existing earthing actually works — an electrode can be rusted through or a clamp can have loosened. That only shows up in a measurement.
Better than nothing, but it is not what the system is designed for. An RCD also detects leakage through a person and then trips — but that only happens after you feel the current.
With earthing the fault leaves immediately via the earth conductor, the RCD sees current disappearing and trips before anyone is involved. That is the difference. Earthing and RCD therefore belong together, and we quote them together too.
In the bathroom, at all sockets and luminaires, with a strict zone layout under NEN 1010. In the kitchen, especially dishwasher, oven, hob and worktop sockets. At laundry appliances — washer and dryer — wherever they stand. Outside, in the garden, store, garage and garden shed. And on all equipment with a metal casing and a three-pin plug.
The classic hazard is a washing machine on a two-pin socket in a utility room with a tiled floor. That is exactly the combination where a fault ends badly.
Half a day if existing cables already have a third core that was simply never connected — common in homes from about 1975 onwards. We then place the electrode, fit the main earth bar, do the bonding and connect earth through on each circuit.
If there is two-core wiring without earth, each point needs a new cable and it becomes a partial or full rewire — allow several days. We establish that difference at the survey, before you sign anything.
Yes, but not with your own earth rod — you have no ground contact. Earthing must then come from the building’s main earthing system, which falls under the HOA. Connecting to it costs € 285.
If that main system is missing or unsound, it becomes an HOA process: approval is needed and sometimes the system must be repaired first. For € 245 we supply the technical dossier — drawing, readings, insurance details — that you can take to the meeting.
Not for a long time. It used to be common, but it has become unreliable: during renovations metal pipes are replaced with plastic, and then the earth disappears without anyone noticing. The clamp is still there, but connects to nothing.
This is the most common form of ‘earthing that looks present’ we find. If you see an earth clamp on a water pipe, have it measured — it costs € 95 and then you know where you stand.
A bond between the main earthing terminal and all metal parts you can touch at the same time: the water and gas pipes, and in the bathroom the pipes, bath and radiator to each other. That prevents a voltage difference between two things you hold together — for example the tap and the bath.
It costs € 165 for main bonding and € 145 for a bathroom, and it is exactly the part that almost always is missing in older homes. For that amount you get disproportionate safety back.
Yes. Installing an earthing system costs € 425 including 21% VAT for an average property, covering the earth electrode, the main earthing terminal, the earth conductor to the consumer unit, the resistance measurement and a signed measurement record. Equipotential bonding to the water and gas pipework is € 165 more and is effectively always needed.
Many pre-war Amsterdam properties were never earthed at all, and in apartments without direct ground contact the connection has to come from the building’s main earthing provision, which involves the owners’ association. We supply the technical dossier for that for € 245.
Two photos — one of the open meter cupboard and one of a socket — are usually enough. We look free of charge and say honestly what we see.
If you choose “as soon as possible”, we call within four hours during office hours. Outside those hours, the next morning.
You speak to someone who does the work and can already say on the phone what is going on and roughly what it costs.
Tell us which language you prefer and we will make sure the right colleague calls.
The home survey is free too, with no call-out fee. You are not committed to anything.
One photo of the open meter cupboard tells us more than ten minutes on the phone. We look at it free of charge and say honestly whether anything needs doing — even if the answer is “no”.
Send photo via WhatsAppIn practice a consumer unit, an inspection or the bathroom usually belongs with it. Below is what those cover separately.
The hub page with the price calculator, circuit check and the full price list of more than 180 rates.
Read moreWhen replacement is really needed, how many circuits you need and what a new unit costs.
Read moreWhat is measured, what the report looks like and why your insurer asks for it.
Read moreWhat you can check yourself, the four most common causes and what it costs.
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