Electrical Installation Timeline Guide — What to Expect
Precise time planning for your electrical project prevents delivery delays and reduces conflicts with other trades. This guide explains every implementation stage and its expected timeframe.
By the Ases Kahraba team — Last updated: February 2026
Quick Answer
A comprehensive guide to electrical project timelines in Egypt — apartment and villa rough-in, coordination with other trades, causes of delay, and inspection and handover stages.
Electrical Project Timelines from Start to Handover
- Electrical rough-in for an apartment (up to 150 m²): typically takes 3 to 5 continuous working days with a team of 2–3 workers. This includes running conduits, pulling main cables, and fitting flush-mounted socket and switch boxes in walls.
- Electrical rough-in for a villa (200–400 m²): ranges from 7 to 14 working days depending on the number of floors and circuits. A villa requires early coordination with the concrete contractor to run conduits before roof slabs are poured.
- Common causes of delay: other trades (tiling, plumbing, plastering) blocking access before electrical work is complete, late material delivery, change orders, and lack of clear coordination between subcontractors.
- Coordinating with tiling, plumbing, and plastering: electrical work must always precede tiling. The plastering stage closes walls, so it must not begin before the supervising electrician gives final approval of the cable routes.
- Why rushing the rough-in stage must be avoided: cables buried behind walls cannot be changed after finishing except at great cost. A rushed rough-in is the cause of more than 60% of electrical faults in Egyptian homes.
- Inspection and sign-off stages: after rough-in, an insulation test must be performed before walls are patched. After finishing, the panel is inspected and load sequencing is tested. Request a written report for all these tests.
- Handover documents you must receive: As-Built electrical drawing, test reports, warranty certificate, and a list of the materials and specifications used. These documents protect you during any future maintenance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a realistic timeline for rough-in and finishing of a 120 m² apartment?
Rough-in takes 4–6 working days, then electrical work pauses for two to three weeks while tiling, plumbing, and plastering are completed. Electrical finishing (fitting sockets, switches, and panel) takes an additional 2–3 days. Total: 6–9 electrical working days spread across 4–6 weeks of overall project life.
How do I avoid conflicts between electrical work and tiling?
Set a clear schedule: electrical work completes first and is approved by the supervisor, then plastering, then tiling. Any electrical change after plastering means breaking the wall. Planning socket and switch locations before rough-in begins saves you expensive changes later.
What is an insulation test and why is it important?
An insulation test measures the insulation resistance of cables to verify there is no contact or short between wires before walls are patched. It is performed with a Megger device. Failing the test means replacing the cable before patching — far less expensive than replacing it afterward.
Can the project be accelerated by adding more workers?
To a degree yes, but adding workers helps with large rough-in areas, not with finishing work that requires individual precision. More than 3–4 workers in a 120 m² apartment can cause interference and errors. Better results come from coordinating schedules with other trades in advance.
Why does an As-Built electrical drawing matter?
An As-Built drawing documents the actual locations of every cable, conduit, and box after installation. During any future maintenance or expansion it saves hours of searching and random wall cutting. Many electrical faults result from the absence of this drawing and ignorance of wire locations.