Who Owns the Wiring in Your Home, and Who Pays?
- Checked by hand 18 August 2026
- 15 providers priced
- Boundary quoted from Openreach's own handbooks
- Reviewed by Dr Alex J. Martin-Smith
- Next check 18 November 2026
Openreach owns the network up to and including the master socket, or on full fibre the ONT box. Everything beyond that point is yours, including extension wiring and your own kit. If an engineer finds the fault on your side, you can be charged anything from £25 to £192 depending on your provider and the time of day. Checked 18 August 2026.
- Where the network ends
- The two minute test that settles it
- What each provider charges
- Three providers who contradict themselves
- Why it costs you twice
- How to avoid the charge
- The ONT: what not to touch
Read this if
- Your broadband keeps dropping and you are about to book an engineer
- A charge has appeared for a visit that found "no fault"
- You are wondering whether to fix an extension socket yourself
- You are moving out and unsure what stays and what goes
Read something else if
- The engineer never turned up, see when a visit fails
- Your speeds are just slow, see speeds lower than advertised
- Nothing works at all, see broadband not working
There is a socket in your house that decides who pays, and almost nobody knows it is there. It sits behind the faceplate of your master socket and it takes about two minutes to use. Plug into it and you have bypassed every extension and every bit of wiring you own. If the fault disappears, it was yours and an engineer would have charged you. If it does not, the fault is on the network and the visit is free. That single test is the difference between a £25 bill, a £115 bill and no bill at all, and this page shows you how to do it.
The ownership boundary is quoted from Openreach's own published handbooks, and the charges from each provider's own price list or terms, all read on 18 August 2026. Two honest limits. First, Openreach's clearest statements of the boundary appear in handbooks written for property developers, not for consumers, and we say so each time we quote one. Second, Openreach's own engineering price list is blocked to us, so we cannot tell you what Openreach charges your provider, only what your provider charges you. Those are different numbers and nobody publishes the relationship between them.
Key facts, each with its source
- On full fibre, the ONT is the boundary
- "The ONT is the Openreach demarcation point. It replaces the traditional copper master socket." Openreach fibre developer handbook, Mar 2026, p.38
- And everything past it is yours
- "All internal wires and sockets beyond the ONT are the responsibility of the developer/homeowner." Same handbook, p.39
- On copper it was the master socket, and it still belongs to Openreach
- "Openreach will fit the master socket (Network Terminating Equipment (NTE), which will remain the property of Openreach." Openreach copper handbook v3.1, Oct 2019
- The service boundary is stated the same way in the technical spec
- "The service boundary only extends to the Master Telephone Socket and does not include internal wiring." SIN 385, Issue 3.4, Mar 2024
- Openreach says plainly that the homeowner pays
- "If the homeowner experiences a lack of service or poor service, which is due to a fault within the internal installation of wiring, which requires Openreach to rectify, the homeowner will be charged." Note this sentence appears in the March 2021 edition and not in the current August 2024 one, which repeats the responsibility wording without it. Openreach quick guide, home wiring, Mar 2021
- The test socket bypasses everything you own
- "By using this test socket you bypass all internal phone wiring. So if your broadband now works, it points to a problem with your internal wiring (phone extensions) or with something plugged in to an extension." BT help, undated
- The clearest provider statement of the boundary
- NOW clause 3.11(b): "We will not be responsible for any fault or wear and tear on any part of your line beyond the primary telephone socket onwards inside your home." NOW contract NOWCTC0425, Apr 2025
- A fault in your home also cancels your compensation
- Paragraph 39(g) of Ofcom's automatic compensation code removes the obligation to pay where "the fault is not in respect of the service provided or it is caused by equipment or activity within the customer's home". Ofcom code, updated 7 Mar 2025
- Your provider must warn you about the charge in advance
- Ofcom: "If your provider needs to send an engineer then they should tell you in advance if they charge for such visits. If they do charge, they should tell you when you might be expected to pay and how much (for example if the fault is found to be with your equipment)." Ofcom faults guidance, 8 Apr 2026
- The ONT is not yours to move or take
- "It belongs to Openreach, not your provider, and not you, and in almost all cases, it should stay exactly where it is." Removing it "could even result in a call-out charge to have it reinstalled". Openreach, equipment in my home
Where the network ends
Every argument about a broadband engineer's bill comes down to one line drawn through your house. On one side sits equipment belonging to Openreach, maintained by Openreach, and fixed at nobody's expense but theirs. On the other side sits everything that belongs to you. The line has moved in the last few years, which is part of why so few people can say where it is.
On full fibre, the line is the ONT
If you have full fibre, the boundary is the small white box the engineer screwed to your wall, called the ONT or optical network terminal. Openreach states it in one sentence:
"The ONT is the Openreach demarcation point. It replaces the traditional copper master socket."
And on the next page: "All internal wires and sockets beyond the ONT are the responsibility of the developer/homeowner."
So the fibre coming into the house, the ONT itself and the power supply for it are Openreach's. The Ethernet cable running from the ONT to your router, the router, your Wi-Fi and every socket in the house are yours.
On copper and FTTC, the line is the master socket
If you are still on a copper line or on fibre to the cabinet, the boundary is the master socket, the one the line physically enters the house at. Openreach's copper handbook says it "will remain the property of Openreach", and that "All internal wires and sockets beyond the Openreach Network Terminating Equipment (NTE) (master socket) are the responsibility of the developer/future home owner". BT's wholesale technical specification for ADSL puts the same boundary crisply: "The service boundary only extends to the Master Telephone Socket and does not include internal wiring." That document is a product description written for other communications providers rather than for consumers, and the sentence appears in a passage about power rather than ownership, so treat it as corroboration of where the line sits rather than as a statement of consumer rights.
There is a refinement worth knowing, because it is where most disputes actually sit. On a modern master socket the front is a removable faceplate held on by two screws. Openreach's responsibility runs to the socket behind that faceplate. The faceplate itself, and every extension wired off it, is on your side of the line. That is why the test in the next section works.
The clearest statements of the boundary we could find are in Openreach handbooks written for property developers and housebuilders, not for consumers. They are current, published and unambiguous, and the principle they describe is the industry standard one, echoed by BT's wholesale technical specification and by the provider terms further down this page. But we are not going to pretend they were written for you. Openreach does publish a consumer page setting out which equipment in your home is its property, which we quote later. What we could not find is any consumer facing Openreach document stating where the copper master socket boundary falls or explaining what sits on your side of it, and that is a gap worth closing.
Which side is your router on?
Yours, always. This trips people up because the router usually arrives from the provider, so it feels like theirs. It is normally loaned to you rather than sold, and providers do replace faulty ones, but for the purposes of a fault it sits on the customer side of the boundary. Gigaclear puts the widest version of this in writing, saying the customer is responsible for "the part of the network than runs from the boundary of your property, across your private land and into your premises - up to and including the router we provide".
The two minute test that settles it
Before you book anything, do this. It is the single most valuable thing on this page and it costs nothing.
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Find the master socket
It is the one where the line comes into the house, usually in a hallway or by the front door, and it is the only socket with a horizontal line across the middle of the faceplate. If none of your sockets has that line, you have an older single piece socket and there is no test socket to use. Skip to step five.
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Take the faceplate off
Undo the two screws, or unclip it. BT's own instructions read: "If your primary socket has a line across the middle, remove the faceplate by undoing the two screws or unclipping the faceplate." Pull it forward gently; there are wires behind it, so do not yank.
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Plug into the test socket
Behind the faceplate, on the right, is a second socket. That is the test socket. BT: "On the right hand side you'll find a test socket. Connect your Hub to this test socket through a microfilter and try connecting."
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Read the result
This is the bit that decides who pays. BT again: "By using this test socket you bypass all internal phone wiring. So if your broadband now works, it points to a problem with your internal wiring (phone extensions) or with something plugged in to an extension." A working connection in the test socket means the fault is yours. A fault that persists in the test socket means it is on the network.
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On full fibre, there is no test socket
If your service comes through an ONT rather than a phone socket, this test does not exist. What you can do instead is check the lights on the ONT and tell your provider exactly what they are doing, because the ONT is Openreach equipment and a fault indicated there is on their side of the line. Then swap the Ethernet cable between ONT and router, which is yours and is a common failure point.
If the test socket fixes it, do not book an engineer. You have just saved yourself somewhere between £25 and £115, and the fix is usually a failed extension, a dead microfilter or something plugged into an extension. If the fault persists in the test socket, say so when you report it, in those words. "I have tested at the master socket test socket and the fault is still present" is the sentence that moves a case forward fastest, because it rules out the first thing the provider would otherwise ask you to do.
Do not remove the faceplate if the socket looks old, damaged, or is not the two part type, and do not start rewiring anything yourself. If you are not comfortable, do not do it: an engineer visit costs less than an injury, and some providers will talk you through it on the phone instead. And if you are renting, internal wiring is usually the landlord's fixture rather than yours, so tell them before you change anything.
What each provider charges
If an engineer attends and finds the fault on your side of the boundary, you can be billed for the visit. We looked at the published price lists, terms and help pages of fifteen providers on 18 August 2026, and could read a charge for nine of them. The figures run from £25 per appointment at Virgin Media to £192 at Gigaclear outside business hours, for a visit that from your sofa looks identical in every case.
One figure sits above even that. Zen publishes £165 plus VAT, just under £200, where an engineer records "NFF (No fault found)" on a fibre line. We have put it in the table because it is published and it is the highest number in the survey, but with a caveat: the document it appears in is filed under Zen's business documents, and nothing on its face limits it to business customers or extends it to residential ones.
Two warnings. First, these are not all the same product. Nine providers publish both an amount and the circumstances it applies in. Plusnet publishes an amount with no wording at all about when it bites. NOW publishes the rule but not the price. toob and YouFibre publish only a damage or misuse clause, which is a different thing from a no fault found charge, and neither publishes a no fault found fee. Sky and Community Fibre publish neither that we could find.
Second, and more important, a blank is not good news. A provider that has printed a number is being clearer with you than one that has not, and this table should not be read as rewarding silence. Where a cell says not published or not found, that is a limit on what we could read, never a finding that no charge exists.
| Provider | Charge if the fault is yours | What the document says triggers it | Document date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virgin Media | £25 per appointment | Charged where the visit results from a "Fault in, or any other problem (including set up and specification) associated with, your equipment or any system that is not provided by us as part of our services", plus "other associated costs on a case by case basis" | Not dated |
| EE | £50.00 | "this charge will apply if an engineer is required to visit your property to investigate a broadband fault, and it is identified that the cause is through damage or a fault within your property, and not a fault on the BT or EE Network" | 1 Jan 2026 |
| Cuckoo | £60 first hour, then £150 | "Fault within customer premises" as a first hour charge, with an hourly charge after that. A footnote caps charges "for missed or late cancellation of engineer appointments, or faults in the home environment" at £199.00 | 28 May 2026 |
| Plusnet | £65 | Listed as an "Engineer charge" and a "Fibre engineer visit charge". No trigger wording is published at all, so you cannot tell from the document when it applies | 30 Jul 2026 |
| TalkTalk | Up to £75 | Charged where "the engineer was unable to find a fault with your service during your visit, or the fault was found to be related to a condition inside your premises". A separate row covers an Openreach engineer finding "a condition in your property or garden" | 3 Sep 2025 |
| BT | £85, or £130 | "we can come and sort it out for you for £85" for internal wiring. A separate page gives an "Engineer Visit Charge - £130 including VAT", for example "moving your main socket to another location". See the contradictions below | Neither dated |
| Hyperoptic | £85 | An "Abortive Repair Visit Fee" covering, among other limbs, where "our engineer is unable to find any fault with your service or Hyperoptic's equipment during the appointment and, in our reasonable opinion, the appointment was unnecessary". The £85 rate is stated for orders placed after 08/09/2025; older orders may differ | 9 Jul 2026 |
| toob | Damage clause only, £99 | A "Service Restoration Fee" of £99.00 applies where "the fault in the Service is caused by damage to or misuse of the Network Equipment". That is a damage charge, not a no fault found charge, and we found no no fault found fee | 25 Apr 2025 |
| Vodafone | £115 first hour, then £52 | "Fault within customer premises - first hour charge £115.00", with £52.00 an hour after that. Vodafone also lists a separate "Special Fault Investigation £150.00" plus £35.00 for an "Internal wiring issue" and £22.00 for an "Internal equipment issue" | 25 Feb 2026 |
| Gigaclear | £120 or £192, plus labour | "If a technician visits your home to investigate a fault you've reported and the issue is found to be caused by your own equipment or setup rather than Gigaclear equipment, a call-out charge may apply." The call out is a flat fee, £120 including VAT in business hours or £192 outside them, and hourly labour is charged on top at £60 or £96 including VAT | Not dated |
| NOW Broadband | Rule published, not the price | Clause 3.11(c) charges you where "the engineer attends but finds there is no fault with your Line" or where "the fault is on any part of your telephone line beyond the primary telephone socket onwards inside your home and has not been caused by us or anyone for whom we are responsible". That closing condition matters: it stops NOW charging you for damage it caused. It points to a fee schedule on the NOW website that we could not locate | Apr 2025 |
| Zen Internet | £165 + VAT on fibre | Clause 3.9 of its terms allows a charge where "you report a fault but the engineer discovers the fault was not due to our services or equipment or the reported fault was not found". Its customer service plan prices this at "£ 140 + VAT" on ADSL and "£ 165 + VAT" on FTTC and FTTP where an engineer records "NFF (No fault found)", "RWT (right when tested)" or "damage to the line within customer curtilage", plus a £90 + VAT aborted visit charge. That document is filed under business services and is undated, and does not state its scope either way | Terms 18 May 2026; plan undated |
| YouFibre | Damage clause only | Clause 8.10 allows "a service fee (at our current charging rates at that time) if any repair or maintenance work is needed because of you misusing, neglecting or damaging the Equipment". Like toob, that is a damage clause rather than a no fault found charge, and the rates are not published in its price book | 10 Jul 2026 |
| Sky | Not published | We could not find any engineer visit charge on Sky's accessible help pages or in its terms. Two Sky tariff guides are blocked to automated readers, so a figure may exist inside them. This is not a statement that Sky does not charge | Could not verify |
| Community Fibre | Not found | We could find no engineer charge, no trigger and no internal wiring clause. The consumer terms we located are dated 12 November 2018 and say only that where a fault cannot be fixed remotely "we will send a technician to investigate and correct the fault if necessary" | 12 Nov 2018 |
Three providers price by the hour rather than per visit, and the structures are not what you would expect. Vodafone charges £115 for the first hour and £52 for each hour after, so the cost of a long visit rises slowly. Cuckoo runs the other way: £60 for the first hour, then £150 an hour after it, which means a visit that overruns costs far more than the headline suggests. Cuckoo does cap the total at £199, which matters, and that cap is the most useful number in its price list. If you are quoted an hourly rate, always ask what the cap is.
Three providers who contradict themselves
Reading the price lists, terms and help pages of fifteen providers turned up something we did not expect: in three cases the two disagree about what you would actually be charged. We are naming them because a customer cannot budget against two numbers, and because Ofcom expects providers to tell you the charge in advance. In every case the fix is a morning's work for whoever owns the page.
Cuckoo: the help page and the price list give different rates
Cuckoo's help centre explains the charge clearly and fairly, which is more than most do: "You'll also need to pay if you ask for an engineer visit when it turns out there is no underlying problem with the network, or the problem is to do with your equipment or internal wiring." It then says: "The fee you'd have to pay is £80 for the first hour and £50 for each hour after that."
Cuckoo's price list, last updated 28 May 2026, says something different. Against the line "Fault within customer premises" it gives a first hour charge of £60.00, and an hourly charge thereafter, described as "chargeable after the first hour", of £150.00.
The first hour is £20 cheaper on the price list. The second and every subsequent hour is three times dearer. A customer who read the help page and expected a two hour visit to cost £130 would find the price list produces £210, capped at £199. The help page carries no date, so there is no way to tell which came first.
BT: three positions and a price guide that mentions none of them
BT publishes "we can come and sort it out for you for £85" for internal wiring on one help page. On another it publishes "Engineer Visit Charge - £130 including VAT", explained as covering work such as "moving your main socket to another location within the same building". On a third page it lists what is chargeable, including "Your main socket, due to damage you've caused" and "Your home phone extension wiring", but gives no amount at all, saying instead that "We won't be able to tell you if there's a charge until after an engineer visits your premises". BT's residential price guide, effective 7 August 2026, contains no engineer or fault charge whatsoever.
Two of those three pages carry no date. It is entirely possible they cover different work, and £85 to fix wiring and £130 to move a socket are not necessarily inconsistent. But a customer trying to find out what a fault on their side would cost has to visit three pages, will find two figures and one refusal, and will not find either figure in the document BT calls its price guide. BT is also, in fairness, the only provider we read that publishes a plain list of what is chargeable, which is genuinely useful, and it says clearly that "If the problem is with our network, as it is the majority of the time, you won't be charged".
Vodafone: two overlapping charging regimes
Vodafone's price plan of 25 February 2026 contains both "Fault within customer premises - first hour charge £115.00" and, separately, "Special Fault Investigation £150.00" with add ons of "£35.00" for an internal wiring issue and "£22.00" for an internal equipment issue. Nothing published says which regime applies to which situation, or whether they can stack. On the face of the document a customer with an internal wiring fault could be looking at £115, at £185, or at something else again.
Ofcom's guidance is that "If they do charge, they should tell you when you might be expected to pay and how much". So the answer to all three of these is the same, and it is your strongest move on any call: before you agree to a visit, ask for the charge in writing, ask whether it is per visit or per hour, and ask what the maximum is. If the agent quotes you a figure that differs from a published one, save both. A provider that has published two numbers is in a poor position to insist on the higher one afterwards.
Why it costs you twice
There is a second cost to a customer side fault that almost nobody sees coming, and it is not on any price list. It is the compensation you do not get.
Ofcom's automatic compensation scheme pays £10.34 a day for a total loss of service and £6.46 a day where activation is late. Paragraph 39 of the industry code sets out the exceptions, and sub paragraph (g) reads:
"the fault is not in respect of the service provided or it is caused by equipment or activity within the customer's home;"
So a fault beyond your master socket does two things at once. It exposes you to an engineer charge, and it switches off the daily compensation you would otherwise have accrued while you were off line. A week without broadband caused by a failed extension socket is a week of no compensation and a bill at the end of it. The same week caused by a fault in the street is a week of compensation and no bill. The dividing line between those two outcomes is the faceplate, which is why the two minute test above is worth doing before anything else.
Our guide to the automatic compensation rates sets out what each trigger pays, and our page on what happens when an engineer visit fails covers the different situation where the engineer attends but cannot finish the job at all.
How to avoid the charge
Most customer side charges are avoidable, and the avoidance is mostly about what you do before you pick up the phone.
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Do the test socket check first
Two minutes, no cost, and it answers the only question that matters. If the connection works in the test socket, the fault is inside your home and an engineer will bill you for telling you so.
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Work through the obvious customer side causes
Swap the cable between the socket or ONT and the router. Remove anything plugged into an extension. Try a different microfilter if you are on copper. Restart the router properly rather than just switching the Wi-Fi off. These are the faults engineers most often find, and they cost nothing to rule out.
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Ask for the charge in writing before you book
Ofcom expects your provider to tell you in advance whether it charges, when, and how much. Ask for it by message or email rather than on a call, and ask specifically whether the fee is per visit or per hour and whether there is a cap.
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Say what you have already tested
Tell them you have tested at the master socket test socket and the fault persists, if that is true. It moves the case past the first line of questions and it is on record if a charge is later raised.
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If a charge appears anyway, challenge it with the evidence
Ask which clause is being relied on and what the engineer's notes say the fault was. If the notes point at the network and the charge says otherwise, that is a straightforward complaint. Never withhold payment while you dispute it, because that turns a billing argument into an arrears problem. Our complaints and escalation hub sets out the route.
Internal wiring is normally part of the property rather than part of your belongings, so a failed extension socket is usually a landlord matter rather than a tenant one. Tell your landlord or managing agent before you arrange any work, get their agreement in writing, and ask who is paying before an engineer is booked. Do not rewire anything yourself in a rented property.
The ONT: what not to touch
One short section, because it comes up constantly when people move house or switch provider, and getting it wrong costs money.
The ONT on your wall is not yours and it is not your provider's either. Openreach is unusually direct about this: "It belongs to Openreach, not your provider, and not you, and in almost all cases, it should stay exactly where it is."
So when you switch provider, leave it alone. Openreach: "When you switch, just leave everything in place. Your new provider will use the same ONT and fibre connection. There's nothing to unplug, remove or return." And when you move out: "Leave the ONT, PSU and cabling behind. They're part of the property's infrastructure and belong to Openreach." The only box that travels with you is the router your provider gave you, and even that usually has to go back to them rather than come with you.
Openreach warns that removing or tampering with the ONT "could interrupt your connection and could even result in a call-out charge to have it reinstalled". That is the boundary working against you: damage to Openreach equipment caused by activity in your home lands on your side of the line, so you pay to have a box you never owned put back. If the ONT is in an inconvenient place, ask your provider about a relocation rather than moving it yourself. We could not find a published price for relocating an ONT at any provider, so ask for a quote in writing before you agree to anything. What we can say is that a relocation booked through your provider does not risk your service, and a reinstallation after you have taken the box off the wall does.
What we could not verify
- What Openreach charges your provider. Openreach's engineering price list, covering time related charges and special faults investigations, is blocked to automated readers. We can tell you what your provider charges you. We cannot tell you what it is charged, or how much of it is a mark up, and no party publishes the relationship.
- Whether the charge is levied on the provider or the customer in the first instance. Openreach's consumer pages say only that "Your provider will let you know if charges apply". We found no primary Openreach text stating who is billed, so we have not asserted it.
- Openreach's own consumer explanation of the test socket. There is not one that we could find. Every quotation about the test socket on this page comes from BT, a provider, rather than from the network operator, and BT's page carries no date.
- Whether the BT £85 figure is current. It sits on an undated help page and appears nowhere in BT's dated residential price guide. Treat it as indicative and ask BT to confirm.
- What happens to existing internal telephone extension wiring after the copper switch off. We could find nothing from Openreach, Ofcom or any provider stating whether that wiring becomes redundant or can be reused. This is a genuine gap in the published guidance and we are not going to fill it with a guess.
- Sky's position. Two Sky tariff guides are blocked to automated readers, so a charge may be published inside them. Nothing should be inferred from Sky's row.
- Whether the developer handbooks bind consumers. They are the clearest published statements of the boundary, and provider terms are consistent with them, but they were written to allocate responsibility between Openreach and housebuilders. Openreach publishes a consumer page listing the equipment it owns, but we found no consumer facing Openreach document stating the copper master socket boundary in the same terms.
Weighing up a move anyway?
None of this is a reason to switch on its own, and a customer side fault will follow you to any provider because the wiring is yours either way. But if you are out of contract, it costs nothing to see what reaches your address and at what price.
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Cite this page
In a sentence: BroadbandSwitch.uk established on 18 August 2026 that the UK broadband ownership boundary sits at the master socket on copper and at the ONT on full fibre, Openreach's own fibre developer handbook of March 2026 stating that "The ONT is the Openreach demarcation point. It replaces the traditional copper master socket" and that "All internal wires and sockets beyond the ONT are the responsibility of the developer/homeowner"; that published charges when a fault is found on the customer's side of that boundary range from £25 per appointment at Virgin Media to £115 for the first hour at Vodafone, with five of fifteen providers publishing no amount at all; and that paragraph 39(g) of Ofcom's automatic compensation code separately removes any compensation where a fault "is caused by equipment or activity within the customer's home".
BroadbandSwitch.uk. (2026, August 18). Who owns the wiring in your home, and who pays? https://broadbandswitch.uk/insights/who-owns-internal-wiring-master-socket-uk/ Questions people actually ask
Openreach does. Its copper handbook states that "Openreach will fit the master socket (Network Terminating Equipment (NTE), which will remain the property of Openreach", and that "All internal wires and sockets beyond the Openreach Network Terminating Equipment (NTE) (master socket) are the responsibility of the developer/future home owner". On a two part socket the practical dividing line is the removable faceplate: the socket behind it is Openreach's, and the faceplate plus every extension wired off it is yours. BT's technical specification puts the same point as "The service boundary only extends to the Master Telephone Socket and does not include internal wiring."Who owns the master socket in my house?
You are, as the property owner or occupier. The clearest provider statement we found is NOW's clause 3.11(b): "We will not be responsible for any fault or wear and tear on any part of your line beyond the primary telephone socket onwards inside your home." Gigaclear states the widest version, making the customer responsible for everything "from the boundary of your property, across your private land and into your premises - up to and including the router we provide". If you rent, internal wiring is normally a fixture of the property, so it is usually a landlord matter rather than a tenant one.Who is responsible for internal wiring in a UK home?
Very likely, and the amount depends entirely on your provider. Published figures run from £25 per appointment at Virgin Media, through £50 at EE, up to £75 at TalkTalk, £85 at BT and Hyperoptic, £115 for the first hour at Vodafone, £120 including VAT plus hourly labour at Gigaclear, and £165 plus VAT at Zen on a fibre line. Plusnet lists £65 but publishes no wording saying when it applies. Cuckoo charges £60 for the first hour and £150 an hour after that, capped at £199. NOW and YouFibre publish a rule allowing a charge without publishing an amount, and we could not find a figure for Sky or Community Fibre at all. Ofcom expects your provider to tell you in advance if it charges and how much, so ask before you book.Will I be charged if the engineer finds no fault?
It is the socket hidden behind the faceplate of a two part master socket, and it is the fastest way to find out who pays. BT's instructions are to remove the faceplate by "undoing the two screws or unclipping the faceplate", then "On the right hand side you'll find a test socket. Connect your Hub to this test socket through a microfilter and try connecting." BT explains what the result means: "By using this test socket you bypass all internal phone wiring. So if your broadband now works, it points to a problem with your internal wiring (phone extensions) or with something plugged in to an extension." If the connection works there, the fault is yours. If it does not, it is on the network. Full fibre has no test socket, because the ONT replaces the master socket.What is the test socket for and how do I use it?
Openreach, and this catches people out when they move or switch. Openreach states: "It belongs to Openreach, not your provider, and not you, and in almost all cases, it should stay exactly where it is." When you change provider, "There's nothing to unplug, remove or return", because the new provider uses the same ONT. When you move house, "Leave the ONT, PSU and cabling behind. They're part of the property's infrastructure and belong to Openreach." Only the router travels, and that usually has to go back to your old provider. Removing or tampering with the ONT "could even result in a call-out charge".Who owns the ONT box on my wall?
Yes, and this is the cost people miss. Paragraph 39(g) of Ofcom's automatic compensation code removes the obligation to pay where "the fault is not in respect of the service provided or it is caused by equipment or activity within the customer's home". So a week off line because of a failed extension socket earns you nothing, while the same week caused by a fault in the street would have paid £10.34 a day for a total loss of service. A customer side fault therefore costs you twice: the engineer charge, and the compensation you never receive.Does a fault in my home affect my compensation?
The faceplate and anything wired beyond it are on your side of the boundary, so you are not prohibited from working on them the way you are with the socket behind it or the ONT. Whether you should is a different question. If the socket looks old or damaged, if it is a single piece type with no removable front, or if you are not confident, do not: an engineer visit costs less than an injury and some providers will talk you through checks on the phone. If you rent, speak to your landlord first, because internal wiring is normally a fixture of the property. Openreach does say internal work can be contracted to one of its engineers, but that offer sits in its developer guidance and routes through a developer sales team, so as a consumer you would go through your own provider instead.Can I fix or replace the master socket faceplate myself?
Ask them to confirm in writing, and keep both. We found three providers whose own published figures disagree. Cuckoo's help centre says "£80 for the first hour and £50 for each hour after that", while its price list of 28 May 2026 says £60.00 for the first hour and £150.00 an hour after. BT publishes £85 on one page and an "Engineer Visit Charge - £130 including VAT" on another, with neither in its residential price guide. Vodafone lists a £115 first hour charge alongside a separate £150.00 Special Fault Investigation without saying which applies. Ofcom expects providers to tell you when you might pay and how much, so a provider that has published two numbers is in a weak position to insist on the higher one.My provider quoted a different price from its website. Which applies?
The boundary moves rather than disappears. Openreach describes the ONT as replacing "the traditional copper master socket", so on full fibre the ONT becomes the demarcation point and the master socket stops carrying broadband. Your phone handset plugs into the router instead of the wall. What we could not establish is what happens to existing internal telephone extension wiring: no Openreach, Ofcom or provider source we could find says whether it becomes redundant or can be reused. If you have extensions wired through the house, ask your provider directly rather than assuming.Does any of this change after the copper switch off?
References
- BT. (2024, March). SIN 385: IP Connect UK, Issue 3.4. https://www.bt.com/bt-plc/assets/documents/sinet/sins/downloads/385v3p4.pdf
- BT. (2026). Check your wiring and set-up, single socket [undated page]. https://www.bt.com/help/broadband/check-your-wiring-and-set-up---single-socket
- BT. (2026). Engineer home improvement service charges. https://www.bt.com/help/landline/getting-set-up/costs-and-charges/engineer-home-improvement-service-charges
- BT. (2026). Some one-off charges explained [undated page]. https://www.bt.com/help/account-and-billing/some-one-off-charges-explained
- BT. (2026, August 7). BT consumer price guide. https://www.bt.com/content/dam/bt/storefront/pdfs/BT_PhoneTariff_Residential.pdf
- Community Fibre. (2018, November 12). Terms and conditions, B2C. https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/cf-marketing-site-assets/legal/terms-conditions-b2c.pdf
- Cuckoo. (2026). How can I book an engineer visit? [undated page]. https://cuckoo.co/help/broadband/how-can-i-book-an-engineer-visit
- Cuckoo. (2026, May 28). Price list. https://cuckoo.co/legal/price-list
- EE. (2026, January 1). EE monthly home price guide. https://ee.co.uk/content/dam/help/terms-and-conditions/price-plans/home/1-1-26-ee-monthly-home-price-guide.pdf
- Gigaclear. (2026). Repairs and replacements. https://www.gigaclear.com/help-support/repairs-and-replacements
- Hyperoptic. (2026, July 9). Guide to charges and fees for residential customers. https://www.hyperoptic.com/wp-content/uploads/documents/Hyperoptic_Price_Guide_Book.pdf
- NOW. (2025, April). NOW Broadband and Calls contract [NOWCTC0425]. https://web.static.nowtv.com/images/NOWTV_2025/Design_Assets/Gold/Misc/NOWCTC0425.pdf
- Ofcom. (2025, March 7). Communications providers' voluntary code of practice for an automatic compensation scheme. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/consultations/uncategorised/98684---automatic-compensation/associated-documents/industry-code-of-practice-for-automatic-compensation-2024-v1.pdf?v=392135
- Ofcom. (2026, April 8). Broadband and landline faults and problems. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/service-quality/broadband-landline-faults
- Ofcom. (2026, July 20). Automatic compensation: what you need to know. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/service-quality/automatic-compensation-need-know
- Openreach. (2019, October). Developer guide: how to build a copper network, version 3.1. https://www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/openreach-dam-files/images/fibre-broadband/fibre-for-developers/guides-and-handbooks/oct-2019-update/amends/Copper%20handbook%20V3.1%20web.pdf
- Openreach. (2021, March). Quick guide: home wiring. https://www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/openreach-dam-files/images/fibre-broadband/fibre-for-developers/guides-and-handbooks/mar-2021-update/Quick%20guide%20home%20wiring%20Mar%202021.pdf
- Openreach. (2024, August). Quick guide: home wiring, new sites. https://www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/openreach-dam-files/new-dam-(not-in-use-yet)/documents/help-support/New-Sites-Home-Wiring-Quick-Guide-August-2024-online.pdf
- Openreach. (2026). Openreach equipment in my home. https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support/openreach-equipment-in-my-home
- Openreach. (2026). What will happen during my repair visit? https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support/what-will-happen-during-my-repair-visit
- Openreach. (2026, March). Fibre developer handbook, new sites. https://www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/openreach-dam-files/new-dam-(not-in-use-yet)/documents/help-support/New-Sites-Fibre-Handbook-March-2026-online.pdf
- Plusnet. (2026, July 30). Plusnet price guide for residential products. https://www.plus.net/help/legal/plusnet-price-guide-for-residential-products/
- Sky. (2026). Sky Broadband and Sky Talk engineer visits. https://www.sky.com/help/articles/sky-broadband-engineer-visits
- TalkTalk. (2025, September 3). Engineer charges. https://help-centre.talktalk.co.uk/Billing_and_Payments/Something_else/Engineer_charges
- toob. (2025, April 25). toob home broadband: charges and fees. https://www.toob.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/toob-home-broadband-charges-and-fees-April-2025.pdf
- Virgin Media. (2026). Price guides, technician appointments. https://www.virginmedia.com/legal/price-guides
- Vodafone. (2026, February 25). Vodafone home broadband and phone: your price plan. https://binaries.vodafone.co.uk/gbnnsauqav4t/2tnqG2nFeC21VGS4GZR0n9/5c125106eca5f1334c9b5999dd588643/hbb-price-plan-250226.pdf
- YouFibre. (2026, July 10). Residential terms and conditions. https://www.youfibre.com/legal/residential-terms-and-conditions/
- Zen Internet. (2026). Customer service plan, broadband services [undated, filed under business documents]. https://www.zen.co.uk/resources/docs/default-source/document-library/business/csp-broadband-services.pdf
- Zen Internet. (2026, May 18). Retail general terms and conditions. https://www.zen.co.uk/resources/docs/default-source/document-library/standard-terms-and-conditions/zen---standard-terms-document-v4-1-030621.pdf
Adrian James, Broadband Editor at BroadbandSwitch.uk. The ownership boundary on this page is quoted from Openreach's own published handbooks and BT's technical specification, and every charge from the provider's own price list, terms or help pages, all read on 18 August 2026. Where a source is a developer document rather than a consumer one, or carries no date, we say so at the point we use it. Reviewed by Dr Alex J. Martin-Smith. Next scheduled check 18 November 2026. If any provider corrects a figure named here, tell us and we will update this page and say what changed.