Adding or moving a power point in Malaysia: looping, joints, conduit and planning a renovation layout

Most extra sockets in Malaysian homes are added by looping from an existing socket. That’s normal, and it’s how the Energy Commission’s (ST) own wiring diagrams connect sockets. It goes wrong in three predictable ways: the socket you loop from is fed by thin or tired cable, the circuit ends up carrying more heavy appliances than it was meant to, or a loose terminal somewhere along the chain cuts off or overheats everything after it. Moving a socket is simplest when nobody has to join the cable at all: leave the old box in place and loop a new socket from it. Where cable has to run through walls or ceilings, Malaysian wiremen expect rigid PVC conduit bent to shape, not flexible hose and not loose cable.

This guide comes from the questions homeowners and wiremen ask about these jobs in Malaysian electrical Facebook groups, and from the replies they get. The rules are checked against ST’s domestic wiring guideline (GP/ST/No.39/2024) and the Electricity Regulations 1994. For per-point price lists, see our house wiring prices guide. This page only adds prices for the jobs below.

Loop from a socket, or run a new point from the DB?

A loop takes a second socket off the terminals of an existing one. A new point runs its own cable back to the distribution board (DB), usually on its own breaker. Looping is cheaper because there’s less cable and less chasing. Quotes in Malaysian groups put a loop at roughly RM40–95, against RM100–200 for a socket point from the DB.

Looping is reasonable when:

• the socket you loop from is wired in 2.5mm² single-core cable from a socket circuit, not from a light circuit;
• the new socket will run light loads, such as chargers, a TV or a router;
• the circuit doesn’t already feed something heavy.

Go back to the DB, or ask about a new circuit, for:

• an aircond, water heater, oven or clothes dryer. ST’s guideline says these “hendaklah disambung secara berasingan dari litar yang lain” (clause 9.1(g)): each gets its own circuit.
• heating appliances that will run together, such as a kettle, air fryer, microwave or rice cooker on the same counter;
• anything in a kitchen that’s already crowded with looped sockets.

Check what feeds the socket before anyone loops from it. In one widely shared post in a Malaysian wiremen’s group, a wireman had already pulled new cable for a customer’s extra socket. When he opened the original socket, he found it fed by a thin three-core flexible cord, the kind used on appliances. Commenters put it at 1.5mm² or even 1.0mm², well short of the 2.5mm² a socket circuit needs. He couldn’t loop from it. Another wireman described a kitchen where every socket and light had been looped from the nearest socket in 1.5mm² cable with no earth. He found it only because he was called to troubleshoot something else.

“I added a socket and now an old one doesn’t work”

This is one of the most-discussed questions in the groups. Three sockets were looped in a row. After the third was added, the old one in the middle went dead. The top answers, from several wiremen:

• Open the dead socket and check the terminals. Look for a screw that clamped the insulation instead of the copper, or a wire that isn’t held tight. In a chain, a bad terminal kills everything after it.
• Replace the old socket if it has failed. Many replies simply blamed the middle socket. One pointed to copper contacts that had sprung open with age, and a wireman said sockets sold as “easy 2 pin” blister at the holes. Swap in a known-good socket to test before buying new.
• Mind the load. Three looped sockets are fine for light loads. One wireman who wires events keeps about 1,500W across four looped sockets. Every terminal in a loop carries the current of everything after it.

One popular suggestion was simpler: fit a two- or three-gang socket in one box instead of looping three separate ones.

Moving a socket when the cable is too short

A homeowner asked how to lower a socket by 4 inches to fit a wall cabinet, and whether to reject a wireman who joins the cable with only electrical tape.

Best: avoid the joint. Leave the old socket where it is, or fit a blank plate over its box, and loop a new socket from its terminals down to the new position. The old box becomes an accessible junction box, and the new cable runs whole. Other no-joint options came up too: raise the cabinet slightly, or run the cable behind the cabinet into a surface box. Wiremen also often leave slack behind a socket or in the DB, so a few inches may come without any joint.

If a joint is unavoidable, these are the methods wiremen favoured, most-liked first:

1. A married joint (strands interlaced and twisted), covered with heat-shrink tube.
2. A cable link, the crimped butt connector sold for this job, covered with heat-shrink. Use a proper crimping tool, not ordinary pliers. One reply warned that a link squeezed with ordinary pliers pulls out over time and can burn.
3. A cable link wrapped in 3M Scotch electrical tape, then black tape.

Some wiremen prefer soldered joints instead. Several replies added one instruction: stagger the three joints (live, neutral, earth) so they aren’t side by side.

The tape argument is less important than it looks. A couple of wiremen said taped joints in developer-built houses had lasted decades. Others said they’d reject them. The point several practitioners made is that the copper joint matters more than the wrapping. A tight crimp or a proper married joint under tape beats a loose twist under heat-shrink.

Opinions split on screw-type plastic connectors. One wireman said they’re for lights and fans, not a socket circuit, and another said the porcelain type is safe. In a separate thread about junction boxes, several wiremen said cheap connectors loosen or perish within a few years and are where melting starts.

Joints inside a buried conduit. Most replies to “can I join cables inside a PVC pipe and plaster over it?” said yes, if the joint is crimped or married, insulated and staggered. A minority said every joint belongs in a box you can open, because a joint you can’t see is the one that sparks. We’d side with the minority where it costs little: a joint inside an old back box with a blank plate is easy to inspect later. A joint plastered into the wall isn’t.

Watch the cable colours when new meets old. In June 2026 ST issued Arahan ST No. 11/2026, which moves new and upgraded wiring to the international colours. In single-phase wiring, live changes from red to brown and neutral from black to blue. On three-phase, the phases become brown, black and grey. Earth stays green or green-yellow. Either code is allowed from 1 January 2026, and the new one is mandatory from 1 January 2029. A wireman extending your old red-and-black wiring may legitimately use new-colour cable, but then black can be a phase on one side of a joint and neutral on the other. The directive asks for the original colours to be identified before connecting, a warning label at the DB of a mixed installation, and labels on joints that mix the two codes. Members joked about it in the joint thread (“lepas tu suruh rewiring satu rumah sbb guna coding cable baru”), but for anyone opening that box later, the label is what tells them which wire is which.

Taking a light or switch from a socket

People ask this constantly: for one kitchen light, an exhaust fan or a fan point when the DB is far away. Many wiremen say it works and admit doing it in their own homes. The careful answers explain the catch:

• The breaker protects the cable, not the lamp. A socket circuit is typically on a 16–20A breaker or more. Run 1.5mm² lighting cable off it, and that cable can overheat under an overload that a 20A breaker won’t trip on. If you tap a socket, keep the tap in 2.5mm², or protect the 1.5mm² with its own small breaker or fused connection.
• Take it from the nearest light point or switch instead, such as the toilet or bedroom light near the kitchen. Several replies suggested this as the clean answer.
• Lighting and socket circuits are meant to stay separate. ST’s guideline gives them different cable sizes (1.5mm² for lighting, 2.5mm² for sockets, Table 8.2) and different RCD groups. Some wiremen therefore call a tap “wrong in theory, fine in practice” for one lamp in your own house. Others say they won’t do it for a customer.

The reverse is clearly worse: a socket taken from lighting cable puts socket loads on 1.5mm² cable.

How many sockets can go on one circuit?

The group answers vary widely. One education post says “maximum six sockets per radial”, and others say “count watts, not sockets”. ST’s guideline doesn’t set a socket count. Table 6.3 limits general socket circuits by breaker, cable size and the floor area they serve:

ST’s example single-phase schematic shows two sockets on each 16A radial and six on a 32A ring. That’s an illustration, not a limit. The guideline also says socket numbers depend on the circuit type and floor area, and that spare socket circuits should be provided (clause 6.2(c)).

Fixed heavy appliances sit outside this table. Aircond, water heaters, ovens and clothes dryers each get a separate circuit (9.1(g)). A cooker over 3kW gets its own circuit on a 20A or 32A breaker with an isolating switch (9.1(i)). Water heaters must be wired permanently, not plugged into a socket (9.1(h)). Cable sizes for these are in our SIRIM cable guide.

The kitchen case. One homeowner put a fridge, water filter, rice cooker and cooker hood on one 20A breaker with 2.5mm² cable, split through push-in connectors in a surface box. Replies split. The most-liked practical answer did the arithmetic: count roughly 4,000W as the limit for 2.5mm² and plan for about 3,000W, because the number of sockets matters less than what runs at once. Others said to split the loads, for example two appliances per breaker, or give heavy appliances their own circuit. One reply added that kitchens gain appliances over time (pressure cookers, ovens, microwaves), so one or two extra circuits now is cheap insurance. Kettles, air fryers and microwaves typically draw about 1–2.2kW each (check the rating label), so two or three running together on one 20A circuit is where it gets tight.

What happens when nobody counts: a wireman spent four hours tracing a fault in a house. A socket circuit ran to a hidden taped joint that fed three 1.5hp airconds and two water heaters. His photo shows green tape with copper strands showing through. One reply worked out 43–47A if everything ran together. He recommended rewiring with a new sub-DB on the upper floor.

Conduit, flexible hose, trunking and wiring above the ceiling

ST’s rule: “Semua pemasangan pendawaian dalam rumah hendaklah dipasang di dalam pembuluh atau sesalur sama ada pada permukaan atau terbenam” (clause 8.6(b)). All home wiring goes in conduit or trunking, whether surface-mounted or concealed. Single-insulated cable belongs in conduit or trunking, and double-insulated (sheathed) cable can be clipped to a surface or laid on a tray (Table 8.6).

Flexible conduit at bends. A homeowner’s contractor used rigid PVC conduit on straight runs and corrugated flexible conduit at every 90° turn, saying cables snag on elbows. The group’s answer was close to unanimous, and blunt:

• concealed work uses rigid PVC conduit bent with a spring bender, often as two 45° bends to make a 90°;
• elbows are avoided because cables do snag on them;
• flexible conduit is for the last short drop to a light or fan, where it can be replaced;
• corrugated flexible goes brittle (“reput”; some said within a year) and is harder, not easier, to pull new cable through. Buried in a wall, it can’t be replaced.

Ask for rigid conduit before the plaster goes on.

Cables loose above a plaster ceiling. A homeowner posted a screenshot of a contractor’s message: they deliberately ran wiring above the ceiling without conduit “supaya senang cari punca” (so faults are easy to find). The photo shows single-core cables lying across the ceiling framing. Replies called it unacceptable. Rats chew exposed cable, and older houses used double-insulated cable clipped to battens, while today’s single-insulated cable must be in conduit or casing. ST’s clause 8.6 agrees with the replies.

Surface or concealed. Surface PVC casing (trunking) or conduit is cheaper, quicker and easier to add to later. Concealed conduit in chased walls looks cleaner but needs hacking, plastering and repainting. When adding a point, a wireman may run a new surface pipe beside the old one or reuse the existing conduit. Reusing it means pulling the old cables out and back in, and conduits fill up: a looped socket already has three to six cables in its pipe. ST’s guideline uses a 40% space factor for conduit and 45% for trunking (clause 8.2). Pushing one more cable into a full pipe can damage the insulation of the cables already in it.

Where concealed cables run, and where not to drill

ST’s guideline defines permitted cable zones (clause 6.3(b), Figure 6.16):

• horizontal runs within 150mm of the concrete ceiling;
• vertical runs within 150mm of a wall end or corner;
• no vertical runs within 150mm of a door or window frame;
• cables to wall switches and sockets run vertically above the device.

That tells you two things. The band just below the ceiling is a legitimate place for cables, so it isn’t automatically safe to drill. And the classic hit is drilling straight above or below a switch or socket. When an apartment owner asked whether the wall-ceiling line was safe to drill, wiremen said apartment wiring mostly runs in conduits inside the slab, but any socket or switch below means a pipe rising to the ceiling. Several recommended a wall scanner or a non-contact voltage tester before drilling. One had seen a contractor’s concealed run at 45°, so the zones tell you where cables should be, not where every installer put them.

The zones matter when you move a socket. A homeowner wanted a backsplash socket moved across the sink to a water-filter corner, drawing a horizontal line along the tiles. The most-liked reply said to run it vertically down from above, not horizontally, so the next person to drill that wall doesn’t hit it.

Kitchen spacing rules from the same guideline (Figure 6.15, clause 6.3):

• no socket within 300mm of a sink edge, measured horizontally;
• no socket or accessory above a gas or electric hob;
• at least 200mm between a socket and a gas outlet.

Planning points for a renovation or new house

No group answer gives a points-per-room formula, and ST’s guideline doesn’t either. It asks for a site visit, the expected loads, a maximum-demand calculation with diversity, and plans from a competent person (clause 6.1). When an owner posted his own single-storey bungalow schematic for review, the reviewers’ points make a useful checklist:

• One circuit each for every aircond and water heater, in 4mm² cable. Several pushed for 4mm² even on an instant heater the owner had sized for 2.5mm², in case a bigger heater replaces it. ST’s water heater guideline sets 4mm² as the minimum.
• 10mA RCD protection for water heaters, with airconds on the lighting-side 100mA RCCB as in ST’s example schematic. See our water heater guide.
• Spare ways in the DB, plus a standby circuit or cable route for an EV charger or future solar.
• An earth cable sized to match the incoming cable (several corrected an undersized earth). Fit an SPD only with a decent earth; our earthing guide explains why.
• A sub-DB in the kitchen of a large house, so future kitchen sockets don’t need long runs back to the main board.
• Mark which circuit each point is on, and label the cables in the DB.
• Single vs three phase follows the maximum demand, not the house size. See our single vs three-phase guide.

Add the kitchen spacing rules above, and think about where furniture goes. Relocations for cabinets, beds and TV walls are among the most common add-on jobs, and the most avoidable. If you already know an appliance needs its own circuit (washer, dryer, oven, hob, aircond, heater), put that on the plan rather than looping it later.

What these jobs cost

Prices posted in Malaysian groups in 2026 for the jobs on this page are reported quotes, not market rates:

Concealed work costs more because of hacking, plastering and painting. Concrete walls are harder to chase than brick. Leaving an old point with a blank plate and adding a new one often costs about the same as moving it, and keeps the old point for later.

What to check before you pay

The most-reacted homeowner question on this subject came from Sungai Petani. They had paid over RM9,000 to rewire a single-storey semi-D. The photos show surface casing that ends raggedly above the sockets with cables visible in the gap, and broken plaster around the boxes. The owner reported a damaged ceiling and sockets without earth, and said the contractor stopped answering after full payment. The most-liked reply from another member asked whether they’d had a written quote, a scope, independent advice and competing quotes. The owner had done all four. Others suggested the consumer claims tribunal.

Before the final payment, look for:

• casing or conduit that runs all the way into each box, with no bare cable between them;
• no loose cable above the ceiling and no flexible hose buried in walls;
• no visible joints taped up in the ceiling or in a box without a cover;
• an earth connection at every socket. A cheap plug-in socket tester shows missing earth and reversed polarity;
• cable size and SIRIM printing on what went in: 2.5mm² for sockets, 4mm² for aircond and heaters. Our SIRIM cable guide explains the mark.
• test results. ST’s guideline lists the tests for new or altered wiring: continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth electrode resistance, RCD and earth loop impedance (clause 11.2(d)). They’re recorded on Forms G and H, and those forms lapse automatically when wiring is added (11.2(e)). New ones have to be issued by an electrical contractor and competent person (11.2(g)). For a big renovation, ask for them.

Agree the scope and price before work starts, and hold back part of the payment until you’ve checked the job. That’s the advice the groups repeat after every dispute thread.

Doing it yourself

Plenty of homeowners in these groups add their own sockets. Some do it well, and some trip the RCCB. The law is simpler than the debate. ST’s guideline (Appendix 1.7) says the Electricity Regulations require all electrical work to be done by or under the direct supervision of a competent person registered with ST, through an ST-registered electrical contractor. It also asks owners to check the contractor’s registration. Regulation 111 says only a competent person, or someone under their control, may repair, replace or service equipment that forms part of an installation. Appliances that plug into a socket are exempt from the connection rule (regulation 64). Fixed wiring isn’t.

So the practical line is: plug-in power strips and appliances are yours. Changing or extending fixed wiring is a wireman’s job. Hiring one isn’t hard: our Johor Bahru electricians guide shows how to find and check one, and the house wiring prices guide shows what a fair quote looks like. If the DB has no free ways for the new circuits, our DB upgrade guide covers adding ways or a second board instead of replacing the whole thing.