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Switchboard upgrades and safety switches
If your board still runs ceramic fuses, it is protecting the wiring in your walls - not the people in your house. Here is what an upgrade involves and the paperwork you get at the end.
What we cover
- Full switchboard upgrades and replacement boards
- Safety switch (RCD and RCBO) installation
- Every circuit tested and clearly labelled
- Rewiring of unsafe or overloaded boards
- Meter box replacement and relocation
- Certificate of Electrical Safety issued on completion
What a safety switch actually does
A fuse or a circuit breaker protects the wiring in your walls from overheating. It does not protect you. A safety switch - an RCD - watches for current leaking to earth, which is what happens when electricity finds a path through a person, and cuts the supply in well under a second. They are two completely different jobs, which is why an old board with fuses alone leaves you unprotected.
How to tell if yours needs doing
Open the meter box and look. Round ceramic fuses with fuse wire, a board with no test buttons, handwritten labels, or a board so full there is nowhere to add a circuit - any of those means it is time. Nuisance tripping, scorch marks or a burning smell means call sooner rather than later.
Look at the difference
The before photos below are real jobs in Mildura. That tangle of wiring is what was sitting behind a meter box door on an occupied house. The after shot is the same kind of board rebuilt - every circuit on its own protective device, everything labelled so the next person who opens it knows exactly what they are looking at.
Questions people actually ask
Do I legally have to have safety switches?
In Victoria, RCD protection is required on new circuits and when circuits are altered, and current wiring rules require RCD protection on socket outlet and lighting circuits in domestic installations. Practically: if your house has none, you should not wait to be forced. We will look at your board and tell you exactly what you have and what you do not.
How long does a switchboard upgrade take?
Most domestic switchboard upgrades are a day, with the power off for part of it. We will tell you before we start roughly how long you will be without power so you can plan around fridges and freezers.
Will I get paperwork?
Yes. A Certificate of Electrical Safety is issued for prescribed electrical installation work, a copy goes to you, and a copy is lodged as required. Keep yours - it matters when you sell or insure the house.
My safety switch keeps tripping. Is it faulty?
Usually not. A tripping RCD is normally doing its job and telling you something on that circuit is leaking to earth - very often a specific appliance. We fault find to the actual cause rather than just resetting it.
Want a price on switchboards?
Free quotes, no obligation. Book a time online or call and talk it through.