Electrical, Perth
Switchboard upgrades in Perth, old fuses out, safety switches in
- EC18158
- AU069964
Ask us about your switchboard and we give you an honest answer on what it needs. You get an Electrical Safety Certificate for the work. We take pride in a clean job, so when we pack up, the only sign we were there is the new board.
Signs it is time
When to get your switchboard looked at
Ceramic fuses in the board
The Wiring Rules no longer allow them in new work. We open the board, show you what we find and tell you plainly what it needs and what it costs.
No safety switch on the board
A fuse or circuit breaker protects the wiring. It does not protect a person from electrocution. A safety switch is designed to.
Selling or renting the home
WA law requires safety switches before the title transfers, before you enter a tenancy agreement, or before you offer the home as a short stay.
Adding a circuit, air conditioner or EV charger
In a home, a new circuit gets 30 mA safety switch protection at the board it starts from, so the board is part of the job.
Two switchboards we have upgraded
Our own jobs, each photographed from the same spot before and after.
BeforeCeramic fuses and a mix of older switches on an asbestos backing board.
AfterA new board with a 3 phase main switch, RCBOs and surge protection.
BeforeCeramic fuses and old breakers on an asbestos board.
AfterA new main switch and RCBOs, with spare room on the board for what the house adds next.
What a switchboard upgrade involves
In a home, once all the protection on a board is replaced, every circuit on it gets 30 mA safety switch protection, with no more than three circuits on any one switch. Where there are two or more lighting circuits, they are split across switches, so one trip does not leave the house dark.
Changing more than one fuse to circuit breakers is notifiable work: we lodge a Notice of Completion, and you get an Electrical Safety Certificate.
How we work on your board
Most of a switchboard job ends up behind the cover, where you would have to take our word for how it was done. So when we finish, we walk you through what we did.
You are the one who opens the board when something trips, so we label each circuit for what it runs. Our electrical workmanship is covered for 12 months.
Selling or renting a home in WA
In WA, the owner must have at least two safety switches covering the power and lighting circuits before the title transfers, before entering a tenancy agreement, or before offering the home as a short stay. The rule does not reach hard-wired appliances such as the oven or air conditioner.
Smoke alarms have their own rules at a sale or a tenancy, including when they were installed and how they are powered, and only a licensed electrical contractor may connect or disconnect mains powered alarms. We check the switches and the alarms, and tell you what already passes and what does not.
Main switch, meter box and three phase
Some jobs reach past the board: a new main switch, a bigger meter box, or three phase. Three phase is applied for by your electrical contractor, and Western Power confirms first that it is available at your address. Western Power sets its own fees and timing, and we tell you both before you decide.
Adding air conditioning to the board
An air conditioner added to a home goes on a circuit with 30 mA safety switch protection at the board. A split or ducted system also gets a lockable isolating switch beside the outdoor unit, not on it.
The electrical and the air conditioning are in the same quote, because we look at your board when we work out the system.
What affects the price
Your quote is the full installed price, GST included, and it holds for the job as described until the date on it. If we have not seen your board yet, a free site visit confirms the figure before anything is ordered, and if we find something nobody could have seen, we stop and you decide before we go on.
- What is on the board now, and how many circuits
- Whether the meter box has room, or needs replacing too
- New circuits at the same time, such as air conditioning
- Any change to the supply, such as three phase
Watch it explained
What a ceramic fuse cannot do
Our previous work
FAQ
Questions people ask
Why does a new switchboard put a safety switch on every circuit?
Because the Wiring Rules require it once all the protection on a board is replaced. Building and Energy says a safety switch on every circuit is optional for a home built before 2019, and while the old protection stays, it is. With a new board, every circuit on it gets that protection.
Do I need three phase power?
Not always. A 7 kW single phase EV charger can go on a single phase home if the supply can carry it. We check the supply before we suggest three phase, and Western Power confirms it is available at your address before we apply.
How often should I test my safety switches?
Building and Energy says you should press the T button on each one every three months, or more often if the maker says so. When we upgrade a board, we test every safety switch on it before we hand it back.
Get your price
Get a price for your switchboard
Tell us what is on the board now and what you want to add or change. We get back to you the same business day.
Tell us the job
Tell us the job. We get back to you the same business day.