Switchboard Upgrade Mount Lawley: New Board, Safer Power

An electrician starts by looking at what is on the board now. That means ceramic fuses, an old fuse box, or a mix of breakers that have been added over the years. They also look at the wiring behind it, because a new board is only as safe as the cables feeding it.

The new board gets a circuit breaker for each circuit. A circuit breaker is a switch that cuts power when a circuit draws too much, and you can flip it back on. It also gets RCDs, also called safety switches. An RCD cuts the power quickly when current leaks to earth, which lowers the risk of a serious electric shock.

You see the price before anyone touches the board. A clear quote shows if you need only a few safety switches added or a full new switchboard, so you can decide with the numbers in front of you.

The outage lasts as long as it takes to remove the old board and connect the new one. The likely window becomes clear once the electrician has seen the board and the supply. Some stages need the power off and others do not.

Three things change the length of the outage. A larger board with many circuits takes longer to rewire. Tidying up tangled or damaged cabling adds time. And if the meter side needs work, Western Power handles disconnecting the supply, which affects timing.

If you work from home or run a fridge full of food, mention it early. The work can then be ordered so the fridge is back on first.

If the panel behind your fuses might contain asbestos, a careful electrician raises it before cutting or drilling anything, and you can ask them to look at it first. Older boards were sometimes mounted on asbestos-containing panels, and disturbing them releases fibres.

Intact material left alone is a smaller risk than broken material. That is why a suspect panel is checked and dealt with before the new board goes in. Testing and safe removal are the usual options, and each adds its own line to the quote.

A board with ceramic fuses or no safety switches is worth upgrading before it fails, because the failure that matters is the one that goes unnoticed. A breaker that keeps tripping, a burning smell at the board or lights dimming when the oven comes on are all signs the board is working too hard.

If you see smoke, sparks or a hot, melting board, call 000.

An upgrade also gives you a chance to plan for what comes next. Before quoting for solar, air conditioning or an EV charger, the electrician checks board space, circuit capacity and the supply. Each addition needs its own circuit, so it is cheaper to size the board once than to squeeze each one onto a full board.

A home that is sold or newly leased in WA needs at least two RCDs protecting its power and lighting circuits. Many older boards have none, so a safety switch upgrade is often the first job before settlement or a new tenant.

For most installation work, including a switchboard upgrade, the contractor must give you an electrical safety certificate within 28 days. Keep it with the property papers, because buyers and agents ask for it.