Signs a switchboard needs upgrading
- Ceramic (rewireable) fuses. They don't protect people, only wiring, and they're replaced with circuit breakers and RCDs.
- No safety switches, or 1 RCD covering everything. Modern practice is RCD protection on every final subcircuit, so 1 fault doesn't black out the building.
- Frequent tripping, warm or discoloured boards, a burning smell. Loose connections and overload. Treated as urgent; see emergency electrician.
- No room for new circuits. Every added appliance has been squeezed on somewhere.
- Asbestos backing panel. Common on boards installed before the late 1980s. It's safe undisturbed and has to be handled correctly when the board is replaced.
- New loads coming. An EV charger, heat pump hot water, ducted air conditioning, induction cooktop, a 3-phase machine. Check capacity before you buy.
What an upgrade involves
A site visit to look at the existing board, the consumer mains and the metering. A written quote. On the day, power is isolated with SA Power Networks arrangements made if the mains are being touched, the old board comes out, an asbestos panel is dealt with according to the regulations, the new enclosure goes in with breakers and RCDs sized to each circuit, every circuit is tested and labelled, and the certificate of compliance is issued. Most residential boards are a day. Commercial and industrial boards are quoted on scope, and larger changeovers are done as planned shutdowns.
Residential, commercial and industrial
The principle is the same and the scale isn't. A residential board upgrade in Allenby Gardens is a day and a certificate. A retail tenancy board is sized to the fit-out with room to grow. A main switchboard on an industrial site is heavy terminations, submains, metering and a shutdown plan. We do all 3, and the photo above is a residential board on a new build.
What it costs
Our switchboard upgrade cost guide sets out typical Adelaide ranges for a residential board replacement, the extra for asbestos handling and consumer mains, and why commercial boards are quoted rather than priced from a table.