Fuse board and consumer unit upgrades
Replacing older units that have no RCD protection with an 18th Edition metal-clad consumer unit, RCBO protection on every circuit, and full earthing and bonding brought up to standard. Most are done inside a day.
NAPIT registered
Assessed against the national standard and authorised to self-certify our own electrical work under Part P. Add registration no.
Fully insured
Public liability cover in place on every job, domestic and commercial. Add cover amount
BS 7671 18th Edition
Every installation designed, installed and tested to the current wiring regulations.
Consumer units
What the job actually involves.
What an old board is actually missing
The job of a modern consumer unit is not just to switch circuits on and off. It is to disconnect fast enough to stop an electric shock becoming fatal, and to contain a fault rather than let it start a fire. Boards with rewireable fuse wire, or plastic boards with one or two large switches and no test button, do neither.
RCD protection is the difference. A residual current device detects current leaking to earth — through a person, through damaged insulation, through a nail in a cable — and cuts the supply in milliseconds. An installation without it relies entirely on the fuse blowing, which it may do long after the damage is done.
What we fit
An 18th Edition metal-clad consumer unit with RCBO protection on every circuit. RCBOs matter: with a split-load board, one fault takes out half the house. With an RCBO per circuit, a fault in the garden lighting takes out the garden lighting and nothing else.
Surge protection is fitted as standard. Earthing and main bonding are checked and brought up to standard as part of the job — a new board on inadequate earthing is a new board that still isn't safe.
The power being off
This is the question people actually want answered. The supply comes off for the changeover itself, but we restore circuits progressively as they are tested rather than leaving everything dead until the end.
In practice you will normally have the fridge, kettle and router back within the first couple of hours, and the full installation live and certificated by the end of the day.
Included as standard
What you get.
- Full assessment of the existing installation before we start
- 18th Edition metal-clad consumer unit
- RCBO protection on every circuit
- Surge protection device fitted as standard
- Earthing and main bonding brought up to standard
- Circuits tested and the board fully labelled
- Electrical Installation Certificate, self-certified
Every job is priced after a survey, fixed in writing, and certificated on completion.
Get your fixed priceQuestions
Questions about fuse board and consumer unit upgrades.
Do I need a new consumer unit if the old one still works?
Not automatically. Working isn't the same as safe, though. If yours has rewireable fuses, no RCD, no test button, a wooden back or visible scorching, it predates the protection that current regulations require and it's worth changing. If it's a modern board in good condition we'll tell you to leave it alone.
How long does a fuse board change take?
Most are done inside a day. If the earthing needs upgrading or we find faults on existing circuits during testing, it can run longer — we'd tell you before starting, not halfway through.
What if testing finds a fault on an existing circuit?
We tell you, show you, and quote it separately. A new board makes existing faults visible because the RCBOs will trip on them. We don't bundle remedial work into the original price without discussing it.
Also from Protec
Other services.
Most jobs touch more than one of these. We price the whole thing once, not piece by piece.
Get a fixed price for your job.
Tell us what you need and we'll come back the same day — usually within the hour.