Kingswood
Fuse box upgraded to a modern RCBO board
Old rewireable board out, full RCBO protection in, everything labelled and certified.
About this service →The consumer unit is the one part of your electrics that protects every other part, and it's usually the oldest thing in the house. If yours has rewireable fuses, a wooden backboard, or no RCD protection, it's doing a 1970s job in a house full of 2026 loads. I replace old boards across Bristol with modern metal consumer units, fully tested, certified under my NICEIC registration and notified to Building Control, which a board change legally requires.
Signs your fuse board needs replacing
Rewireable fuses (the ones with fuse wire) instead of switches. No RCD, the test button that should cut the power instantly when pressed. Scorch marks, buzzing, or a warm smell near the board. A plastic enclosure on a board installed before the metal-case requirement. Trips you've "solved" by upgrading the fuse. Any one of these on its own justifies a look; send me a photo and I'll tell you honestly whether it's urgent, sensible, or fine to leave.
RCDs and RCBOs explained
An RCD cuts the power in milliseconds when current leaks where it shouldn't, which is the difference between a shock and a fatality. Older boards split the house across one or two RCDs, so one faulty appliance blacks out half your circuits. An RCBO board gives every circuit its own protection: a fault in the kitchen trips the kitchen, and the freezer, the wifi and the kids' bedtime routine stay on. It costs more per way and it's what I'd fit in my own house.
Board tripping, old, or full?
Send a photo of the fuse board — I can usually tell the age, the problem and the fixed replacement price from that alone.
Surge protection
An SPD absorbs voltage spikes, from the grid or from big switching loads, before they reach the electronics that now run your heating, your car charger and everything with a circuit board in it. On a new consumer unit it's a modest add-on rather than a luxury, and BS 7671 expects it in most new installations. I'll price the board with and without so the decision is yours with numbers attached.
Meter tails and supply upgrades
Older properties often have undersized tails or an ageing cutout that isn't up to a modern board, an EV charger or an electric shower. Where the incoming supply is the limit, I'll tell you before the job, not during it, and handle the DNO paperwork where an upgrade is needed.
What a new consumer unit costs
These are estimates, not quotes. Final costings always follow a free site inspection — and jobs often come in under the estimate, never over without you agreeing it first.
| Job | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Test of the existing installation before any work | £200 |
| 18th edition metal consumer unit — up to 8 circuits, RCBOs and SPD included | £500 |
| Certificate | £50 |
One possible extra: if National Grid need to fit an isolation switch before the board can come out, that's about £250 — I'll flag it before you book. For context, Bristol firms typically quote £800–£950 for an equivalent board fitted and certified; my £750 all-in — testing, board and certificate — sits under that. The honest caveat every electrician should give you: a new board tests every circuit it feeds, and it sometimes finds faults the old board was too crude to notice. If that happens you get the findings and prices in writing before anything beyond the agreed job goes ahead. The fuse board cost guide explains this in full.
Recent board changes
Longwell Green
Garden lighting, designed then wired
Lighting positions planned with the customer before a single cable went in the trench.
About this service →
Fishponds
Unsatisfactory EICR turned around in a week
Two C2s found at a landlord inspection; both remedied and a satisfactory report issued five days later.
About this service →How long does a consumer unit change take?
Most are done in a day. Power is off for the middle of it, so plan around the kettle.
Will you need to turn my power off?
Yes, for several hours. Freezers ride it out fine unopened; anything medical that needs power, tell me beforehand and we'll plan for it.
Does a new fuse board need Building Control notification?
Yes, it's notifiable work under Part P. I notify it through my own NICEIC registration (D605692), and you receive the certificate as proof. If someone quotes you a board change with no mention of notification, that's the corner being cut. The Part P guide has the detail.
