- Suburb
- Camden South, NSW 2570
- Job
- Switchboard upgrade during renovation
- Completed
- 1 July 2026
- On site
- 5h 22m
The house was mid-renovation, which is the best possible time to deal with a switchboard and the most common time for it to get left alone.
We quoted on the 23rd of June and did the work on the 1st of July, starting at 6.42 in the morning. A Level 2 partner attended for the metering work.
What went in
This is one of the few jobs where the full component schedule is on the invoice, so we can be specific. The new board is an 18 pole single phase board carrying:
- Three 80A service fuses
- One neutral link
- Four 10A RCBOs
- Three 16A RCBOs
- Two 20A RCBOs
- One 32A RCBO
- An 18 pole busbar
An RCBO is a single device that does two jobs: it protects the wiring from overload like a circuit breaker, and it protects a person from electric shock like a safety switch. Fitting them per circuit rather than sharing one safety switch across several circuits means that when something does trip, only the affected circuit goes off. Your fridge stays on while the fault is sorted out.
Surge protection went into the enclosure, and a three pole circuit breaker was installed. The main switch was replaced as part of the internals.
The bit nobody asks for
We also installed insulated Bramite backing in the switchboard enclosure. It is not glamorous and no homeowner has ever requested it by name, but it is required to comply with AS/NZS 3000 Clause 2.10.7, Fire Protective Measures.
The clause exists because wiring associated with switchboards has to be installed so that if a fire starts at the board, the spread of that fire is kept to a minimum. Where the board sits in a case or surround, any wiring entering the enclosure has to pass through openings that provide a close fit. A timber backing board behind a switchboard is a fuel source in exactly the wrong place.
Why it is on the quote
This is the kind of line item that gets stripped out of a cheaper quote, because the customer will never miss it and will never know. It is also the reason we put it in writing on the quote rather than hiding it in a lump sum.
Doing it during the renovation
Two practical reasons this was the right timing. The wall cavity was already open, so getting the old panel out and the new board in was straightforward rather than destructive. And a renovation usually adds load, so sizing the board for what the house is about to become, rather than what it was, avoids doing the job twice.
At the end we walked the homeowner through the finished board, which is something we do on every switchboard job. Knowing which switch is which, and what the button on the front of an RCBO is for, is worth five minutes of anyone’s time.
Renovating around Camden? The switchboard upgrade page explains what a modern board should have, the residential electrical page covers the rest of a renovation, and we are your electrician in the Camden area.
