NICEIC approved consumer unit upgrades across Doncaster and South Yorkshire. Modern RCD and RCBO protection installed to current BS7671 standards, from £450 with full certification.
Understanding Your Electrics
A consumer unit — commonly called a fuse box or fuse board — is the metal box, usually found under the stairs or in a hallway, that controls and protects all the electrical circuits in your home.
Modern consumer units contain miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) that trip automatically to cut the power if a circuit is overloaded or short-circuits. Critically, they also contain Residual Current Devices (RCDs) — fast-acting switches that detect tiny electrical faults and cut the power within milliseconds, protecting against electric shock and fire.
Older properties may still have a consumer unit with:
Replacing an old consumer unit is one of the most impactful electrical safety upgrades you can make to a property.
All consumer unit upgrades include labour, the new unit, all MCBs/RCBOs, materials, and the Part P Building Regulations certificate.
Is It Time for an Upgrade?
If your board has ceramic fuse carriers that contain wire rather than a trip switch, it is definitely time for an upgrade. These offer no RCD protection and no fast tripping — in a fault scenario, the wire must physically melt before the circuit is cut, which can take too long to prevent damage or injury.
RCDs are required by current wiring regulations (BS7671:2018) for most circuits in a domestic property. Without RCD protection, there is no fast-acting device to cut the power if you accidentally drill through a cable, touch a faulty appliance, or if damp causes a leakage fault. This significantly increases the risk of a fatal electric shock.
If your circuit breakers or RCDs trip repeatedly for no apparent reason, it may indicate overloaded circuits, deteriorating wiring or a failing component in the consumer unit itself. Adding more appliances to a house that was wired for 1970s electricity demand often pushes old boards beyond their design limits.
Any smell of burning, discolouration, or melted plastic near the consumer unit, or at sockets and switches, is a serious warning sign that must be investigated immediately. Do not ignore it. Call us and we will advise whether the power should be isolated while we assess the situation.
The 17th Edition wiring regulations introduced in 2008 (now superseded by the 18th Edition, BS7671:2018) brought significant changes to consumer unit requirements. Boards installed before this period are unlikely to comply with current standards, and most home insurers now expect — and some require — a modern, compliant consumer unit.
An EICR carried out as part of a property purchase or sale will flag a substandard consumer unit as a C2 (potentially dangerous) observation. Vendors are increasingly asked to upgrade before completion, and buyers can use a failed EICR to renegotiate the sale price.
The Process
A consumer unit upgrade is a straightforward job for an experienced electrician. Here is what happens on the day:
We inspect your existing board and carry out some initial tests on the circuits to understand the installation and confirm the right specification for the new consumer unit.
The supply is isolated at the meter tails (the power goes off). The old consumer unit is carefully removed and all circuit cables are labelled so they can be reconnected to the correct positions in the new board.
The new consumer unit is mounted and all circuits are terminated. The board is labelled clearly so you can identify exactly which breaker controls which circuit — something older boards frequently lacked.
With the supply still isolated, we carry out insulation resistance and continuity tests on every circuit to verify the wiring is in good condition and the installation is safe to energise.
Power is restored and we carry out live tests including RCD trip times and earth loop impedance measurements. We then complete the full test schedule and issue your Part P Building Regulations certificate on the day.
Why It Matters
A consumer unit upgrade is not just about convenience — there are real safety, legal and financial implications for homeowners and landlords.
Electrical faults are one of the leading causes of house fires in the UK. A modern consumer unit with RCD or RCBO protection significantly reduces the risk of a fault developing into a fire or a fatal shock. RCDs react in as little as 30 milliseconds — fast enough to save a life.
Many insurers now require a modern, RCD-protected consumer unit as a condition of cover. If you have an old board and make a claim relating to an electrical fault, your insurer could reduce or reject the claim on the basis that your installation was substandard.
Consumer unit replacements are notifiable work under Part P of the Building Regulations in England. This means the work must be carried out by a competent person (such as a NICEIC registered electrician) who can self-certify the work, or be inspected by the local authority building control. We handle all of this as a matter of course — your certificate is your legal proof the work was done correctly.
An EICR carried out at a rental property will flag an inadequate consumer unit as a C2 fault that must be remedied within 28 days. Getting ahead of this — and upgrading the board proactively — avoids the pressure of a tight remediation deadline.
Transparent Pricing
All prices below are for a complete supply and fit, including the consumer unit, all MCBs/RCBOs, installation, testing and the Part P Building Regulations certificate. No hidden call-out fees.
The entry-level modern consumer unit. Circuits are split into two groups, each protected by an RCD. If one RCD trips, the other half of the house remains live. Meets current regulations for most properties.
From £450
Small–medium properties
The gold standard. Every single circuit has its own RCBO device, combining MCB and RCD protection. If any circuit trips, only that circuit is affected — everything else in the house stays on. Maximum convenience and protection.
From £700
All property sizes
Properties with more circuits, outbuildings, or HMO supply arrangements require a larger board and more labour time. We will survey and quote precisely — larger properties and portfolios are welcome.
POA
5+ bed / HMO / commercial
Where We Work
We carry out consumer unit upgrades across Doncaster and the wider South Yorkshire area:
Doncaster, Bessacarr, Armthorpe, Edlington, Conisbrough, Mexborough, Tickhill, Bawtry, Thorne, Stainforth
Barnsley, Penistone, Wombwell, Wath-upon-Dearne, Rotherham, Maltby, Wickersley, Brinsworth
Sheffield, Worksop, Retford, Gainsborough, Scunthorpe. Not sure if we cover you? Just give us a call.
Common Questions
Consumer unit upgrades start from £450 for a standard dual RCD board. A full RCBO board — which we recommend for most properties — starts from £700. Prices include labour, the new unit, all protective devices, and the Part P Building Regulations certificate. We always provide a fixed written quote before starting work.
Most consumer unit replacements take 4 to 6 hours for a standard domestic property. Your electricity supply will be off for the majority of this time. We always aim to have power fully restored and all circuits tested before we leave on the same day.
Key warning signs include: old rewireable wire fuses, no RCD protection, circuit breakers tripping frequently, a burning smell or scorch marks near the board, or a board installed before 2006. If you are unsure, an EICR inspection will tell you definitively whether the board meets current standards.
An RCD (Residual Current Device) protects a group of circuits. If a fault is detected, the entire group loses power — so if the lighting RCD trips, all your lights go out. An RCBO (Residual Current Breaker with Overload) combines both MCB and RCD protection into one device per circuit. If any single circuit develops a fault, only that circuit trips — everything else stays on. RCBO boards are more expensive but provide better protection and far less disruption when a fault occurs.
No. The electricity supply is off for most of the installation time — typically 4 to 6 hours — while the old board is removed, the new one installed, and all circuits are tested. Power is restored and all circuits are verified before we leave. We will tell you the expected outage window before we start, so you can plan your day. Most customers go out while we work and come back to a fully functional installation.
Fixed prices from £450. NICEIC approved. Part P certified. Completed in a day. Covering all of South Yorkshire.
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