Buying or selling a Hills home
An older fuse board flagged during a building inspection or settlement, needing an upgrade before or after the sale.
Perth Hills
Switchboard Upgrades Perth Hills
Many homes across the Perth Hills still run on older switchboards with ceramic fuses, rewireable fuse wire or little to no RCD protection. The E-LEC team replaces tired boards with modern circuit breakers and safety switches — installed to standard, tested and documented by a licensed WA electrician.
What a switchboard upgrade actually is
Your switchboard is the control centre for the electrical installation. It takes the supply coming into the property and splits it into the circuits that feed your lights, power points, oven, hot water and so on — and it's where the protective devices live that are meant to cut power quickly if something goes wrong.
An upgrade replaces the old protective gear and board with current equipment: circuit breakers in place of fuses, residual current devices (RCDs, or "safety switches") to protect people against electric shock, clear circuit labelling and a tidy, accessible layout. It's one of the most worthwhile electrical jobs in an older Hills home, because it touches the safety of every circuit in the house.
Signs your switchboard may need upgrading
You don't need to diagnose this yourself — but these are the things we most often see on boards that are due for attention:
- Ceramic fuses or rewireable fuse wire instead of circuit breakers
- No safety switches (RCDs), or only one covering part of the home
- Fuses that blow repeatedly, or breakers that trip and won't stay on
- A board that is full, with no spare ways to add a new circuit
- Scorch marks, a burning smell, buzzing or warmth at the board
- Loose, unlabelled or "spaghetti" wiring that nobody can identify
- An old board being asked to run modern loads — air-conditioning, induction cooktops, an EV charger or a pool
- A board that's been flagged at a sale, settlement or rental compliance check
If you can see or smell anything alarming — smoke, burning, sparking or exposed live parts — treat it as an emergency. Call 000, or Western Power's faults & emergencies line on 13 13 51, and don't touch the board.
What's included in an E-LEC switchboard upgrade
Every board is different, so the exact scope is confirmed after we assess it. A typical upgrade includes:
- An assessment of the existing board, supply, main switch and earthing
- Supply and installation of a new enclosure where needed, with room to expand
- Replacing fuses with appropriately rated circuit breakers
- RCD / safety-switch protection arranged across the relevant circuits
- Reconnecting and identifying existing circuits, with clear labelling
- Checking earthing and bonding, and reporting anything that needs rectification
- Testing and verification of the work before it's put back into service
- A tidy finish, the work area cleaned, and documentation appropriate to the job
Where we find existing defects or unsafe conditions, we explain what we've found, why it matters and the recommended next steps. We won't ignore a genuine safety issue, and we won't carry out work that isn't compliant.
RCD & safety-switch considerations
An RCD is the device that protects people — it monitors the flow of electricity and disconnects in a fraction of a second if it detects current leaking to earth, such as through someone touching a live part. Circuit breakers, by contrast, mainly protect the wiring against overload and short circuits. A modern board needs both.
A few things worth knowing:
- WA residential tenancies must have compliant RCDs in place — relevant to landlords and property managers as well as owner-occupiers.
- The number and arrangement of RCDs depends on the circuits in your home; we work out a sensible split so a single fault doesn't take out the whole house.
- If an RCD trips repeatedly after the upgrade, that usually means it's doing its job and has found a fault on a circuit or appliance — which is exactly what you want it to do.
For more on this, see our guide on whether you need RCDs in your WA property and why a safety switch keeps tripping.
Before & after
What an upgrade looks like
PHOTO SLOT — replace with a real before photo. Alt: "Old Perth Hills switchboard with ceramic fuses and no safety switches before upgrade"
PHOTO SLOT — replace with a real after photo. Alt: "Upgraded switchboard with labelled circuit breakers and RCDs after E-LEC installation"
Common scenarios
When people call us about a switchboard
Renovation or extension
A full board's worth of circuits, plus new ones for a kitchen, bathroom or new room, all needing protection and capacity.
Adding big loads
An EV charger, ducted air-conditioning, an induction cooktop or a pool pump pushing an old board past what it can safely run.
Rental compliance
Owners and property managers bringing a board up to standard with compliant RCDs ahead of a new tenancy.
Nuisance tripping
Fuses that keep blowing or breakers that won't reset — often a sign the board and circuits need a proper look.
Storm or fault damage
A board damaged by a fault, water ingress or a storm that needs assessing and, in many cases, replacing.
Perth Hills service area
The E-LEC team is a service-area business covering the Perth Hills and greater Perth metro — we come to you. The Hills bring their own quirks for switchboard work: a lot of brick-and-tile homes from the 1970s–90s with original boards, semi-rural blocks with sheds and outbuildings on the same supply, and properties where the board sits in full sun or weather and has aged accordingly.
We regularly work across Mundaring, Kalamunda and the surrounding Hills suburbs. Travel charges, minimum call-out fees or availability limits may apply depending on location and the nature of the work, and jobs outside the standard area are considered case by case.
FAQ
Switchboard upgrade questions
How long does a switchboard upgrade take?
Most domestic switchboard upgrades are completed in a day, with the power off for part of that time. Boards with hidden wiring problems, asbestos backing or supply changes can take longer, and we'll tell you before we start if that's likely.
Will my power be off during the upgrade?
Yes — the supply has to be isolated while the board is replaced. We plan the outage with you, work efficiently and restore power circuit by circuit as we test, so the disruption is kept as short as is safe.
Do I get paperwork after a switchboard upgrade?
Yes. We test the installation and provide the documentation required for the work, which can include an Electrical Safety Certificate and any statutory notices, plus photos of the finished board on request.
Can you just add an RCD instead of replacing the whole board?
Sometimes. If the existing board is sound and has room, adding RCD protection may be enough. If the board is full, damaged or uses old fuse gear, a full upgrade is usually the safer and tidier option. We'll assess it and explain the choice.
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Switchboard work across the Perth Hills
Thinking about a switchboard upgrade?
Send a photo of your existing board and we'll give you a clear idea of what's involved. For urgent electrical safety concerns, call us straight away.