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Electrical

Replacing a fuse board when adding sockets and extractor fan

Anonymous user 23/02/2024 - 3.23 PM

A tradesman who has quoted me for a Kitchen refit job has said I need to replace my fuse board because I am doing some work at mine which involves adding 2 new electrical sockets, fitting a bathroom extractor fan and upgrading the electrical cabling to the hob/oven from the existing freestanding cooker. But the electrician who did some work on my property about 1.5 years ago said this is incorrect and that my fuse board wouldn't require changing? So I don't know which one is right? What specification does my existing fusebox have to meet in order for it not to require replacement? Many thanks :)))

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5 Answers

P&P Electrical

Rating: 5 out of 5

Wellingborough

Hello. Regarding fuseboaed upgrade. If your fuseboard outter casing is plastic the chances are its not up to current regulation. Also does your fuseboard have RCD protection? If not then this also puts it outside the regs. If the new tradesman is adding new socket circuits then they would definitely need to be on an RCD protected circuit. However if he is adding to an existing socket circuit a new fuseboard could be avoided. RCD protection is a must for almost all new circuits to meet regulations. 9 times out of 10 an electrician that's putting in a new full circuit and he finds that you have no RCD protection in the fuseboard a new one will be suggested. Hope this helps.

Answered26 May 2019

DEACON ELECTRICAL SERVICES

Rating: 5 out of 5

Grimsby

You say a ‘tradesman’ is he an electrician? If the con unit is plastic construction this does NOT mean it requires changing, as long as it does not impair safety. The key here is if all the circuits have Rcd protection, the main water and gas Earth bonding is correctly sized and indeed present. I would seek the advice of the electrician who did your work previously, I dare say you have had a ‘package’ from your kitchen installers, which I normally try and talk people out of as it leads to a lot of confusion.

Answered27 May 2019

Anonymous user

To put it simply your current fuseboard may or may not meet current regulations but it doesn’t need to I order to make alterations to your existing property . What it does require however is rcd protection on all new circuits and alterations . It may be that your fuseboard didn’t have this although adding an rcd could be done without changing the fuseboard but it’s not normally ideal . The other issue may be that your existing fuseboard is now full with no room for more circuits! Hope this helps regards synergy

Answered15 June 2019

Anonymous user

Is the trades man an electrician? (no) That's all I need to say.

Answered15 June 2019

Aberdeenshire Electrical Services Ltd

Rating: 5 out of 5

Aboyne

Officially from 2nd January 2019, if you are adding to a circuit or running a new circuit then all accessories require to be covered with an RCD. There is no way avoiding this unless you ignore the Regulations. The only other way is to remove the circuits being added to and put in a new small consumer unit but this may not be practicable due to cable lengths. Please note that this also is the same for additional lighting.

Answered22 June 2019