Wanneroo & the Northern Corridor · Licence EC9674
Switchboard Upgrades in Wanneroo
Switchboard upgrades in Wanneroo usually mean an older board on a bigger block: bore, retic, shed and house all landing in the one meter box. Free safety check first, then one fixed price in writing.
What a Wanneroo Board Has to Carry
Wanneroo blocks are bigger than the estates that were built west of them, and the meter box shows it. Alongside the house circuits there is usually a garden bore, a reticulation controller, and more often than not a shed or workshop pulling its own supply. All of it lands on one board that was sized for a 1970s house and nothing else.
That is what makes a Wanneroo upgrade its own job. The circuit count is what decides whether the existing enclosure survives, and on a block that has been added to for forty years the count runs higher than the board was ever built for. Glen counts them at the free check, before he quotes, so the answer on the enclosure comes before the number and not after it.
The Outdoor Circuits Are the Ones Worth Checking
On a block with a bore, the circuits that matter most for safety are the ones that live outside. A bore pump, a retic solenoid box and a weather-exposed power point all sit in wet ground or open air, and on a ceramic-fuse board none of them has any shock protection, because a fuse does not provide it. A fuse protects the cable. An RCD protects the person.
Signs it is time to look properly:
- A bore pump or retic controller wired straight off a fuse, with no safety switch in front of it
- A shed or workshop running on a circuit that was never meant to power tools
- Round ceramic fuses still in the meter box, so no circuit on the property has RCD protection
- Selling or leasing: WA requires a minimum of two RCDs covering the power and lighting circuits
- No spare ways left in the board, so the next addition has nowhere to go
If the retic died first
Plenty of Wanneroo boards get looked at because the bore stopped, not because anyone was thinking about the switchboard. A bore fails electrically about as often as it fails mechanically, so it is worth having the bore pump circuit and the board checked together rather than twice.
What the job covers
What the Upgrade Covers on a Wanneroo Property
Joondalup Electrical Contracting upgrades switchboards across Wanneroo and the suburbs around it, taking older ceramic-fuse and non-compliant boards up to current RCD safety-switch standards. Glen sets the scope himself at the free check, and it is his licence on the certificate at the end, so nothing gets quietly added to the job halfway through.
- Every fuse circuit moved onto its own breaker, outbuildings counted in, not left off the list
- RCD safety switches fitted so the power and lighting circuits clear the WA minimum of two
- Bore, retic and outdoor circuits traced and labelled instead of left as an unmarked fuse
- A circuit count against what the block actually runs today, so the new board has room left in it
- A larger enclosure where the old meter box has simply run out of space
- A compliance certificate for your records, and the meter box area swept out before Glen leaves
Three outcomes
How a Wanneroo Upgrade Usually Ends Up
Every board lands in one of three places once the cover is off. Which one yours lands in comes down to the condition of the board and how many circuits the property has picked up over the years. You get one fixed price for whichever it is, agreed in writing before any work starts.
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RCDs added, board kept
The board is sound and modern enough to keep, it just has no safety switches on it. The circuits get moved behind RCDs and the enclosure stays where it is. The quickest of the three.
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Rebuilt inside the existing enclosure
The ceramic fuses come out and the board is rebuilt on breakers and RCDs, reusing the meter box because the circuit count still fits. Common where the block has not been added to much.
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New, larger enclosure
The most common outcome on an established Wanneroo block. Once a bore, a shed and a few added circuits are on the board, the original meter box has nowhere left to put them, so the enclosure is replaced along with the board.
On a Wanneroo block I'm never just looking at the house. There's a bore, a shed, sometimes a workshop, and all of it comes back to the one board. Count the circuits first and nobody gets a surprise.
How it works
From Free Check to Finished Board in Wanneroo
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The free safety check
Glen comes out, takes the cover off and checks the board against current WA requirements, counting every circuit including the bore, the retic and anything feeding a shed. About twenty minutes, no cost, no obligation.
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A fixed price, in writing
If the board is worth upgrading you get the number before Glen leaves, written down, along with whether the existing enclosure can be reused or needs replacing.
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Upgrade day
Most boards are finished inside a day. Glen tells you beforehand roughly how long the power will be off, and you get a compliance certificate at the end. Retic controllers usually need resetting, and he will flag that before he goes.
One Fixed Price, Guaranteed for 10 Years
No hourly rate and no revised bill once the cover is off. The workmanship is covered by JEC's 10-year workmanship guarantee, and JEC holds WA licence EC9674 · EW144799. Rated 5.0 from 11+ Google reviews.
The service itself, what gets replaced and how RCDs and capacity work, is covered on the switchboard upgrades page. For everything else JEC does locally, see electrician in Wanneroo.
Wanneroo Switchboard Questions, Answered
Does a switchboard upgrade in Wanneroo cover the bore pump circuit?
Yes. The bore is one of the circuits on your board, so it is part of the upgrade rather than a separate job. It gets its own breaker and sits behind an RCD, which is worth having on anything feeding equipment out in the weather. If the pump itself is faulty that is a different repair, and Glen will tell you which one you are actually dealing with.
My shed runs off the house board. Does that change the job?
It changes the circuit count, which is what decides whether your existing enclosure can be reused. A shed or workshop supply is often the thing that tips a board from a rebuild into a full enclosure replacement. Glen counts every circuit at the free check, so you get that answer before the price rather than after.
How long does a switchboard upgrade take?
A day for most homes, with the power off for part of it. Where the board also feeds a bore, retic and a shed there is more to trace and label, so Glen confirms the timing when he quotes and you can plan the day around it. Retic controllers usually need resetting afterwards, and he will point that out before he goes.
Do I legally have to upgrade my switchboard in WA?
Not while you are living in the house. At the point of sale or a new tenancy, a minimum of two RCDs protecting the power and lighting circuits is required under the WA Electricity Regulations, and an old ceramic-fuse board almost never meets that without work. If you are staying put there is no legal trigger, but a fuse board offers no shock protection at all.
How do I tell whether my board is worth keeping?
Open the meter box and look at what is in it. Round fuses that screw in mean the board predates safety switches entirely. Rectangular switches you flick mean breakers, and the question becomes whether any of them are RCDs and whether there are spare ways left. The free safety check settles both in about twenty minutes.
What does the free switchboard safety check involve?
Glen takes the cover off, checks the board against the current WA safety-switch requirements, counts the circuits including anything feeding a bore, a shed or the reticulation, and tells you what needs doing and what does not. There is no cost and nothing to sign at the end of it.
Related Pages
Switchboard Upgrades
The full service: what gets replaced, how RCDs and capacity work, and how the fixed price is put together.
Learn more →Electrician in Wanneroo
Everything else JEC does locally: bore pumps, rewiring, faults, lighting and power points.
Learn more →Bore Pump Electrical
Bore wiring, starters and controllers. The circuit behind the pump, and what to do when the retic dies mid-summer.
Learn more →Book Your Free Switchboard Safety Check
Glen counts the circuits, tells you straight what the board needs, and gives you one fixed price in writing. Prefer to talk? Call 0483 930 785.
0483 930 785