Switchboard Upgrades for Your Home, Investment Property or Rental

There are a few clear signs. If your board still has ceramic fuses, rewirable fuses or old-style circuit breakers without RCD protection, it’s overdue for a switchboard upgrade. Frequent tripping, burning smells near the board and flickering lights when appliances kick in are also warning signs.

If your board is more than 20 years old, it was likely designed for a fraction of the electrical load you’re running today. Air conditioners, ovens, EV chargers and modern appliances all draw more than older boards were built to handle. A switchboard replacement brings the board up to current standards and gives you the capacity you actually need.

Most switchboard upgrades take between three and five hours. That includes disconnecting the old board, fitting the new enclosure, wiring in RCD-protected circuit breakers, labelling every circuit and testing the full system.

Your power will be off for most of that time, so we recommend scheduling the work during a day when you can manage without electricity. We’ll give you a clear timeframe in advance so you can plan around it.

Yes. Every switchboard upgrade we complete comes with a compliance certificate issued the same day. It’s emailed directly to you, or to your property manager if you prefer, as soon as the job is signed off.

The certificate confirms the work meets Australian standards and WA regulations. You’ll need it for rental compliance, insurance claims and property sales. We don’t leave site without it being done.

WA electrical safety regulations require rental properties to have RCD protection on power and lighting circuits. If your switchboard doesn’t have RCDs, or still runs on ceramic fuses, it won’t pass a safety inspection and needs upgrading.

Property managers often flag this between tenancies or ahead of routine inspections. JOA handles the switchboard replacement, coordinates access with tenants or property managers and emails the compliance certificate the same day so there’s no gap in your documentation.

Every board is different, so we quote on a case-by-case basis. The cost of your switchboard upgrade depends on the size of the board, the number of circuits, whether the main supply cable needs replacing and how accessible the existing board is.

We provide a fixed quote upfront. No call-out fee, no hidden charges and no price changes on the day. Tell us what’s going on with your board and we’ll have a quote back to you within 24 hours in most cases.