F & A Electrical replace fuse boards (consumer units) across London for £550–£950 inc VAT on a standard domestic property — fitted, tested, Part P notified and NICEIC certified, usually completed in a single visit of 3–5 hours. We are an NICEIC Approved Contractor based in Tottenham N15 with £5m public liability cover and 6 years’ NICEIC warranty on every installation. Call 07407 627542 or 07500 721453, or email info@faelectrical.co.uk with a photo of your existing board for a same-day fixed price.
Getting quotes? Read why a £150 fuse board quote should worry you — and if you’re tempted to DIY, do you need an electrician to change a consumer unit?
What a fuse board replacement costs in London
Most London electricians quote £575–£850 for a straightforward board change and then add for tails, earthing and bonding once they are on site. We quote the finished job, not the starting point. These are our fixed prices, inclusive of VAT, parts, labour and certification:
| Property / scenario | Price (inc VAT) | Typical install time |
|---|---|---|
| Studio / 1-bed flat — high-integrity RCD board | £550–£650 | 3 hours |
| 2-bed flat or small terrace — RCD board | £650–£750 | 3.5 hours |
| 3-bed terrace — RCD board | £750–£850 | 4 hours |
| 3-bed terrace — full RCBO board | £850–£1,100 | 4–5 hours |
| 4-bed+ house or HMO — RCBO board | £950–£1,400 | 5 hours |
| Commercial unit — three-phase board | £1,400–£3,500 | Quoted per visit |
| Add main earth + supplementary bonding upgrade | +£150–£300 | +1 hour |
There is no call-out fee and no evening or weekend surcharge when the job is booked in advance. Our minimum charge on any attendance is £108 inc VAT (£90 + VAT). For a full breakdown by property type, see our fuse board replacement cost guide for London.
Signs your fuse board needs replacing
- Rewireable fuses instead of breakers. Porcelain or ceramic fuse carriers with fuse wire mean a pre-1990s board with no RCD protection at all. This is the clearest case for replacement.
- A wooden backboard or a plastic enclosure fitted before 2016. Amendment 3 to the 17th Edition requires a non-combustible enclosure. Wooden-backed Wylex boards fail on sight.
- Your EICR came back unsatisfactory with several C2 codes. Most C2s on a London EICR trace back to the board — missing RCD protection on sockets, bathroom circuits or cables buried under 50mm. One board change usually clears the whole list.
- The RCD trips repeatedly with nothing obviously wrong. Modern LED drivers, induction hobs, EV chargers and IT equipment each leak a small current to earth. Enough of them on one RCD and it trips on cumulative leakage. A full RCBO board fixes this permanently.
- No free ways left. Adding an EV charger, electric shower or garden supply needs a spare way and modern protection. Where the board is already full, a replacement usually costs less than an add-on enclosure.
- Signs of heat. Scorching, browning around a breaker, or a burning smell means loose connections. Stop using the circuit and call us — see burning smell from a socket.
RCD board or RCBO board?
There are two modern layouts and the choice changes both the price and how the property behaves day to day.
A high-integrity RCD board splits your circuits across two RCDs. It is the cheaper option and is what most landlords choose for EICR remedial work. The trade-off is that a fault on any one circuit takes down every circuit sharing that RCD — typically three to six of them at once.
A full RCBO board gives every circuit its own combined breaker and RCD. A fault isolates to the single affected circuit and the rest of the property stays live. It adds roughly £150–£300 to the install and is the right choice for any home with an EV charger, a home office, a freezer, or a history of nuisance tripping. See consumer unit upgrades for the full comparison.
What is included in the job
- Removal and safe disposal of the old consumer unit — Wylex, MEM, MK, Crabtree or any other manufacturer.
- Supply and installation of a new metal-enclosed 18th Edition consumer unit (Hager, Schneider, BG or Wylex).
- Your choice of dual-RCD or full RCBO layout, with SPD where the installation requires it.
- Meter tail upgrade to 25mm² double-insulated tails where the existing tails are undersized.
- Main earthing conductor verification and upgrade if it does not meet current requirements.
- Supplementary bonding refresh to gas, water and structural metalwork.
- Insulation resistance, earth fault loop impedance and RCD trip-time testing on every circuit.
- Building Control Part P notification through the NICEIC scheme.
- Electrical Installation Certificate issued on completion, plus a labelled circuit schedule.
- 6 years’ NICEIC warranty on the installation.
Power is off for most of the working day. We arrange a convenient date, isolate at the main switch, and in the great majority of jobs the property is back on and certified the same afternoon.
Landlords, HMOs and licensing
Under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector Regulations 2020, every private rented home in England needs a satisfactory EICR every five years, with remedial work completed within 28 days and written confirmation supplied to the tenant. Since the Renters’ Rights Act came into force on 1 May 2026, the maximum penalty for non-compliance is £40,000. Licensed HMOs are inspected more often and enforcement is heaviest in the boroughs running additional or selective licensing schemes.
Where an EICR has failed, a board change is normally the single most cost-effective remedial action available — it addresses the RCD, enclosure and often the bonding codes in one visit. See our landlord electrical compliance checklist and our EICR testing in London page.
Fuse board replacement by borough
We cover all of Greater London, with the densest coverage across north and north-east London from our Tottenham N15 base. Borough pages with local pricing, housing stock notes and licensing detail:
- Haringey — N4, N8, N15, N17, N22
- Enfield — EN1–EN3, N9, N13, N18, N21
- Barnet — N2, N3, N11, N12, N20, NW4, NW7
- Waltham Forest — E4, E10, E11, E17
- Hackney — E5, E8, E9, N1, N16
- Islington — N1, N5, N7, N19
- Tower Hamlets — E1, E2, E3, E14
- Newham — E6, E7, E12, E13, E15, E16
- Camden — NW1, NW3, NW5, WC1
- Brent — NW2, NW6, NW9, NW10, HA0, HA9
- Lambeth — SE11, SE24, SW2, SW4, SW8, SW9, SW16
- Wandsworth — SW11, SW12, SW15, SW17, SW18, SW19
- Southwark — SE1, SE5, SE15, SE16, SE17, SE22
Not listed? We still cover it — the full borough and postcode index is on our London service areas hub.
Fuse box vs fuse board vs consumer unit — same job, same price
People in London use three names for the grey (or older cream, brown or black) box by the front door that holds the circuit breakers. Fuse box is the everyday name, and strictly means the older rewireable type with ceramic fuse carriers. Fuse board is what most electricians say. Consumer unit is the term in BS 7671 (the wiring regulations) and on your certificate. They all describe the same thing, and a “fuse box upgrade”, “fuse box replacement”, “fuse board change” and “consumer unit replacement” are all the same job: the old unit comes off the wall, a new metal-clad consumer unit with RCD or RCBO protection goes on, every circuit is tested and an Electrical Installation Certificate is issued and notified to Building Control through the NICEIC.
What changes the price is not the name but the property and the level of protection you choose, which is why the table above is priced by property type. As a quick reference for anyone searching on the other wording:
| What people search for | What it is | London price 2026 (inc VAT) |
|---|---|---|
| Fuse box upgrade — 1-bed flat | Old rewireable or plastic board → metal RCD consumer unit | £550–£650 |
| Fuse box replacement — 2-bed flat / small terrace | Dual-RCD metal consumer unit, 8–10 ways | £650–£750 |
| Fuse box change — 3-bed house | Dual-RCD metal consumer unit, 10–12 ways | £750–£850 |
| Fuse box to RCBO board — 3-bed house | One RCBO per circuit, no shared tripping | £850–£1,100 |
| Fuse box upgrade — 4-bed+ or HMO | RCBO consumer unit, 14–18 ways, often with SPD | £950–£1,400 |
Three details worth knowing when you compare “fuse box” quotes across London. First, the £149.99 and £199 “fuse box replacement” adverts are for the unit alone or for a like-for-like plastic swap that does not meet the current edition of the regulations; a compliant metal consumer unit with RCD protection on every circuit, tested and certified, is not done for that in London by anyone registered. Second, a rewireable fuse box is not automatically a fail on an EICR — it is usually coded C3 (improvement recommended) on its own, and becomes a C2 when it is combined with no RCD protection on socket or bathroom circuits, which is the case in almost every one we see. Third, if the fuse box is in a shared hallway or a meter cupboard on the landing of a converted house, the freeholder’s permission is not needed to replace the unit serving your own flat, but access on the day is, so tell us at booking. Our consumer unit upgrade guide covers RCD versus RCBO in more detail, and why a fuse board keeps tripping explains when a trip is a board problem and when it is a circuit problem.
Related: what it costs to move a fuse box, who is responsible for the main fuse, cut-out and meter tails and what a landlord’s board and split supply cost.
Looking for an answer rather than an area? Every question we get asked — EICR codes, landlord rules and fines, fuse boards, faults, EV chargers — is answered with London prices on our electrical guides page.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a fuse board replacement take?
Three to five hours for a standard domestic board. Power is off for most of that. Larger houses, HMOs and jobs needing tail or earthing work run to a full day.
Do I need to be there?
Someone needs to give access and be present while the supply is isolated. For tenanted properties we can arrange access directly with the tenant once the landlord confirms.
Will you need to notify Building Control?
Yes. A consumer unit replacement is notifiable work under Part P. We notify it through the NICEIC scheme at no extra cost and the certificate follows by email.
Can you replace the board the same day as an EICR?
Often, yes — if the inspection is booked in the morning and the board is a standard swap, we can carry the parts and complete it the same day. Tell us the property type when you book.
Are you NICEIC approved?
Yes — NICEIC Approved Contractor, £5m public liability insurance, 6 years’ NICEIC warranty on installation work. 9.32/10 across 242 Checkatrade reviews, a member since December 2018.
What if the main fuse or meter is in the way?
Where the supplier’s cut-out or meter blocks safe access, we arrange the isolation with your distribution network operator before the install date. There is no charge for arranging it.
How much does a fuse box upgrade cost in London in 2026?
A fuse box upgrade is the same job as a fuse board or consumer unit replacement. In London in 2026 it costs £550–£650 for a one-bed flat, £650–£750 for a two-bed flat or small terrace, £750–£850 for a three-bed house with a dual-RCD board, £850–£1,100 for a three-bed with a full RCBO board and £950–£1,400 for a four-bed-plus house or HMO. Those are our fixed prices inclusive of VAT, parts, labour, testing, certificate and Building Control notification. Add £150–£300 if the main earth or bonding needs upgrading, which we confirm from a photo of the board before we quote.
Book a fuse board replacement in London
Call 07407 627542 or 07500 721453, or email info@faelectrical.co.uk. A photo of the existing board and its location is usually enough for a fixed price the same day — no survey visit and no call-out fee.
Related: Fuse board replacement cost London, Consumer unit upgrade London, Fuse box keeps tripping, EICR testing London, House rewiring London.
Board change or full rewire? A consumer unit swap is half a day; a rewire is days. Our rewire timeline guide explains how to tell which you need.