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.
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.
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.