The fuseboard is the one part of an electrical installation that everything else hangs off, and around Eastbourne we still find plenty that predate RCDs completely. Rewireable fuse carriers in a wooden or grey plastic box turn up regularly in the town's older terraces and in the bungalows on the northern side. Even boards fitted in the nineties often protect the sockets and nothing else, leaving the lighting and the cooker with no shock protection at all. Replacing the board is a contained piece of work that makes a genuine difference, and it also tells you the truth about the wiring sitting behind it. We fit consumer units right across BN20 to BN23.
Why older boards around the town get replaced
A fuse wire protects the cable from overload. It does nothing to protect a person from a shock, and it will not trip if someone puts a nail through a cable or a kettle develops a fault. That is what an RCD is for, and older Eastbourne boards simply do not have one. Split-load boards from the nineties and early two thousands are the next tier up, but they usually cover the socket circuits only. The other common reason is space. Small boards on post-war properties often have no spare way left, so there is nowhere to run a new shower circuit or an EV charger from.
What the day involves
We start at the incoming supply rather than the board, because a new consumer unit sitting on undersized main bonding or a poor earthing arrangement is money half spent. Then the power comes off, the old board comes out, and the new one goes in with every circuit identified and labelled properly rather than guessed at. After that comes the testing: insulation resistance, earth fault loop impedance and RCD trip times on each circuit, all recorded. You get a certificate with a schedule of test results and a circuit chart on the board. Replacing a consumer unit is notifiable work under Part P, and we deal with the notification.
When faults show up once it is on test
This is the part worth understanding before we start. Wiring that lived quite happily behind rewireable fuses can start tripping the moment RCDs are put in front of it, because the fault was always there and nothing was watching for it. Near the coast the usual culprits are moisture in outside lights and garage circuits, salt-damaged fittings, borrowed neutrals in old two-way lighting, immersion heaters and degraded rubber insulation. We tell you what we have found before we pack up, and give you the options: repair the circuit, use individual RCBOs so one fault cannot take out the rest of the house, or leave a circuit isolated with the reason set out in writing.
The boards we see in different parts of Eastbourne
In the converted houses behind the seafront the meter and board are often in a shared hallway cupboard, sometimes with one original supply carved up between flats and a landlord's supply for the stair lighting. In Meads the large Victorian villas have long cable runs and more circuits than a standard board has ways for. Around Old Town and the estates further north it is post-war semis and bungalows on small boards with nothing spare. At Sovereign Harbour the boards were fine when they went in but frequently have RCD cover on only half the circuits, so an RCBO board is the sensible replacement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does the power have to go off for the whole property?
A: Yes. There is no way to swap a consumer unit with the supply live, so the whole property is off while the board is changed and then off and on again during testing. Tell us in advance if you work from home, run a freezer you are worried about, or rely on medical equipment, and we will plan the sequence around it and give you fair warning before we pull the main switch.
Q: Does a new fuseboard have to be metal?
A: In practice, yes. Since January 2016 BS 7671 has required consumer units in domestic premises to have a non-combustible enclosure, or to sit inside one. Steel is the usual answer, which is why plastic boards are no longer fitted in houses and flats. If your existing board is plastic that does not make it illegal or force a replacement on its own, but any new board we fit will be a steel one.
Q: Is a new consumer unit notifiable to building control?
A: Yes. Replacing a consumer unit is notifiable work under Part P of the building regulations in England, so it cannot simply be swapped and forgotten. We handle the notification and you receive an Electrical Installation Certificate with the schedule of test results. Keep both. A buyer's solicitor will ask for them on a sale, and an EICR inspector will want to see them too.
Q: Can you change a board where the meter is in a shared hallway?
A: Yes, and it is a common job in the converted houses around the town centre and seafront. It needs a bit more organising, because we need access to the intake cupboard and sometimes the freeholder or managing agent has to agree to the work. Occasionally the real problem turns out to be the sub-main feeding your flat rather than the board itself, and we will say so if that is the case.