The power is off for roughly four to six hours. We test the existing circuits first, swap the board, connect every circuit to its own RCBO, then test every circuit dead and live before switching back on. You get an Electrical Installation Certificate, and we notify Building Control under Part P for you.
Before the day
You send three photos, we send a fixed price in writing, and you pick a date. The price is fixed for 30 days and it is what you pay, unless you add work.
The night before, it helps to:
- Charge phones and laptops, and plan around home working or school runs.
- Keep the freezer shut. A full freezer stays frozen for many hours with the door closed.
- Have your alarm code handy, because some alarms complain when the power goes off.
- Clear a path to the board. Under the stairs and cellar heads fill up with life.
The day, step by step
- Arrival and a walk round. We look at the board, the meter and the earthing, and check what you want labelled.
- Testing the existing circuits. Before anything comes out, we test the insulation of every circuit. An RCBO will trip on a fault that an old fuse ignored, so we want to find faults now, not after you are back on. If we find one, we tell you and price the fix before doing anything.
- Power off. We isolate the supply safely. If there is no isolator between the meter and the board, we will have seen that in your photos and told you in advance what needs arranging.
- The swap. The old board comes off, the new steel board goes in the same position, and every circuit goes onto its own RCBO, with surge protection and a main switch.
- Testing the new installation. Continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth fault loop impedance and the trip time of every RCBO, all recorded.
- Power on and labelling. Every way is labelled and the circuit schedule is filled in on the door, so anyone can find a circuit without a torch.
- Paperwork. You get the Electrical Installation Certificate, and we notify the work to Building Control through NAPIT. Your Building Regulations compliance certificate follows from NAPIT a few weeks later.
During
AfterIf a circuit fails its test
It happens in older houses. A nail through a cable years ago, a damp outside light, a damaged socket. We tell you what we found, show you the reading, and price the repair. You decide. Nothing extra is done without your agreement, and the fixed price for the board does not change.
After we leave
Press the test button on the board every six months. Keep the certificate with the house documents, because a buyer's solicitor will ask for it. Your workmanship is guaranteed for five years, and if anything we did fails in that time, we come back and put it right at no cost.
