Switchboard upgrades in Sydney, explained plainly

A switchboard upgrade in Sydney usually means swapping an ageing fuse box or crowded board for modern circuit breakers and safety switches. That way your home's wiring can safely carry the load you put on it today.

Plenty of Sydney homes built before the 1980s still run on rewireable ceramic fuses, sometimes mounted on asbestos or mica backing panels. Those boards were made for a few lights and a fridge. They weren't made for air conditioning, induction cooktops, batteries and car chargers all running at once.

These pages cover the warning signs, the kinds of upgrade, the NSW rules every job has to follow and why quotes differ from one board to the next. That gives you a clear picture before anyone opens the cover.

Start with what you have noticed and your suburb. A photo of the board helps, but you can skip it.