Consumer Unit Replacement London — £750 All-In Type A RCBO

Yes — they are the same thing. BS 7671 (the UK wiring regulations) uses 'consumer unit' throughout, while the terms 'fuse board' and 'fuse box' are colloquial holdovers from when domestic protection devices were rewireable fuses rather than miniature circuit breakers. Modern consumer units contain MCBs, RCDs or RCBOs — no actual fuses — but the name 'fuse board' persists.

Common triggers: an EICR with multiple C2 codes that can't be remedied at circuit level; a board predating 2008 (no RCD protection); a plastic-bodied board from before January 2015 (Amendment 3 mandated metal enclosures in domestic dwellings); preparing for an EV charger or home battery install; or a board with only Type AC RCDs feeding circuits that now serve induction hobs and EV charging.

Yes. A consumer unit replacement is notifiable work under Part P of the Building Regulations in England and Wales. As an NICEIC Approved Contractor we self-certify the work and submit the notification to your local authority within 30 days — no additional cost or paperwork on your side.

A typical 6–12 way domestic replacement is a one-day job — four to six hours on site, with the supply isolated for most of that. Larger boards, three-phase, or properties with embedded distribution (garage sub-boards, annexes) are quoted on survey and may take longer.

Yes, but as a registered competent person we sign it off ourselves under the NICEIC Domestic Installer self-certification scheme. You receive a building regulations completion certificate from NICEIC within 4–6 weeks of the work, alongside the installation certificate issued on the day.

No — not legally if the property is in England or Wales. Consumer unit replacement is Part P notifiable work and must be carried out by a registered competent person (NICEIC, NAPIT, Stroma, ELECSA) or notified to Building Control before commencement. DIY replacement triggers an unrecorded installation — material at conveyancing, insurance and remortgage stages.

BS 7671 Amendment 3 (January 2015) made non-combustible enclosures mandatory in domestic premises. The change followed a series of consumer-unit fires where the plastic enclosure contributed to flame spread. Metal-clad consumer units contain a fault long enough to prevent ignition of surrounding fabric. Plastic boards installed before 2015 are not illegal but routinely attract C2 or C3 codes on an EICR.

Type AC detects only sinusoidal AC fault current. Type A also detects pulsating DC fault current — the kind produced by induction hobs, EV chargers, switched-mode LED drivers, modern washing machines and variable-speed motors. Under BS 7671 A4:2026 Type A is the default; Type AC is restricted to circuits where DC fault current is not foreseeable, which in a modern home is increasingly rare.

Arc Fault Detection Devices are mandatory under A4:2026 on socket-outlet circuits in HMOs, residential care premises, schools, and certain higher-risk locations. In owner-occupied dwellings they are recommended rather than required. AFDD costs an additional £35 per circuit at the point of board change — significantly cheaper than retrofitting later.

BS 7671 makes SPD a risk-assessment outcome rather than an absolute requirement in dwellings. In practice, where the installation feeds anything sensitive — EV charger, home battery, heat pump, AV equipment, smart-home hub — the assessment almost always lands on "fit SPD". The cost at the point of board change is roughly £80, versus £400+ to add later. We fit Type 2 SPD as standard.