Do I need to upgrade my consumer unit?

Integrated London · October 2026

The consumer unit, or fuse board, is where your home’s electrics are controlled and protected. Older boards still work, but they often lack the protection a modern one gives you. Here’s how to tell whether yours needs replacing.

What’s changed?

Modern consumer units use RCDs or RCBOs, which cut the power in a fraction of a second if they detect current leaking to earth, for example through a person. Boards fitted in homes since 2016 must also have a non-combustible enclosure (usually metal), and today’s boards typically include surge protection too.

Signs it’s time

• Old rewireable fuses (a piece of fuse wire in a carrier) rather than circuit breakers.
• No RCD protection, or a single RCD covering the whole house, so one fault switches everything off.
• Breakers that trip regularly.
• No spare space for the circuits you need, for example an EV charger, an extension or a new kitchen.
• Scorch marks, buzzing or a burning smell. If you notice these, call an electrician straight away.

Do new regulations mean I have to upgrade?

No. The Wiring Regulations (BS 7671) aren’t retrospective, and an installation built to an older edition isn’t necessarily unsafe just because it doesn’t meet the latest one. What matters is its condition, which is exactly what an EICR tells you.

When you add new circuits or alter existing ones, though, the new work has to meet current regulations, and that sometimes means the board has to change.

What’s involved?

A typical replacement takes most of a day. We test the existing circuits first, because faults an old board tolerates can trip a new RCD. Once it’s fitted and tested, we notify building control under Part P and you receive an Electrical Installation Certificate for your records.