Changing consumer unit..or two - guide prices?

JimmyChanga

As title.
Need to change two old old fuse wire type consumer boxes (wiring is new) to new MCB ones. There are 5 fuses in each.

Situated in Greater London - any idea what I'd be looking to pay, anyone had this done recently?

Cheers

rach_k

We recently paid just over £900 to have our old fuse board swapped for a modern one. The circuits for the kitchen had been moved to a separate box previously (no idea how much that cost as it was included with rewiring the kitchen).

This was done by an electrician we know and trust, in London Borough of Sutton, if that helps with the price guessing.

JimmyChanga

Thanks, Rach. Can I ask, how long did the work take to do?

rach_k

I have a terrible memory but my calendar for that week suggests that it was done in one day. I think I'd remember if it took ages!

That's for a 3 bedroom house, bog standard Victorian terrace.

It felt like quite a lot of time was spent on the testing afterwards, as every single socket and light fitting needed testing.

macman

If its a Wylex, you can buy plug in MCB's to convert it: a simple DIY job.
Otherwise it would be a day's work with all the testing required.
You can't just upgrade to MCB's with a new CU: the regs require a split load RCD unit as the minimum.

Risteard

macman wrote: »

If its a Wylex, you can buy plug in MCB's to convert it: a simple DIY job.
Otherwise it would be a day's work with all the testing required.
You can't just upgrade to MCB's with a new CU: the regs require a split load RCD unit as the minimum.

Plugin circuit breakers don't offer a safety benefit. Residual current protection is important.

JimmyChanga

You can't just upgrade to MCB's with a new CU: the regs require a split load RCD unit as the minimum.

I was just using shorthand. :-)

bris

rach_k wrote: »

We recently paid just over £900 to have our old fuse board swapped for a modern one.
This was done by an electrician we know and trust,

£700 to £800 profit for a days work, yea you must trust him a lot.

spo2

We paid £300 recently for ours. Was also done in one day

pineneedles

We paid £425 plus VAT four years ago in SE London for one consumer unit, a day's job and he also did a couple of light fittings the same day.

Risteard

spo2 wrote: »

We paid £300 recently for ours. Was also done in one day

That's unusually cheap for the job to be fair.