Dark backing board behind old fuses? Leave it alone
Black or dark brown backing boards made before 1987 can contain asbestos, and Brisbane has a lot of homes older than that. Don't drill, sand or poke at the board, and mention it when you book. Queensland's work health and safety rules require a licensed asbestos removalist for anything over 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos, and even smaller jobs need someone trained in asbestos work, so ask who'll handle it.
Why Brisbane boards get outgrown
Queenslanders that kept growing
Many timber Queenslanders have had verandas closed in as bedrooms and the space under the house built in for living. Each new room brought lights, power points and often an air conditioner, all running back to a board sized for the house as first built.
Post-war houses
After World War II, internal walls switched from timber to fibreboards such as asbestos sheeting. If your home is from that era, say so before anyone cuts into walls to run new circuits from the upgraded board.
Character homes stay standing
Brisbane's planning scheme protects houses built in 1946 or earlier through its character overlay and limits demolition of homes from before 1911. Those houses get renovated rather than knocked down, and the renovation is usually when the old board comes up.
Flood-prone streets
Council's Flood Awareness Map shows creek, river, overland flow and storm tide flooding for each property. If yours is on it, ask the electrician where the new board and the downstairs circuits are best placed.
Energex, your retailer and the meter
Energex looks after the poles, wires and supply, while your meter is arranged through your retailer, which appoints a metering coordinator. If the house needs another phase, the electrician lodges an Electrical Work Request through Energex's Electrical Partners Portal, and that request tells your retailer too.
The Queensland rule that turns small jobs into board jobs
A licensed electrician mustn't do installation work in a home where no approved safety switch protects the power points, unless the job includes installing one or a listed exception, like an emergency, applies. An approved safety switch is an RCD (it cuts the power in a fraction of a second when current leaks to earth) that trips at no more than 30 milliamps.
So if you're after a ceiling fan, extra power points or hardwired smoke alarms in an older Brisbane house, expect the quote to start at the switchboard.
Buying or renting out? The seller has to say in writing whether one is fitted, and a new owner without one has 90 days from possession to get it done. Landlords have 90 days from the start of a tenancy. Safety switch rules when you sell or rent has the detail.
Leave room for solar, a battery or a charger
If solar is on the list, size the board for it now. Energex's basic connection for household solar and batteries caps inverter capacity at 10 kVA per phase and export at 5 kW per phase. Queensland also requires systems of 10 kVA or more to carry a generation signalling device, so Energex can switch them off briefly in an energy emergency.
Planning a car charger? Tell the electrician before they quote the board, not after. Switchboards for solar and EV chargers covers the sizing, and EV chargers in Brisbane covers units and townhouses.
Questions for a Brisbane switchboard quote
- Does an approved safety switch protect my power points now, and my lights?
- Could the backing board contain asbestos, and who will deal with it?
- Will the new board have room for the rooms we've added and what we plan next?
- Does this need anything from Energex or my retailer, such as a meter change or another phase?
- Given our flood risk, where should the board and the downstairs circuits go?
- What's your contractor licence number, and when do I get the certificate of testing and compliance?
Your part, and the electrician's
You can
- Press each safety switch's test button. Queensland law treats that as a test anyone can do.
- Look the property up on Council's Flood Awareness Map before the electrician visits.
- List every room that's been added or closed in since the house was built.
- Photograph the closed meter box so the electrician knows what to expect.
Leave to a licensed electrician
- Swapping fuses for circuit breakers and adding safety switches.
- Anything behind the switchboard's cover, including the main switch.
- Deciding how a backing board that may contain asbestos is handled.
- Lodging the Energex paperwork for another phase.
Our take on Brisbane boards
If we owned an older Brisbane house with no safety switch on the power points, we'd make the board the first job, ahead of the fan, the alarms or the charger, because the rest can't easily go ahead without it. We'd hand the electrician a list of everything added to the house and everything planned, then keep the certificate of testing and compliance with the house papers.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.