Belconnen's homes and network
Built from 1966
The district was gazetted on 12 May 1966. Aranda was the first suburb, and Lawson, gazetted in 1986, is the most recent.
The Mr Fluffy years
Loose-fill asbestos went into more than 1,000 Canberra roofs between 1968 and 1978-79. Affected homes must carry a safety tag at the meter box and switchboard, and 35 Mr Fluffy houses were still standing in the ACT in February 2021.
More units than before
Flats and apartments rose from 5.1% of Belconnen's dwellings in 2001 to 13.2% in 2021, and 29.8% of homes were rented.
Hail country
Hail of four to six centimetres hit southern Belconnen on 20 January 2020. On 3 January 2022 a supercell left 17,000 people across West Belconnen and Tuggeranong without power.
Growth on the edge
Evoenergy plans a new zone substation for the Strathnairn area as demand grows, with energisation forecast for 2030.
If there's a tag on your meter box
A loose-fill asbestos tag at the meter box or switchboard means the house has had Mr Fluffy insulation. Don't open the switchboard or go into the roof space. Tell any electrician about the tag before they quote, so they can plan the job around it.
Smoke alarms in an older Canberra house
Hardwired smoke alarms have been legally required in ACT houses built after 1 November 1994. Much of Belconnen was built before then, so what's on your ceiling may depend on when the house went up. If your alarms are hardwired, they must be replaced with hardwired ones.
ACT Fire & Rescue encourages photoelectric alarms and says to replace alarms every 10 years, whatever powers them. In a two-storey house, the alarms on each level must be interconnected.
When wiring work is done, the electrician lodges a certificate of electrical safety within 14 days of testing it and gives you a copy. Keep it with the house papers.
What we'd do in a Belconnen house
We'd look at the meter box for a tag first, then have an electrician check which circuits the switchboard's safety switches cover and how old the smoke alarms are. All three can usually be covered in one visit, and then you'll know whether it's a small fix or a board upgrade.
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.