A typical 10 way consumer unit upgrade with full RCBO protection, fitting and certification costs around £600 in most of the UK, with jobs commonly ranging between £450 and £900. A small 6 circuit swap in a flat can come in nearer £450, while a 12 circuit board with surge protection or a full rewiring tie-in can push past £900. Wiring condition, access and where you live all move that figure.
TL;DR:
- A typical consumer unit upgrade with RCBO protection costs around £600 for an average home, but larger or more advanced boards can exceed £900.
- The price mainly depends on the circuit count, wiring condition, location, and additional features like surge protection or arc fault detection.
- Fixed quotes usually include materials, labour, testing, and certification, but may exclude remedial wiring, meter tails, or relocation costs.
- Upgrading in London or South East typically costs 15% to 30% more than the UK average, with regional and access factors influencing final prices.
- Always verify the electrician’s registration with a competent person scheme and request a detailed, fixed-price quote before starting work.
Table of Contents
- How much does a consumer unit upgrade cost by circuit size?
- What’s actually included in the price: materials, labour and testing
- Which type of consumer unit suits your home?
- What makes one quote higher than another?
- How much more does it cost in London compared to the rest of the UK?
- What extras might get added to your quote?
- What happens on the day of a consumer unit upgrade?
- Do you need Part P approval and an electrical certificate?
- How do you choose the right electrician for the job?
- A contractor’s view: what surveys actually reveal
- Get a fixed-price quote from Smarthometechnical
- Sources
How much does a consumer unit upgrade cost by circuit size?
The size of your board is the biggest single factor in the quote you’ll get, and it scales fairly predictably.
- 6 circuit flat or small terrace: typically £450 to £550, covering supply, fitting, testing and certification for a straightforward swap with easy access.
- 10 circuit average family home: the most common job, usually landing close to £600. Checkatrade puts a populated 10 way RCBO board at around £485 fitted, and once you factor in typical testing and paperwork fees, most homeowners see quotes settle a little above that.
- 12+ circuits or high integrity boards: often £700 to £900 or more, particularly where surge protection or arc fault detection is specified.
These ranges normally include VAT, standard testing, and the Part P notification your electrician handles on your behalf. What they don’t automatically include is remedial wiring, meter tail replacement, or moving the unit to a new location, which we cover further down. If a quote sits well outside these bands in either direction, ask what’s included before assuming it’s a bargain or a rip off.
What’s actually included in the price: materials, labour and testing
A consumer unit upgrade cost breaks into four distinct line items, and understanding each one helps you compare quotes properly rather than just eyeballing a total.
Materials vary the most. A part-populated 10 way board with basic RCD protection might cost an electrician £60 to £90 trade price. Fully populated that same board with individual RCBOs and you’re looking at a real jump.
Cost callout: Individual RCBOs typically run £35 to £55 each at trade price. On a 10 way board that’s £350 to £550 in devices alone, before labour. A surge protection device adds roughly £80 to £150, and an arc fault detection device adds £40 to £70 where fitted.
- Labour: a straightforward like-for-like swap takes 4 to 6 hours for one electrician, priced either as a fixed job or at an hourly trade rate.
- Testing: full circuit testing, insulation resistance checks and earth loop impedance readings are standard practice, not an optional extra.
- Certification: your electrician issues an Electrical Installation Certificate and handles Part P notification, usually bundled into the headline price rather than billed separately.
Most electricians quote consumer unit swaps as a fixed price rather than an hourly rate, which gives you certainty before work starts. Ask for that fixed figure in writing.
Which type of consumer unit suits your home?
The board you choose changes the price more than almost any other decision you’ll make on this job.
Dual RCD (split load) boards divide circuits across two RCDs, so a fault on one side doesn’t kill power to the whole house. They’re cheaper to buy and fit, and still a legitimate choice for straightforward homes with modest circuit counts, but they group several circuits under each RCD, so one nuisance trip can take out more than you’d like.
Full RCBO boards give every circuit its own combined breaker and RCD. If a fault trips your lighting circuit, your freezer and boiler stay live. That protection comes at a premium of roughly £150 to £300 over a dual RCD equivalent, purely in materials, and most electricians now recommend it as the sensible default for anything beyond a very small property.
High integrity boards with SPD and AFDD add surge protection against voltage spikes (increasingly relevant with sensitive electronics, heat pumps, and EV chargers on the circuit) and arc fault detection, which spots the kind of intermittent arcing that causes electrical fires. Arc fault devices are mandatory in certain higher-risk settings such as HMOs, care homes and student accommodation, and increasingly specified on socket circuits in modern domestic installs even where not strictly required.
- Metal enclosures cost more than plastic but are now the standard for domestic installs under current guidance.
- A pre-populated board bought off the shelf can be marginally cheaper than one an electrician builds up on site, but site-built boards give you more control over spec.
What makes one quote higher than another?
Two electricians can look at the same job and have varied quotes, and it’s rarely because one is overcharging.
The number of circuits matters most obviously. Every extra circuit adds a device, some cable, and time. But the condition of your existing wiring often matters more. If your electrician opens the old board and finds undersized earth cables, missing bonding, or wiring that doesn’t meet current standards, that becomes remedial work billed on top, sometimes significantly on top if it points toward a fuller house rewire.
Earthing and bonding checks are non-negotiable on any upgrade. If your main earthing conductor or bonding to gas and water pipes doesn’t meet current requirements, expect that fixed as part of the job, not flagged and left. Meter tails (the cables running from your meter to the consumer unit) sometimes need replacing too, particularly in older properties.
- Access and location: a consumer unit in a cramped understairs cupboard takes longer to work on than one in an open garage.
- Relocation: moving the unit anywhere adds time and often new cabling.
- Regional labour rates: London and the South East run higher than most of the country.
- Urgency: an emergency callout for a tripped board that won’t reset costs more than a scheduled upgrade booked weeks ahead.
Pro Tip: Ask your electrician to inspect the existing board and wiring before you accept a fixed quote. A five minute look at the tails, earthing, and cable condition avoids the “we found a problem” call halfway through the job.
How much more does it cost in London compared to the rest of the UK?
Where you live shifts the price by a meaningful margin, and it’s worth knowing roughly what to expect before you start ringing round for quotes.
London and the South East typically sit 15% to 30% above the national midpoint, which pushes a standard 10 way RCBO upgrade toward £700 to £780 rather than the £600 national average. Higher commercial rents, denser parking restrictions that add time to jobs, and stronger demand for qualified electricians all feed into that gap.
- Midlands: generally close to the national average, often £550 to £650 for a standard job.
- North of England: frequently 5% to 10% below the national midpoint.
- Wales and Scotland: similar to northern England, with rural areas sometimes adding a small travel premium.
If a quote in Dorset, Hampshire or Devon lands noticeably above these regional expectations, that’s a fair prompt to ask what’s driving the difference, whether it’s remedial wiring, access, or simply a premium provider.
What extras might get added to your quote?
The headline figure rarely tells the whole story. These are the add-ons that most often surprise homeowners after the initial quote lands.
- Short relocation of the consumer unit within the same wall or cupboard: around £400 on top of the base job.
- Major relocation, such as moving the unit to a different room or extending supply cables: can exceed £1,000 to £2,000 depending on distance and access.
- Meter tails, when they need replacing, are typically charged per metre, at roughly £4 per metre in trade pricing, plus fitting time.
- Surge protection devices add £80 to £150 in parts and are increasingly worth fitting if you have solar inverters, a battery system, or an EV charger on site.
- Arc fault detection devices add £40 to £70 per device where specified or required.
- Extra sockets, circuits, or wiring repairs discovered during the job, plus a small waste disposal charge for the old board.
None of these are hidden fees in the dishonest sense. They’re genuinely variable costs that depend on what your electrician finds once the old board comes off the wall.
What happens on the day of a consumer unit upgrade?
A straightforward swap is a one-day job, and knowing the sequence helps you plan around it rather than be surprised by it.
- Survey and safe isolation. Your electrician checks the existing setup, confirms the spec, and isolates the supply before touching anything.
- Removal of the old unit and inspection of the tails, earthing and bonding behind it.
- Fitting and wiring the new board, connecting each circuit and labelling it clearly.
- Testing, covering insulation resistance, earth loop impedance and RCD/RCBO trip times on every circuit.
- Certification and notification, issuing your Electrical Installation Certificate and handling Part P.
Most straightforward jobs finish in 4 to 6 hours, though older properties with wiring issues can push that to a full day, and remedial work occasionally requires a second visit once parts are sourced. Clear access to the board and a rough idea of which rooms lose power helps the day run smoothly, since the whole property will be without electricity for several hours.
Do you need Part P approval and an electrical certificate?
Yes. Consumer unit replacement is notifiable work under Part P of the Building Regulations, which means it has to be either notified to your local authority or carried out by an electrician registered with a competent person scheme, who can self-certify on your behalf.
Most established electricians handle Part P notification as a routine part of the job rather than a separate task, and it’s typically folded into the price rather than billed as an extra.
Your electrician should issue an Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) confirming the new board meets BS 7671, the UK wiring regulations. If you’re not upgrading but want to check the health of your existing installation, an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) is the right document, and it’s increasingly requested by landlords, mortgage lenders and buyers before a sale completes. Keep both certificates. Missing paperwork can complicate insurance claims and slow down a house sale considerably.
How do you choose the right electrician for the job?
Not every electrician who can rewire a plug should be trusted with a consumer unit, and the accreditation actually matters here.
Look for registration with a competent person scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT, which confirms the electrician can self-certify Part P work and carries recognised insurance. Membership of a trade body is a useful secondary signal, but the competent person scheme registration is the one that actually matters for legal compliance.
When you request a quote, ask for these details in writing:
- Exact board spec: dual RCD or full RCBO, and why they’re recommending it for your property.
- Whether surge protection or arc fault detection is included or optional.
- Whether relocation, meter tails, or remedial wiring are included or likely extras.
- Confirmation of Part P notification and who issues the EIC.
- Any warranty on parts and labour.
Pro Tip: A fair fixed-price quote itemises the board type and any anticipated extras before work starts. If a quote is verbal only, cash-only, or the electrician can’t confirm which competent person scheme they belong to, treat that as a red flag and keep looking.
A contractor’s view: what surveys actually reveal
Every survey we run checks the same things: circuit labelling, tail length, earthing and bonding condition, and whether the board sits somewhere sensible for future work. Hidden costs almost always trace back to one of those, most often unearthed bonding that should have been fixed years ago.
The smartest move for many homeowners is timing. If solar, a battery, or an EV charger is even a possibility within the next few years, upgrading the consumer unit alongside that work avoids a second isolation, a second call-out fee, and a board that has to be reopened and re-specced later.
— Simon
Get a fixed-price quote from Smarthometechnical
Smarthometechnical is the compliant local alternative to piecing this job together yourself: one electrician, one visit, one fixed price covering the board, testing, and Part P notification, with no guessing about whether your quote is missing something.
We run full-service electrical work across Dorset, Hampshire and Devon, and a consumer unit upgrade is one of the jobs we’re asked about most, particularly from homeowners planning solar panel installation or an EV charger down the line. If that’s on your radar, a solar-ready consumer unit fitted now saves a second visit later, and pairing the two jobs is usually cheaper than doing them separately.
A free site survey gets you an itemised, fixed-price quote covering the exact board spec, any remedial wiring we spot, and your EIC and Part P paperwork, with no cash-only surprises and no vague verbal estimates. Book a survey through our solar installations page and we’ll talk through your circuits, your plans, and a price you can actually rely on.
Sources
For the regulatory detail behind Part P notification and BS 7671 wiring standards, Elec-Mate’s price guide covers the technical requirements in more depth than most consumer-facing sites attempt. For current national price benchmarking, Checkatrade and Costwise both track UK-wide averages and regional variation, useful for sanity-checking any quote you receive against the wider market.
- Consumer unit replacement cost calculator 2026 | Checkatrade
- Consumer unit replacement cost calculator 2026 | Costwise
- Consumer Unit Replacement Cost 2026: Price Guide | Elec‑Mate
- The cost of a new fuse box in 2026 – MyBuilder
