Safety switch installation Sydney — RCD & RCBO fitting done right

Single circuit RCD retrofit: $180–$260 fully installed — one existing circuit converted to RCD-protected, tested, CCEW issued.

RCBO retrofit across a standard 8–10 circuit board: $780–$1,400 — individual safety switch on every circuit, no more shared-RCD nuisance tripping.

Full switchboard upgrade including RCBOs on every circuit: $1,800–$3,500 for standard residential, $2,400–$3,500 for 10–14 circuit federation/brick veneer. Almost always the right call on older boards.

Commercial DB retrofit: quoted per site — depends on number of subcircuits, three-phase vs single-phase, and out-of-hours access requirements.

Landlord compliance package: fixed price for a rental property inspection, RCD/RCBO installation to meet NSW rental requirements, evidence pack for tenant handover.

RCD (safety switch) — detects earth leakage, trips before you get a fatal shock. Cheapest option but usually shared across multiple circuits.

MCB (circuit breaker) — trips on overload or short circuit, protects the wiring. Doesn't protect against shock.

RCBO — both functions in one device on one circuit. Modern best practice: individual RCBO on every circuit means a fault on the outdoor GPO doesn't take out the kitchen, lounge and hallway too.

When RCBOs are worth it: any switchboard being touched in a renovation, any rental property upgrade, anywhere nuisance tripping is a problem, anywhere earth leakage is intermittent and hard to isolate.

Since March 2023, all NSW residential rental properties must have safety switches on both power and lighting circuits.

Landlord obligation — the owner is responsible for compliance; the property manager should confirm at tenant handover and at each renewal.

Evidence — a Certificate of Compliance Electrical Work (CCEW) issued by a licensed electrical contractor is the compliance document. We provide it after installation.

Testing — RCDs/RCBOs should be push-button tested by the resident every 3–6 months. We include a tenant-facing test card at the switchboard.

If the property has ceramic fuses or a non-compliant board, a full switchboard upgrade is usually more cost-effective than a partial retrofit — and future-proofs the property against the next round of tenancy law changes.

The most obvious — you have no RCDs at all, or only one shared RCD covering multiple circuits.

Ceramic re-wireable fuses on the main board — no RCD retrofit possible, needs a full switchboard upgrade.

Nuisance tripping — an RCD that trips 'for no reason' is usually cumulative earth leakage from too many appliances on one device. RCBOs fix it.

You're a landlord and haven't confirmed compliance since March 2023.

You're renovating, adding an EV charger, ducted AC, hot water changeover, or induction cooktop — the affected circuit legally requires RCD protection.

You've had a shock from an appliance or GPO — a working RCD would have prevented it. Get it installed before it happens twice.