Are old fuse boxes illegal?

1) Are old fuse boxes illegal?🚫

This is a myth that keeps circulating and for some reason will not give up. The answer is not short but suffice to say, the police will not be knocking on your door and taking you away for having an old fuse box. 

2) Tell me more...

The Electrical Wiring Regulations (BS7671) change regularly and update to ensure that the most up to date wiring systems and safety precautions are always available and installed in every home where possible. The building regulations also have to be followed in order to ensure compliance with safety and convenience matters. 

When there is an old fuse box in an existing building it is NOT illegal. 

It is no longer acceptable or compliant with the wiring regulations to install these types of older fuse box in new building or in older buildings where electrical upgrades and alterations are taking place. Whenever a wiring sytem is altered or extended we must ensure that the existing system including earthing arrangements is suitable for any altered circumstances. That is from the wiring regulations at the time of writing this blog. Regulation 132.16.

3) What does this mean for me, the customer?🤷‍♂️

If you want extra sockets, a new kitchen and electrics, new bathroom and electrics, some new downlights installed, outdoor sockets, shed supplies, car chargers or ALMOST any electrical work where the work involves extending, altering or working on the existing system, you will find that your electrician will need to carry out some testing beforehand and possibly some remedial works to make your existing electrical system compliant with modern regulations BEFORE carrying out the work for you. 

4) What if I don’t need any electrical work doing?🤔

If you are not planning any work in the home then it is not necessary to do anything to the electrical system to bring it up to modern regulations. It is of course, recommended that you have an electrical inspection carried out every 10 years in order to check for defects, problems, or hidden dangers but again, no one will be dragging you off into the night because your fuse box is a little old. 😊 

5) What are the benefits of a newer fuse box / consumer unit?🔎

As time goes by and technology improves, we usually see more safety and convenience features that were not present in older technology. I like to use comparison with cars, despite not being a direct comparison it is often easier to point out differences in older vehicles that we would never allow on newer vehicles. 

In newer cars we have certain safety and convenience features like seat belts, airbags, anti-lock brakes, brake assistance, power steering, electric windows, disc brakes, crumple zones, lane departure warning systems and so on. Now, whilst a lot of the time the safety features in a car will never be used, in the event of an accident I would much rather be in a new vehicle than an old one. 

With your home electrical system, an ancient fuse box from the 1930s -1970s may still allow electricity to reach parts of your home, sockets, and lights to function and so forth, in the event of an electrical fault I know which equipment I would want installed to protect me and my family from danger! 

Modern consumer units have safety features like, electric shock protection, surge protection, protection against arcing and sparking and so on. It is incredibly beneficial to upgrade your homes electrical system starting with an electrical inspection and then a replacement consumer unit with as many of the latest safety features as possible. 

6) Does a fuse box need to be made of metal?💭

A new consumer unit installed in a new build or a replacement consumer unit in an existing home should be made of a non-combustible material. Regulation 421.1.201 At the time of writing. 

Yes, is the simple answer. But this does not mean that your existing consumer unit that may be made of plastic is dangerous nor illegal. Changing a consumer unit simply because it is plastic is unnecessary unless there are signs of overheating, fire or other damage. 

This is another rumour that is floating around the electrical industry and is often inserted into electrical inspection reports unnecessarily. When carrying out an electrical safety check, electrical inspection or landlord inspection electricians will sometimes flag up a plastic consumer unit as a problem. In some cases, they are and should be swapped, but each consumer unit and electrical installation should be approached on a case-by-case basis. 

7) Does the whole fuse box need to be changed❓

We are often asked if the whole consumer unit needs to be swapped in order to modernise the electrical system and in nearly all cases the answer is yes. There may be other issues in the electrical system that need fixing or modernising also and an electrical inspection will flag these up. It is seldom possible to upgrade the internal components of a consumer unit / fuse box to modernise it and is more often necessary to replace the entire unit. 
If the unit is less than ten years old then there is a good chance that bits of new equipment such as trip switches, RCD devices and other items can be added or changed without replacing the whole unit.

8) The cover of my fuse box / consumer unit is cracked can this be replaced?⚠️

Again, if the unit is relatively new then there is a good chance that the cover can be replaced. If the unit is older then there is a greater chance that parts will no longer be available as technology and designs have moved on. If you have issues with your fuse box / consumer unit and need replacement parts or repairs carrying out then get in touch with us and we will tell you what is possible. 😊 

If you are wondering if old fuse boxes are illegal then hopefully this blog will have helped you to make some decisions.