Switchboards, Wiring & Safety

How long does it take to upgrade electrical service?

By Jordan Statham, Director and Registered Electrical Inspector at The Conduction Company. EWRB registration I272615.

From first call to finished job, how long a switchboard upgrade takes in Auckland, what the meter shift and inspection add, and what holds a job up.

Hands lifting a cable tail inside an open switchboard fitted with two rows of circuit breakers.

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How long does it take to upgrade electrical service in an Auckland home? Jordan Statham, director of The Conduction Company and a registered electrician and electrical inspector, answers from the company's own jobs: how long each step takes, who you are waiting on at each one, and what stretches it. What the work costs is a separate question, and The Conduction Company answers it in its guide to what a switchboard upgrade costs in NZ.

A switchboard upgrade from The Conduction Company is usually finished within two weeks of your first call. The installation itself is one day on site, typically 4 to 8 hours. Where the meter has to be shifted too, the energy retailer's and the inspector's paperwork moves the work day out to the two to three week mark.

How long does each step take, from first call to finished job?

From first call to a new switchboard on the wall is usually one to two weeks with The Conduction Company, depending on availability. These are the steps, how long each typically takes, and who you are waiting on.

Assessment, by The Conduction Company. Someone comes out, opens the switchboard and works out exactly what you need.

Quote, by The Conduction Company. Usually the same day as the assessment, or the day after.

Materials, from the supplier. Ordered once you accept the quote. They usually take about 48 hours to arrive in stock.

Booking. Usually soon after the stock arrives, depending on availability.

Installation, by The Conduction Company. One day on site, typically 4 to 8 hours, with all the testing and verification done the same day.

Invoice. Typically the next day.

A meter shift and the time of year can both add to that. Both are covered below.

How long does it take to upgrade an electrical panel?

On the day, The Conduction Company typically takes 4 to 8 hours to upgrade an electrical panel, the switchboard. The size of the board and the state of the existing wiring decide where a job lands. Jordan Statham's fastest and slowest jobs at The Conduction Company show how far apart those can be.

Fastest. A small distribution board in a garage: one to two hours.

Slowest. An enormous house with 20 to 30-plus circuits and existing cable faults: up to 16 hours, depending on how many faults turn up.

The Conduction Company has had big jobs run on into the night. Even then, in most cases the majority of the power comes back on. Any circuits still faulty are livened the next day, once the faults are fixed and the circuits tested and verified again, before the full board gets its final test.

Does an older house add days, or just hours?

An older house usually adds hours, not days, to a switchboard upgrade by The Conduction Company. Older homes are slightly trickier, and existing cable faults are far more common in them, but the time difference is not drastic. The one thing that adds more is replacing an old asbestos meter board in full, which takes a bit longer than upgrading the protection inside a modern switchboard.

When should you upgrade electrical service?

If you can choose, book your upgrade with The Conduction Company outside mid-winter and the run-up to Christmas. For most of the year the normal wait for a booking is one to two weeks. Mid-winter is the busy season for air conditioning and ventilation work, so the wait can stretch to two to three weeks, and the weeks before Christmas get just as busy. If your job can wait, it will probably be done in January.

How long does the lines company take to disconnect the power?

On The Conduction Company's jobs, the lines company usually takes about 10 minutes to pull the pole fuses once it is on site. Across most of Auckland that is Vector. Booked well in advance, Vector is normally there when it says it will be. The one thing that holds Vector up is a big storm the day before or that morning, when lines are down and it is all hands on deck fixing the grid. If Vector is running late, there is plenty of prep work the team can get on with before it arrives. The Conduction Company explains who turns the power off for a switchboard upgrade, and where, in a separate post.

When does the meter get involved, and how long does that add?

When The Conduction Company does a full meter board upgrade, known as a meter shift even when the meter does not actually move, the meter work happens on the same day as the switchboard. It takes more booking around two outside parties, but not another day on site. This is how The Conduction Company runs that day.

Morning. Vector does the initial disconnect. The team removes the old switchboard and backing plates, keeps the meter on site, starts the new board and does the mains connections first.

About midday. The inspector arrives with the new meter. On The Conduction Company's jobs, the network-approved inspector and the metering equipment provider are the same person. They install the meter, seal it and make sure it is live while the team stops for lunch.

Afternoon. The team finishes the board: sub-circuits in place, circuit protection fitted, then everything turned on and tested to make sure it is fully electrically safe.

The Conduction Company is typically in and out on the same day. Keeping the power off overnight does happen on rare occasions, because two outside parties are being juggled, but it is very rare.

The midday inspection on The Conduction Company's meter board jobs is a legal requirement. The Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010 class work on the mains, including connecting them at the main switchboard, as high-risk prescribed electrical work (regulations 4 and 6A). High-risk work must be inspected (regulation 70), the inspector must prepare a written record of inspection (regulation 72), and before the supply is connected the work must be inspected or that record sighted (regulation 73A).

How far ahead does the inspection get booked?

On The Conduction Company's meter shift jobs, the inspection is booked about two weeks out, because of the paperwork. As soon as you accept the quote, you contact your energy retailer to request the meter shift. The retailer takes about a week to generate the paperwork and send it to the inspector The Conduction Company works with, and the inspector takes another week or so to process it and book a date. By then The Conduction Company's stock is ready and the job is scheduled, so the work usually happens somewhere between the two and three week mark.

What delays a switchboard job most often?

Existing circuit faults delay a switchboard job more than anything else, in Jordan Statham's experience at The Conduction Company. They are especially common in older homes and in homes with extensions, where there are several types of wiring, some of it older.

The upgrade is what finds them. In the vast majority of The Conduction Company's upgrades, the new board adds RCD protection, which protects people against electric shock. AS/NZS 3000, the wiring standard New Zealand electricians work to, requires 30 mA RCD protection on home circuits that supply socket-outlets and lighting (clause 2.6.3.3.1), and an RCD trips when earth leakage current reaches a set value (clause 1.5.6.3). That extra protection picks up existing faults that overcurrent protection alone never showed. Some are an easy fix. Others take digging and testing to find.

Jordan Statham's estimate of how often that happens on The Conduction Company's jobs:

No faults. Maybe 70% of jobs.

One or two faulty circuits, found fairly quickly. About 20%.

Multiple faults that are very hard to trace. About 10%, and those add plenty of hours.

How long does a single phase to three phase conversion take?

The Conduction Company can usually do the switchboard side of a single phase to three phase conversion on the same day as the switchboard upgrade. What takes the time is everything before it: a significant amount of prep work and paperwork. Vector, the lines company, has a second process of its own. It connects the new cable The Conduction Company runs to the pole fuses, and a new ICP (installation control point) and the cabling on the grid side have to be in place first. That prep is what causes the big hold-up, and Vector's side can be slow.

Can a house's power supply go from 60 amps to 100 amps?

It can in certain circumstances, but the network has to approve it, and in The Conduction Company's experience it is no small job. Across most of Auckland the network is Vector. Vector sends an assessor out, for a fee, and then quotes for the extra capacity. That quote is usually far more than the cost of the work itself, because it includes contribution fees, which go towards the wider grid and not just your connection.

In the vast majority of cases The Conduction Company also needs to upgrade your service line, the mains cable between the point of supply and your meter board, including the point of entry, so it is large enough to carry the full 100 amps.

Sometimes three phase is the better answer. It means running two extra cable cores, and it gives you roughly three times the power: about 180 amps instead of 63 amps in total, against 100 amps on an upgraded single-phase supply. Three phase is sometimes only marginally more expensive, which gets you maximum capacity for little or no extra cost. The Conduction Company works out which option suits on assessment day, ahead of time, based on what you need.

Can I upgrade my electrical panel without rewiring my house?

In most cases, yes: The Conduction Company upgrades the switchboard without rewiring the house unless the cabling itself needs replacing, and it finds that out at the first assessment. Opening the switchboard and checking the cable immediately behind it is usually enough to say straight away whether a rewire is warranted.

Most homes have modern TPS cabling, which is perfectly fine to keep using and can stay in service for decades longer. In some, The Conduction Company finds older TRS or VIR cabling, which it treats as too unsafe to keep, and recommends a full or partial rewire at the same time as the switchboard upgrade. The Conduction Company has written up how long rewiring a house takes in NZ separately.

Is it worth it to upgrade an electrical panel?

Yes, even when nothing is going wrong, in The Conduction Company's view. "Normally nothing's going wrong until something does go wrong, and then it can go drastically wrong," says Jordan Statham. The older a switchboard is, the more deterioration it has been through, and the more deteriorated it is, the higher the risk of electric shock and fire. That risk only grows with time.

An old switchboard with a black asbestos backing plate is the clearest case. Jordan's advice at The Conduction Company is that it is definitely time for an upgrade: "It's just a risk waiting to happen."

What should a family plan for if they stay home during the upgrade?

Plan for the power to be off the whole time The Conduction Company is working. Devices will not run and, importantly, the internet will likely be off too.

Freezers are absolutely fine. They stay frozen for a good 48 hours.

Fridges are the thing to plan for. If The Conduction Company expects to be there longer than eight hours, the team either brings ice from the service station or asks you to get some in beforehand, and packs the fridge with ice bags. "Essentially your fridge becomes a big chilly bin," as Jordan Statham puts it. With the door kept closed, it stays cool for about 24 hours.

Working from home. The Conduction Company can bring a small generator to run lights for most of the day, the internet, and a couple of power outlets on extension leads. That setup costs extra. If there is an office to go to, that is what Jordan recommends, or take the day off and read a book. There will not be any power to watch TV.

What changes when the house is a rental with tenants in it?

Very little changes for The Conduction Company when the house is a rental. The process is the same, except the team deals directly with the tenant rather than the landlord, and keeps the landlord or property manager up to date and fully informed about what is being done.

How do you handle a business that cannot close for the day?

The Conduction Company's first choice is to pick a day, or even work overnight, so the business does not have to close. After-hours and weekend work carries an additional fee, but it works out cheaper than bringing in a generator. A generator only really comes into it when the business runs 24/7. Then The Conduction Company organises one ahead of time, arrives an hour or two before opening to set it up, and runs leads out so the site has full power. Next to a day's lost revenue, the cost of the generator can be minimal.

In short

Based on Jordan Statham's experience of The Conduction Company's Auckland jobs, an electrical service upgrade is usually finished within two weeks of the first call, and the switchboard work itself is one day on site, typically 4 to 8 hours. A meter shift adds paperwork with your energy retailer and the inspector, which puts the work day at the two to three week mark, though the meter work itself happens on the same day. The most common thing that stretches a job is an existing circuit fault that the new RCD protection picks up. Booking outside mid-winter and the run-up to Christmas keeps the wait to the usual one to two weeks.

If you want a date for your place rather than a typical timeline, The Conduction Company does switchboard upgrades across Auckland. Send a photo of your switchboard to start with. Happy to help.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to upgrade my switchboard?

If your switchboard is old, and especially if it has a black asbestos backing plate, Jordan Statham of The Conduction Company says it is definitely time. The risk of electric shock and fire grows as a board deteriorates. The Conduction Company checks the board, and the cable behind it, at the first assessment.

Do I need to upgrade my electrical service?

If you mean the switchboard, the answer above applies. If you need more power than your supply gives you, going from 60 amps to 100 amps needs the network's approval, which is Vector across most of Auckland, and usually a new service line. The Conduction Company works out on assessment day whether a bigger single-phase supply or three phase suits you.

How long does it take to do an electrical panel upgrade?

The Conduction Company typically takes 4 to 8 hours on the day. A small garage board can take one to two hours, and a large house with existing cable faults up to 16 hours. From first call to finished job is usually within two weeks.

Is the power off overnight during a switchboard upgrade?

Rarely. The Conduction Company is typically in and out on the same day. Where existing faults turn up, in most cases the majority of the power still comes back on, and any faulty circuits are livened the next day once they are fixed and tested.

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