What does a switchboard actually do in a store?
The switchboard takes the supply into the tenancy and splits it into circuits for lighting, power, refrigeration, signage, air conditioning and everything else. Each circuit has protection that should cut the power when something goes wrong, before it becomes a fire or a shock.
Many stores are still running the board they were fitted out with. The store around it has changed a great deal since then.
What are the signs a switchboard needs upgrading?
- Ceramic or rewireable fuses instead of circuit breakers
- Limited or no RCD protection on circuits that now need it
- Heat marks, a burning smell, discoloured breakers or buzzing
- Breakers that trip under normal trading load
- No spare ways for new circuits
- Loose, unlabelled or crowded wiring inside the board
- Water damage, corrosion or a damaged enclosure
Any one of these is a reason to have a licensed electrician look at the board. Several of them together usually mean an upgrade rather than a repair.
Who is allowed to upgrade a switchboard?
Only a licensed electrician. Electrical installation work in every Australian state and territory is licensed, and the electrician issues the compliance paperwork the state requires when the work is finished. Keep that paperwork for every store.
New work is carried out to AS/NZS 3000, the Wiring Rules, which sets out how installations are protected. The electrician doing the work is responsible for meeting it.
What drives the cost of a commercial switchboard upgrade?
- The size of the board and the number of circuits
- How much protection has to be added, such as RCDs across circuits
- Whether the enclosure can be reused or has to be replaced
- Whether the supply capacity needs to change, which may involve the network operator
- Access to the board and whether the work must be done after hours
- What is found when the board is opened. Some older boards have asbestos backing panels, which must be handled by a licensed asbestos removalist
- Labelling, testing and documentation for the finished board
Because those vary so much between stores, a flat price per board is rarely honest. An assessment first gives a real number per site.
How do you plan upgrades across a store fleet?
Assess every board the same way, so the results can be compared. Rank them by risk, then by cost. Set one upgrade standard per board type, so the work does not change with each electrician. Stage the upgrades across capital cycles, worst boards first, and keep the photos and paperwork for every site in one place.
That is how Nextage runs switchboard upgrades: the program is managed by Nextage, the electrical work is carried out by licensed partner electricians, and each store gets a photo completion report with its paperwork.
