Safety checks, switches and smoke alarms

Safety switches, and what they really do

A safety switch, or RCD, is not the same thing as a circuit breaker. A circuit breaker protects the wiring from overload. A safety switch protects you, by cutting the supply in a fraction of a second when current starts flowing somewhere it should not, which usually means through a person.

Older boards often have one on the power circuits and nothing on lighting. We fit them across both. If you have ceramic fuses, you almost certainly have neither.

Worth testing the ones you have every few months. Press the test button, the power should drop out immediately. If it does not, it is not protecting anyone.

Smoke alarms

Victorian requirements depend on when the home was built and whether it has been substantially renovated, with newer work needing hardwired, interconnected alarms so that one going off sets them all off. That matters most at night, at the other end of the house, which is exactly when a single alarm outside one bedroom does not help.

We fit and test hardwired interconnected alarms and will tell you what applies to your place.

Pre-purchase checks

If you are buying around here, an electrical check before you sign is worth the money. A building inspection will note obvious things, but it will not tell you the house is on cloth-covered wiring with a full board and no earth. That is the difference between a tidy purchase and a five-figure job in your first year.

We check the board, the wiring we can access, earthing, safety switches and smoke alarms, and give you a plain-English rundown of what is fine, what needs doing and roughly what it costs.

Renting out a property?

Rental properties in Victoria have their own safety check obligations on a set cycle. We can do the electrical side and give you the paperwork for your records.