Safety Switch Installation and Testing in Adelaide

What a Safety Switch Does

A circuit breaker protects the wiring from overload. A safety switch protects people. It constantly compares the current going out on a circuit with the current coming back, and if some is leaking to earth, through a faulty appliance or through a person, it cuts the power in a fraction of a second.

Is Every Circuit Covered?

Under AS/NZS 3000:2018, the Australian Wiring Rules, a new home must have RCD protection on every final sub-circuit, lights included. Many older homes have one safety switch covering the power points only, or none at all. If your switchboard has a test button on just one device, or the lights are not covered, it is worth upgrading.

One Safety Switch per Circuit

The best setup is an RCBO on every circuit: a circuit breaker and a safety switch in one device. With older setups, one fault can trip a whole group of circuits and leave you without lights, fridge and power at once. With an RCBO on each circuit, only the faulty circuit goes off, which also makes the fault quicker to find. See switchboard upgrades.

Testing

Safety switches are mechanical and can fail. Press the test button on each one every three months: the power on that circuit should go off straight away. I also do a proper trip time test with an RCD tester, which measures how quickly each one operates, and I include it in every rental safety check.