A former electrician and integrator from Melbourne has developed a range of switchboard enclosures that have been built to suit home automation installations. Paul Skelton reports.

It’s a common problem for custom installers around the country; you work tirelessly to ensure that technology is seamlessly integrated into a home but then you come to fitting off the switchboard and you have to resort to using several plastic enclosures, which ruins the overall aesthetic. In truth, it looks cheap and unprofessional.

Former installer Jared Smith often ran into this problem, and it irked him so much that he decided to do something about it. He decided to make his own range enclosures that are specifically designed with installers in mind.

Thus, Built Boards was born.

“I was always interested in electrics, electronics and how stuff works, so after I finished grade 11 at high school I started an electrical apprenticeship with L+O Technologies,” Jared says.

“My mum would have preferred that I finished high school and did something else, like become a doctor, but she used to say that if you’re going to be a tradesman then be the best tradesman there is. And that has been stuck in the back of my mind for years.

“I would go to work every day with so much drive and passion towards trying to be the best electrician I could be. Years went by and I started to move up the ranks within the company. That’s when home automation and AV started appearing in the projects I was working on, which is how I came across this industry.”

It was while he was working on a 1,700m² residence in the exclusive Melbourne suburb of Black  Rock that Jared first met custom installation outfit Evolve Integration. He worked closely with them to complete the wiring for his first ever smart house project and was immediately taken with connected home technologies.

“I picked up a C-Bus unit and could pretty much see how it worked,” he says.

After that, Evolve offered Jared a job as a project manager and taught him the basics of programming.

“It was a bit of a change from being on the tools all day,” he says.

“But that change led to the creation of Built Boards.

“While with Evolve, I started to look for a specific type of enclosure for home automation, but what was around wasn’t quite suitable. As a result, whenever you’d buy one you’d have to modify it or use lots of little plastic enclosures and build them up into a larger switchboard.

“A lot guys use cheap, small plastic enclosures, and they end up covering a wall with them. But if you have to change a cable that’s been dressed off from, say, a dimmer to a relay that is in a different enclosure then you have to pull it all back down and reroute it.”

Out of frustration, Jared purchased a few empty enclosures to adapt them to his requirements.

“I set myself up in my parents’ garage and my one-bedroom apartment in Toorak. In my living room I assembled the components and then took them to my parents’ place. It was there that I assembled the switchboard and then shipped them off to jobsites.

“I started by selling these enclosures to my employers. The directors were very interested in what I was doing. After that I picked up a few more clients, which was quite a big step considering it started out as a hobby.”

These days Built Boards are constructed using a mix of local and Chinese manufacturers.

“The externals of the enclosures are constructed offshore and then, here in the factory, I fit out all the internals – the bars, DIN rails, etc – and then I badge them, package them and send them out.

“At the moment it’s all me; I’m the business owner, marketer, storeman, manufacturer and sales rep.”

So, what exactly makes Built Boards enclosures ‘home automation enclosures’?

“The primary difference is the amount of DIN rail space available to mount hardware to. Yes, there are a lot of enclosures around a lot of DIN rail space, but Built Boards are wide enough to hold two standard Clipsal C-Bus or Philips Dynalite units as well as circuit breakers. A lot of enclosures aren’t wide enough for that. We also have neutral and earth bars, which can be lacking in number in other boards.”

Built Boards enclosures feature a powder coated steel construction, two 12-pole neutral and earth bars per DIN rail, 42-pole main neutral and earth bars, copious wiring space with a fitted cable tray for dressing and securing cables, and they can be surface mounted or recessed.

They are available in four standard sizes, ranging from 81- to 243-pole.

“I have also designed a purpose-built NBN enclosure, which will be released in the next few months. NBN enclosures aren’t compulsory for use; they’re more for visual satisfaction, to hide messy components.”

All Built Boards enclosures are supplied with a selection of ‘extras’, including cable ties, bushes and circuit identification stickers.

“The best part is that I keep a lot of stock on hand. Having worked on the tools, I know a lot of stuff gets left until the last minute and you never have two weeks to wait for stock. So, if you’re after my product, I will work quite literally day and night to get them out to you.”