In the Twin Cities, a "Service Change" is generally a whole dwelling upgrade.
Homes built from the late 50's on, if they've been left alone don't need much, but older homes and those of any age that received less than quality work along the way will require more work. The basic service size increase will generally amount to 1/2 to 1/4 of the final cost for all the branch circuit work, with some stunning exceptions. I patch the new service to the service drop with a "temporary connection" which may carry the dwelling for a month or two.
The AHJ, after inspecting to see that all of the dwelling meets the "Minimum Maintenance Electrical Code for Existing Buildings", OKs the job at the end of my work. At that point the AHJ notifies the Power Company that it is OK to "connect" the new service. Without this AHJ OK the service will eventually be disconnected by the PoCo. This is the leverage to upgrade the minimum quality of the branch circuit wiring in the dwellings around here.
