Circuit breakers are another matter here. MCBs are up=on as are all the modern RCDs. Some older voltage-operated ELCBs were down=on, probably because they were used widely in residential work and the manufacturers must have thought people would be more comfortable with it that way.
Main switches have changed over the years: The old side-handle metal-clad units were up=on, then the post-WWII "consumer units" went to down=on. In recent years they've reverted back to up=on, I assume because MCBs are now so common and it makes sense for the main to work the same way.
But everybody here still always expects light switches to be down for on (2/3-ways excepted of course).
