As a member of The American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) for the past five years and a licensed home inspector for the state of Tennessee for the past 2, there are certain guidelines that we must follow when inspecting a property. I cannot speak for other home inspectors in other states as each state, if licensed, has their own guidelines for inspecting. Here in Tennessee which follows an old 1991 ASHI Standards of Practice, we must open electrical panels provided that the conditions are safe for the inspector. The purpose for this is that many properties have irregularities in the wiring system or panels. Most of them being either home owner or jack-leg handy man electrician induced.
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The picture to the left shows an older panel with wires tapped off the top of the main bus lugs which are leading to another panel. This is not unusual to see because as the need for energy increases, many older panels do not have the capacity to meet the demand, hence taps such as this one.
The problem here is that the wires leading to the newer panel do not meet the amp load capacity of the main breaker which is 125 amps. The wires are rated to handle 60 amps. Under the right conditions, these wires could overheat causing a fire within the panel. |
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The wires from the box above go into an older style fused panel. The issue with this panel is that there are holes in the tops and sides of the box. Should an electrical fire develop within the box, flames would go through the holes igniting dust within the wall cavities.
We explain to our customers to have licensed electricians review the panels and make corrections so that the panels meet acceptable trade standards. As with older fused systems, we recommend that they be updated as many home owner insurance polices will not insure homes with fused panels as fuses can be cheated. |
I hope that you have found this information to be helpful.
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