My husband and I moved out of our house several months ago and had Duke come out and turn of the electricity. We recently decided to sell the home, and after getting an offer, we were told to have all utilities turned on in order for the buyer to have inspections done. While the electricity was shut off, Duke came out and had the meter removed. In order to get it back, we had to pass a city electric inspection.

Our breaker box is located in a tool closet on the partially enclosed back porch. The man who came out to do the inspection was concerned that the breaker box was located in the closet (which wasn't much of a surprise, because a friend of ours told us previously that may be a problem). He originally told us we could tear the front wall of the closet off and it would pass. But then, before he left, he changed his mind and said he would feel better if we moved the box from it's current location into the basement, or build a wall to completely enclose the porch. By the time he left, he had convinced himself that he couldn't pass us until we had either moved the box or built the wall. The box is probably 10+ feet from the opening of the porch: An opening which is probably less than 5 feet wide.

We have a friend who does home inspections for realtors, USDA loans, FHA, etc... We asked him to come out to make sure whatever we did to solve the problem would pass code. He was stumped by the electrical inspector's decision. He was certain, if we simply removed the front of the closet, it would pass. He also consulted with another home inspector and two electricians, and they all agreed that there was no need to move the box or finish enclosing the porch. They all think the location would be grandfathered in, as the house is 136 years old. After doing some research, I have found that given the age of the home and likelihood that the breaker box was installed many years before the code requiring it to be inside, grandfathering should be a strong possibility.

Can anyone site any codes or anything that would help me plead my case to the city inspector? We are meeting this afternoon.


PS: We are supposed to have everything done Monday (we only had 7 days) so the buyer can get her inspections done. We have people willing to get it done. We just need to know what to do!

How did you get the power turned on in the first place, when you lived there, if it was against code ?

Is it not grandfathered in since you are not making any change to the system ?

If you knew it was going to be a problem, why did you get it turned off at the time, but did not just leave it on and pay a min amount

Removing the walls, in effect removing the panel from a closet, sounds like the simplest solution.

Any code we cite today would be of the current code, and would not be helpful to your situation, as NEC 2008 Edition states:

(D) Not in Vicinity of Easily Ignitible Material.
Overcurrent devices shall not be located in the vicinity of easily ignitible material, such as in clothes closets.

You need to convince the inspector that the clothes closet will be removed.

While any building is subject to the code in effect when constructed, or when modified, there are certain safety issues that may not be overlooked, however, the solution needs to be approved by the inspector.

You may appeal his decision by contacting the state electrical inspector

Thanks tkrussel. He is coming out to look it over Monday, because the main city inspector hasn't seen it yet, just the electric inspector. He said he'll see what he can do. I think the more support we have, the more likely I can convince him.



Fr_chuck: We had NO idea it would be a problem. If we had, we NEVER would have shut it off! Trust me!

We thought we would shut it off for a few months to save money, because my husband lost his job and we stayed with my parents for a while. The reason we had to have the inspection is because Duke took out the meter. That wasn't the case when we bought the house 3 years ago. Back then, the meter was still in tact, so we made a single phone call before moving in, and they simply turned it on. We expected that again, but since the meter had been removed, they insisted on an inspection before putting the meter back in.

According to others, they have been doing this all over town. One person we talked to had his shut off for less than a month and Duke came and took the meter out!