I have a sub panel in the basement that has 10 breakers to power the basement. The sub panel is fed off the main panel that is in the attached garage. The sub panel does not have a main breaker. Does anyone know if that is compliant with NEC?

How is the sub panel fed, from a breaker?

Yes, the sub panel is fed from a 60 amp circuit breaker in the main panel.

That is fine, the 60 acts as your "main" breaker and is acceptable per NEC. However, without knowing how the subpanel is wired, I would hesitate to say if the subpanel install is NEC compliant as there are specific requirements to wiring a subpanel.

Attached are pictures of how the sub panel is wired. Let me know what you think.Attachment 47101Attachment 47102Attachment 47103Attachment 47104

What is the white wire on the 3rd breaker on the left or is that just a splice? If a splice or junction, needs to be wire nutted.

I'm concerned about the number of 3 wire cables and the fact that the two breakers on the top left appear to be multi-wire branch circuits. If this is true then the rules for those circuits need to bee followed.

Also, I do not see an emergency cut off if something gose wrong.

It has to do with the angle of the picture. The fourth breaker on the left is a GFCI breaker that has the neutrals passing through it with the termination being the curled white.

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Originally Posted by donf

I'm concerned about the number of 3 wire cables and the fact that the two breakers on the top left appear to be multi-wire branch circuits. If this is true then the rules for those circuits need to bee followed.


Also, I do not see an emergency cut off if something gose wrong.

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The top two on the left are wired with 12-2-2, so each has its own neutral. It was run this way to be more efficient with the run. There are no shared neutrals.


The cut off would be the main panel in the attached garage. The cut off would be both the main breaker in the garage panel but also the circuit breaker that feeds the basement sub panel. The sub panel is literally 37 footsteps away from the main panel.

Let me know what you think.

A main breaker in your subpanel is not "required" by NEC. It may be nice to have but as close as you are, throwing the 60 is adequate.