"John Grabowski" wrote in message
...

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
. ..
My next door neighbor had an electrician upgrade his panel to 200 A
without
1) a permit, and 2) telling the power company.

I'm curious how that was accomplished, or at least I'm wondering what the
power company is going to say when the values on his meter changes
overnight, not to mention his meter won't have a seal on it either.



One of the power company's in New Jersey does not require any contact for
a
single family residence unless the service will be bigger than 320 amps
which is what they rate their lines at. If it was a very old meter an
adapter would have to be obtained from the power company to make it work
until they install a new one.

It was foolish of your neighbor not to demand a permit and inspection.
How
does he know that the job was done correctly and meets code requirements?
It was also foolish of the electrician to do the work without a permit.
I'm
wondering if he was a licensed electrical contractor or a moonlighter.


He was a licensed electrician, I met him because he was doing the work at
the same time the electrician I hired to do my circuit breaker box came out.
Permit and inspection wasn't required for the work I had done, as it was
only a repair to an existing system. My next door neighbor is one of those
people who does everything on the cheap because he doesn't have any money
and prefers to do everything through the buddy system anyway.

The electrician was a friend of a friend who agreed to come out and do it on
the sly.

I agree with you though, I wouldn't think of upgrading my service and/or
swapping out my panel without at least an inspection - its just too critical
a component to your house.