iwdplz wrote:
My brother is purchasing a home in Vermont and the following is holding
up the negotiations after home inspection; he's trying to decide if the
seller should pay for this (whether it's worth the risk in the
negotiation because my brother has already negotiated a rock bottom deal
on the house). The custom home was built in 1999. The general home
inspector says that since the main panel in the basement doesn't have a
main breaker, it is a code violation. Instead the main breaker is
outside near the pole which the home inspector is calling a
"supplementary disconnect." He says the main panel needs to be replaced
which would cost thousands. He didn't tell us what NEC code section was
violated so we asked him but it will take a few days for him to retrieve
this info, but seller and buyer are anxious to proceed sooner.

I reviewed relevant sections of the 2008 NEC and it says that it is fine
to have the main disconnect outside the house and the NEC chapter on the
disconnects didn't say that the disconnect has to be inside the main
panel which is attached to the home. I understand that in some
installations the main disconnect is placed separately outside so that
firefighters can get to it.

Is there a code violation that my brother should ask the seller to
remedy? I am not sure how the electrical inspector could miss something
so basic when the home was built in 1999. That makes me wonder if the
general home inspector is correct or not. Or was there an update to the
NEC in the past few years? What section/paragraph is not in compliance?

My knowledge of NEC is kind of dated (1992).

The home inspector may be an idiot; this is not unusual. But it does
raise an issue about grounding. If the main disconnect is not in the
same panel as the breakers, the breaker panel becomes a subpanel. The
neutral should be bonded to earth at the disconnect and separate ground
and neutrals wires should be run to the house. Mobile homes are wired
this way.

Is the main disconnect a breaker, or at least fused?

Bob