"John Grabowski" wrote in message
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"iwdplz" wrote in message
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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?

*Common sense says that it is better to have the wire from the distant
meter to the house protected by a fuse or circuit breaker. It is not an
electrical code violation and as other have pointed out home inspectors
have limited knowledge of everything. Keep pressuring that guy for a code
reference. Better still have your brother's lawyer keep calling him for
the reference.

I once was handed a report by a home inspector that said there were loose
electrical wires all over the attic and they were a hazard. The new
owners asked me to correct the problem. I went up in the attic and the
only wires visible and loose were cable TV wires.

I'm not an electrician but I've seen HUNDREDS of homes and your set up is
pretty common on newer homes...