On Friday, December 25, 2015 at 6:00:51 PM UTC-6, wrote:
On Fri, 25 Dec 2015 13:03:51 -0500, "Percival P. Cassidy"
wrote:

On 12/25/2015 12:34 PM, trader_4 wrote:

But how common is it for there to be no "main switch," as is the case
with this installation: feed directly from the meter to the bus bars
with no switch or main breaker to enable safer working in the panel?

Not common at all. It's a code violation, unless there are only 6
breakers in that panel, in which case they can serve as the disconnect..
Are you sure there was no disconnect near the meter?

There were 10 or 12 breakers. I saw no sign of any other breaker. And
there was only one combined ground/neutral bar in the panel -- white and
bare wires to the same bar -- so it couldn't count as a sub-panel.

Is it possible that it was OK when the house was wired originally --
long ago -- (or rewired on an earlier occasion) and the only rewiring
that was done in 2011 was from the panel on -- retaining the original panel?

Perce

There is no legal scenario where you will have a panelboard without a
service disconnect. Even in those rare cases where you can have the
1-6 disconnects, they all need to be "service rated". Until very
recently a "lighting and appliance" panelboard required no more than
2. (That was to accommodate "split bus" panels).
A couple cycles ago they removed the distinction about the types of
panels.

BTW are you sure there isn't a back fed breaker in that panel that is
acting as the disconnect? (probably not legal but happens sometime)

Out of curiosity, what if it's a bolt in breaker panel? Of course I didn't see those panels in homes but in commercial applications. I'm trying to remember if I ever came across a bolt in panel that had a vertical KO up top that wasn't filled with a large frame breaker but was using one of the horizontal positions with a small frame 100 amp or less breaker as a main. It's been a while and I've no idea where my last NEC manual or even my Ugly's Electrical References is. (€¢€¿€¢)

[8~{} Uncle Ugly Monster