More like a pond. LOL!
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An average day
- Thread starter ICE
- Start date
Service panel upgrade.
First inspection for a rewire and a service panel upgrade. There was no AFCI protection. Licensed electrical contractor.
At a subsequent inspection the AFCI has been installed. The service panel was okay at that point but there was no access to the dwelling to inspect what went on with the rewire.
It is now a month later and there is access to the inside. The AFCI protection has been removed.
The contractor stated that the refrigerator and garbage disposal were tripping the AFCI breaker so he replaced the AFCI breakers with standard breakers. I made myself clear as to what I think of him.
At a subsequent inspection the AFCI has been installed. The service panel was okay at that point but there was no access to the dwelling to inspect what went on with the rewire.
It is now a month later and there is access to the inside. The AFCI protection has been removed.
The contractor stated that the refrigerator and garbage disposal were tripping the AFCI breaker so he replaced the AFCI breakers with standard breakers. I made myself clear as to what I think of him.
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The median price of a home in this neighborhood is just under $2 million. A duly licensed contractor built this.
Was it engineered with stamped plans? I doubt it, but I've been surprised before.
Mr. Inspector
SAWHORSE
While I think AFCI's unlike GFCI's are snake oil, code is code & they need to be be there, also heard of removing the rebar after the inspection but before the pour, that one would be a bit harder to catch, unless they were caught in the act, as they should. That would be a expensive thing to fix.
Mr. Inspector
SAWHORSE
I only saw this when the arc-faults have been removed when another permit has been issued for the same house and I don't have any way to make them put the arc-faults back. No permit is required to replace breakers.
If I have approved a service panel upgrade that held AFCI breakers and then I encounter the same service panel upgrade with the AFCI breakers replaced with standard breakers....the fat lady is signing her heart out.
steveray
SAWHORSE
But I saw it on HGTV
This was in video that I received for smoke and CO alarms. On 6-24-21 
MtnArch
SAWHORSE
Fake tree I assume. If it were real there would be nothing but sticks with a pile of needles on the floor. Supposedly they are "fire resistant" or something like that, still not something I would want in my house for more than a few weeks.
Licensed contractor .... electric service panel upgrade. There is a new 200 amp semi-flush panel. That panel has a 60 amp breaker that is labeled "sub-panel". I asked the electrician about the sub-panel. He was clueless. He said that he didn't look at it because it was not a part of his scope of work. I hear that a lot. So I asked him to find it and show me. It is now part of his scope of work.
Unless that Zinsco panel has a isolated neutral, most if not all have a factory bonded neutral, there is no way to use it for anything other then service equipment, use as a subpanel is not code compliant, that Zinsco panel is probably 60 + years old too, back in the days when they had plated copper bus bars, so not quite as bad as the later ones with aluminum bus, still time to go.
The new scope of work will include a new sub-panel. There is no record of a permit for a service upgrade that took place when this panel became a sub-panel. So now the code for AFCI protection is in play. The contractor does mostly solar and the plan is to install 70 panels on a roof that already has 14 panels. This dwelling will be smothered in solar.
The solar work has not begun and I haven’t seen the plans. There are old building permits to add 800 square feet of bedrooms and bathrooms. Chances are that there is also an extra kitchen. They requested a virtual inspection. Suspicious enough for me to send an inspector to do an in person inspection.
The solar work has not begun and I haven’t seen the plans. There are old building permits to add 800 square feet of bedrooms and bathrooms. Chances are that there is also an extra kitchen. They requested a virtual inspection. Suspicious enough for me to send an inspector to do an in person inspection.
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The exception does not mention receptacles specifically. The next code cycle will give some relief to the six foot rule. Excluding conductor that is entirely within an enclosure, cabinet, or junction box makes sense but begs the question, why was a raceway between those not included?
2017 NEC
Exception: AFCI protection shall not be required where the extension of the existing conductors is not more than 1.8 m (6 ft) and does not include any additional outlets or devices.
2020 NEC
Exception: AFCI protection shall not be required where the extension of the existing branch circuit conductors is not more than 1.8 m (6 ft) and does not include any additional outlets or devices, other than splicing devices. This measurement shall not include the conductors inside an enclosure, cabinet, or junction box.
2017 NEC
Exception: AFCI protection shall not be required where the extension of the existing conductors is not more than 1.8 m (6 ft) and does not include any additional outlets or devices.
2020 NEC
Exception: AFCI protection shall not be required where the extension of the existing branch circuit conductors is not more than 1.8 m (6 ft) and does not include any additional outlets or devices, other than splicing devices. This measurement shall not include the conductors inside an enclosure, cabinet, or junction box.
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Owner builder permit. Missing the tunnel kit over the service nentrance conductors and added a ground bus where it can't be located. Obvious re-wire without AFCI protection.
