# Removing panel covers for inspections



## jar546 (Oct 25, 2012)

What do you as inspectors do for gaining access to panels for inspections?

What do you do as electrical contractors to provide access to panels for inspections?

Examples are from disconnects, small panelboards to I-Line panels and MDP's.

We have a rule that the electrician must be present for the inspection but many times they are not there.  The GC is there or owner, etc and we don't have access without removing the covers ourselves which is a liability issue along with a workers compensation rate issue.


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## Darren Emery (Oct 25, 2012)

If it is a home under construction, and I can verify that there is no power from the transformer (no conductors in meter can) I will pull covers.  Existing home, or connected system, I don't touch it.   I ALWAYS treat the panel as hot, even when I know it's not.


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## Pcinspector1 (Oct 25, 2012)

Ditto what Darren does on residential. Commercial; I like to have the electrician go other his handy work and explain what he's done, things like no tape, disconnects not marked, ground rod issues, wires and sharp edges etc. Some times you run into POCO's requirements not being meet when you have more than one servicing an area. Last month had a 12-unit apartment issue, the GC was ran but not connected to the lug. I think they were testing me!

pc1


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## gfretwell (Oct 25, 2012)

When I was working I really wanted the electrician there during an inspection and they usually were because everything went smoother that way. I was not afraid to remove a cover if they weren't. I would drop the service disconnect before I went into anything tho.

Not being there generally meant that you were getting a very through inspection since I was stalling around waiting for you. My workload was low and I got paid by the hour


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## ICE (Oct 25, 2012)

Our policy is to not remove dead-fronts.

I can't imagine a policy of allowing inspectors to open equipment, hot or not.

Do you suppose that they are called dead-fronts because if you remove the front you might end up dead?

With residential, one in a hundred times there is an electrician present to remove dead-fronts so I do it myself.

I always treat the panel as hot because it always is.

I never throw the main breaker because I don't know what's plugged in.

I test everything except doorknobs with a voltage tester.

Never been bit...opening equipment

I did have fire erupt from a J-box because there was a wire wrapped around the screw.

Then there was the time that an HVAC disconnect blew up.  I really should have killed the power to that one because it was on a pitched roof.  But then I might not have found the impending short.  The whole idea is to find what's out there waiting to kill without getting killed. 

Average stuff.

Commercial doesn't get an inspection without the electrician being there and I don't mean just anybody that can remove covers.  I need someone that understands this thing called electricity to be there to explain what's going on, or off as the case may be.  There's a bunch of commercial electrical equipment that I've never seen.  The electrical trade is far too complicated for me to think that I am proficient as an electrical inspector.  Just reading the plans can be a pain.  So ya, I need a journeyman.

I was training an inspector for a few months and then it dawned on me, "Wait a minute, I can't let her open equipment".

Had she been a he, I wouldn't have a problem with it.  Funny how that works huh.  It's OK if a guy gets knocked on his A** but if it happened to a girl I would feel terrible.

Come to think of it, a guy like me aught to be checking doorknobs.


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## rnapier (Oct 26, 2012)

240 volt or less I will open the panel. Over that there must be someone on site to do it.


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## pwood (Oct 26, 2012)

rnapier said:
			
		

> 240 volt or less I will open the panel. Over that there must be someone on site to do it.


what he said.


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## Alias (Oct 26, 2012)

rnapier said:
			
		

> 240 volt or less I will open the panel. Over that there must be someone on site to do it.


Ditto here.  The electricians I deal with are present for all inspections.  They insist on being present to explain their work.

Sue


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## codeworks (Oct 26, 2012)

on residential stuff, i'll open panels if they're hot, and the site electrician isnt there.  i prefer to have the electrician there, but if he's not, it's not "pc" to "hold people up" around here (pukeing noises). i find lots of interesting stuff, and usually get to educatesomeone. i dont mind. big switch gear should be shut down before opened period.


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