I did an inspection today of a new home for a very nice lady. She is very knowledgable about a great many things. I noted that the main electrical panel outside the home had no main electrical circuit breaker. I made a note of it on her report saying that there was no main electrical shut-off for the main panel, but there was one for the auxillary panel. 200 amps worth. Unfortunately, if you flipped that one off, the main panel is still live. Isn't there a code stating that there has to be a main electrical shut-off? I looked through my code book and every other book I could find but nothing that comes out and says there has to be one. Help?
John
#1, you should never attempt to shut down an electrical system.
#2, if you did (as you say) shut down the 200 amp auxilary panel and the power remains on, and there’s no other main breaker for shutting down the entire home…You have a safety issue.
For SFH, the term would be “readily accessible,” meaning - accessible to the occupants for service and/or emergency operation. This would also include all applicable clearance requirements.
230.70(A)(1) Readily Accessible Location. The service disconnecting means shall be installed at a readily accessible location either outside of a building or structure or inside nearest the point of entrance of the service conductors.
230.72(C) Access to Occupants. In a multiple-occupancy building, each occupant shall have access to the occupant’s service disconnecting means.
Exception: In a multiple-occupancy building where electric service and electrical maintenance are provided by the building management and where these are under continuous building management supervision, the service disconnecting means supplying more than one occupancy shall be permitted to be accessible to authorized management personnel only.
