Rough Inspection for Subpanel

[Jonathan Wicks]

Hi,

I've got the question out to my electrical inspector but while I am waiting for his response I was wondering what other's have needed to do for the rough inspection when installing a subpanel.

I've got the subpanel mounted in the garage, the trench dug, the PVC conduit layed and glued, and the wire pulled between the sub and the main with about 2ft of excess wire on each side.

For those who have installed their own subpanels, was this the point you scheduled the rough inspection or did you make any of the breaker connections first?

Thanks,
Jon

[Chris Friesen]

Up to the inspector, but technically until it's inspected you're not supposed to make it live.

Are you also adding branch circuits (that will be inspected) on the subpanel? If so, you could add them before the inspection so that it can all be checked at once.

When I did my subpanel in the garage the inspector took a look around, mentioned that I was actually going overkill (I had pigtailed all my grounds rather than using the multiple ground screws per box) and waived the final inspection.

[Paul Kinneberg]

I agree with Chris and would add that when I did mine (MN) I had to pay an additional charge to come back and do the rough in for my circuits I had called him out when I was ready at the sub panel not a big deal and my inspector was great to work with but if you can save a step and $25 bucks why not.

[Ben Franz]

Most electrical inspectors want to see all wiring in place, boxes made up (pigtails,etc.) breakers in and connected; anything that might be covered by insulation or drywall. If you make their job easier, most inspectors are very cooperative.

[Jim dePrado]

When I put in my subpanel I had to have the wire pulled between the two panels, but not connected, all of my branch circuits made up in their respective boxes but not connected to the subpanel, two grounding rods driven at least 6 feet apart, and a grounding wire run from the subpanel to the groundign rods.

Hope this helps,

Jim

[Anthony Watson]

When I wired our house, our garage, and rewired my in-laws house, the process was the same. I obtained the electrical permit before starting work, then called for the inspection when I was finished with the job. Unlike the framing or plumbing inspections, there was no "rough" inspection for the electrical work.

The one area all the inspectors really paid close attention to was the grounding system. That generally means two copper ground rods driven 6' apart and connected to the electrical ground (may already be in place if you're adding a subpanel). And if you use metal boxes, they want a dedicated grounding pigtail, even though the devices themselves ground to the box. Grounds in the boxes should be tied together with a separate pigtail running to the switch or outlet (the ground shouldn't feed through the fixture).

If the subpanel is in a separate building, you'll need a ground wire running to the main panel, and the neutral bar has to be disconnected from the ground in the subpanel. You'll also need to add another ground rod at the new building.

If you have metal plumbing it will also need to be connected to the electrical ground. The telephone ground, and TV antennas should also be bonded to ground.

Other than the grounding situation, they typically check that holes for cables are set back from the face of the studs so screws won't penetrate them, and any that are closer are covered with metal cover plates.

And, of course, that you are using the proper size breaker for your cable.

There's lots of smaller things they check for, but these are the major points my inspections all had in common.

Anthony