For buyers and sellers
What buyers and sellers should know about the electrical panel in Jacksonville and Eastern North Carolina.
The panel is where the power comes into the house and splits to the circuits. On a home inspection in Jacksonville and Eastern North Carolina, the panel is opened, photographed, and scanned with a thermal camera.
What shows up, and why it matters
A panel finding is a fact with a photo. An electrician does the repair. The inspection does not promise that every wire inside the walls is sound.
Heat
A breaker or a connection that runs hot is a fire risk. Thermal imaging of the panel is included on every full inspection and is used to find overheating that a photo of a closed door cannot show.
Corrosion and moisture
Rust inside the panel, moisture stains, or a panel in a damp garage or mounted on the exterior means the metal and the connections have already been wet. That is not normal aging.
The wiring on the breakers
Two wires under one screw, when that is not allowed, are written down. So are a breaker larger than the wire it feeds and insulation that is nicked or scorched. Those are the defects buyers negotiate.
The panel itself
Missing covers, open knockouts, and panels with a known defect history get named in the report. Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco are the two names that come up most often. A name alone is not a rewrite of the house. It is a reason to have an electrician price it before you close.
What is outside the panel
The service entrance is part of the same visit. Every accessible outlet and switch is tested, and so are the lights. Aluminum branch wiring is noted when it is visible. Wiring hidden inside the walls is not opened.
A finding is not a reason to panic
Most panel notes are a repair or a replacement you can price before closing. A scorched breaker, a buzzing panel, or a thermal image that shows a hot connection is the one you do not shrug off. That is a shock and fire issue, and it belongs with an electrician before you move in.
A Hubert sample report shows a panel problem in the garage that was not obvious on a walk-through. The same thermal imaging is included on every full inspection, along with the rest of the buyer checklist.
No-obligation pricing
Have the panel checked before you close.
Takes less than a minute.