How To Look At A House
McGarry and Madsen's home inspection blog for buyers of
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When was it first required that neutrals and grounds be separated (not bonded) on any panel past the main service panel?
Sunday, June 17, 2018
“Is that some new code thing that wasn’t required when this old house was built?” Actually, the code standard for neutrals and grounds to be bonded only at the main service panel—and nowhere else—dates back to the 1923 edition of the National Electrical Code (NEC). So neutrals and grounds on the same bonded bus bar at a subpanel, or neutral and ground bus bars with a bonding connection between them at a subpanel, is definitely not “grandfathered in” as alright.
For the electrical safety reason behind the code requirement, see our blog post Why is it unsafe to bond neutral and ground wiring at subpanels?
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Here’s links to a collection of our other blog posts about ELECTRIC PANELS:
• What causes copper wires to turn green or black in an electric panel?
• What is the maximum number of circuit breakers allowed in an electric panel?
• When should a corroded or damaged electric panel cabinet or disconnect box be replaced?
• What is a tandem circuit breaker?
• When did arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) breakers first become required?
• Can an electric panel be located in a closet?
• Can an electric panel be located in a bathroom?
• Can you add circuit breakers by different manufacturers to an electric panel if they fit?
• My circuit breaker won't reset. What's wrong?
• What is a Dual Function Circuit Interrupter (DFCI)?
• What is the difference between "grounded" and "grounding" electrical conductors?
• What does it mean when a wire is "overstripped" at a circuit breaker?
• Why is an old fuse panel dangerous?
• Who is the manufacturer of those "bad" electric panels?
• Why is the circuit breaker stuck in the middle?
• What is a double tap at a circuit breaker?
• What is the right electric wire size for a circuit breaker in an electric panel?
• What do I need to know about buying a whole house surge protector?
Visit our ELECTRIC PANELS page for other related blog posts on this subject, or go to the INDEX for a complete listing of all our articles.
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