Electrical Panel Checks in an Arizona Home Inspection

Buying your first home in Greater Phoenix means reading an inspection report. Its electrical section runs from the electrical panel to the outlets on the outside walls. This post explains what Arizona's standards of practice for home inspectors require for the electrical system. It also covers what they leave out and why some items get flagged. It is one part of our guide to [what a home inspection covers in Arizona](/blog/what-a-home-inspection-covers-arizona).

The electrical part of a home inspection is a visual look at how power comes into the house and where it is controlled. It also checks whether a sample of the lights, switches and outlets is working. An electrical panel is a box that holds breakers or fuses, which protect the circuits wired to it.

What Arizona Standards Require in an Electrical Inspection

Arizona requires certified home inspectors to follow the standards of practice adopted by the Arizona Chapter of the American Society of Home Inspectors. The electrical section of those standards starts where power reaches the house and works inward. The inspector is required to observe the following.

• The service entrance conductors
• The service equipment, the grounding equipment, the main breaker or fuses, and the main and distribution panels
• The amperage and voltage ratings of the service
• The branch circuit wiring, the breakers or fuses that protect it, and whether the two are compatible
• The operation of a representative sample of the installed lights, switches and outlets inside the house, in the garage and on the exterior walls
• Whether GFCI and AFCI protection is present, and whether readily accessible GFCI devices work when operated
• Whether smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms are present

The standards set the size of that sample, which they call a representative number. For identical items such as outlets, it means one in each room. For identical items outside, it means one on each side of the house.

A GFCI, short for ground fault circuit interrupter, is a safety device. It shuts off power quickly when there is an imbalance in the circuit. An AFCI, short for arc fault circuit interrupter, is also a safety device. It shuts off power quickly when it senses arcing.

What the Report Describes About Your Electrical System

Along with looking for problems, the standards ask the inspector to describe a few basic facts. The report gives the service amperage and voltage and the metal used in the branch circuit wiring. It says whether the service arrives overhead or underground, and where the main disconnect, main panel and any subpanels are. This part of the report is reference information rather than a finding.

What the Inspection Leaves Out

The standards are just as specific about what an inspector does not have to do. They describe the inspection as visual and not technically exhaustive. They also say it will not identify concealed conditions or latent defects, meaning problems hidden from view. For the electrical system, the inspector is not required to do the following.

• Insert any tool, probe or testing device inside the panels
• Test or operate disconnects or breakers, including AFCI devices
• Take apart any electrical device beyond removing the covers of the main panel and subpanels
• Test smoke or carbon monoxide alarms
• Look at low-voltage systems, or at phone, security, cable TV, intercom, audio-video, home network and Wi-Fi systems
• Look at solar, wind, geothermal or other renewable energy systems

A few general exclusions apply too. Inspectors are not required to report on code compliance, product recalls or how long a component will last. They are not required to move stored items that block access, so a panel behind boxes in the garage may not be fully visible.

Our testing goes further than the standards require. We test everything we can get to, including AFCI breakers, GFCI outlets, and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. That includes using an outlet tester on every plug. We also remove the cover of every panel we can access, because many questions about a panel can be answered once the cover is off.

Why Panel and Wiring Items Get Flagged

Many electrical findings follow from the questions the standards ask, and the first is whether something is present. The inspector notes whether GFCI protection, AFCI protection, smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms are there. When one is not, the report says so. The report is not a code inspection, so it records what is there rather than ruling on what the code requires.

The second kind of finding comes from operating things. When a light, switch or outlet in the sample does not work, that goes in the report. The same is true when a readily accessible GFCI does not respond when operated.

The third kind comes from matching. Every branch circuit has wiring and a breaker or fuse protecting it. The standards ask whether their ampacity and voltage are compatible.

Ampacity is the current a wire can carry continuously without exceeding its temperature rating. The breaker or fuse protects against overcurrent, which includes current beyond the wire's ampacity. A breaker rated for more current than its wire can carry is one kind of mismatch this check can point to.

Visible problems with the service equipment, the grounding or the panels can be written up as well. All of those are on the list the inspector must observe.

How Findings Are Color-Coded

Your full report arrives within 24 hours, and every finding in it is color-coded by priority. Red marks a hazard, orange marks a repair recommendation, and blue marks something worth knowing. Electrical findings are sorted the same way as the rest of the house. A hazard in the panel does not arrive looking like a routine note.

A missing GFCI or AFCI is one finding where the color depends on the age of the home. Many homes in the Valley were built before these electrical requirements became standard. In a newer home, we mark a missing GFCI or AFCI red. In an older home, we mark it orange.

Read the red items first, then work through the orange ones and decide which you want to raise. What you do with that information is your decision to make with your agent. That might be a repair request, a price conversation, or nothing at all. Our guide to [reading a color-coded inspection report](/blog/what-a-home-inspection-covers-arizona/deficiency-vs-routine-how-to-read-your-report) walks through each color in more detail.

Next Steps After the Electrical Section of Your Report

The standards do not require an inspector to report on what caused the need for a major repair. They also do not require a report on how to correct it or what the correction will cost.

If you have one electrical question, such as a panel that looks unusual, a [single-item inspection](/services/single-item-re-inspection) looks at that one item on its own. If repairs are agreed and made, a re-inspection covers up to five individual items, or one full system.

For the whole house, see our [home inspection service](/services/home-inspection) and the [pricing page](/pricing), where rates are listed by square footage. You are welcome to walk the inspection with us and ask about the panel while we are there. Attending is not required.

Our job is to help you understand what you are buying. Your job is to decide if what you're buying is what you were hoping for.