Electrical panel in the kitchen (tenant, property, legal, inspector)

[kkmax]

I am looking into a property and during the inspection of the house some of the cons were highlighted. Please let me know what you think?

the house is a high ranch with mother-daughter setup and has 2 kitchens which is a plus for my situation as my parents will be living with me and will have their own area. but we found out that the kitchen on the lower level has the electrical panel in it and the owner does not have the certificate of occupancy for downstairs. The kitchen was added recently according to the seller's agent. The electrical panel is about 4 feet away from the stove and about 5 feet away from the sink. it is between 2 cabinets but not covered in any way.

Otherwise the house is in immaculate condition and fits our needs perfectly.

Is it a big issue to not have CO and to have electrical panel in the kitchen?

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by kkmax

I am looking into a property and during the inspection of the house some of the cons were highlighted. Please let me know what you think?

the house is a high ranch with mother-daughter setup and has 2 kitchens which is a plus for my situation as my parents will be living with me and will have their own area. but we found out that the kitchen on the lower level has the electrical panel in it and the owner does not have the certificate of occupancy for downstairs. The kitchen was added recently according to the seller's agent. The electrical panel is about 4 feet away from the stove and about 5 feet away from the sink. it is between 2 cabinets but not covered in any way.

Otherwise the house is in immaculate condition and fits our needs perfectly.

Is it a big issue to not have CO and to have electrical panel in the kitchen?

It could be a very big deal. The first step is to find out if the renovation was done with valid permits. That may or may not be related to the CO.

Without permits, you may be unable to get homeowners insurance, not to mention you would have trouble selling the house yourself in the future. If you buy it with unpermitted renovations, the city could hold you liable and force you to remove or "bring up to code" any work that was not done to the current building codes. It just depends on the municipality and their requirements.

Check to see that the work was done legally before you do ANYthing else (including before you fall in love with it more).

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

I can't believe the panel is to code. Insist on seeing the permits or check with the city yourself. More expensive way is to get a licensed electrician to inspect it and give an estimate on fixing it.

[aridon]

Electric panel is fine in the kitchen. There is no code requirement against it.

The lack of permits from adding the kitchen is an issue. This isn't something small like throwing up a few high hat lights where and inspector can easily verify some grounds and switches. Kitchens require a good amount of electrical work and plumbing which can lead to issues with having to resize drains to the sewer or septic among other things.

Sometimes they add these in basement to throw a tenant in there without going through the process. Either way, check it out carefully