Open the panel upgrade takeoff: materials, your prices, the permit and inspection checklist, an estimate your client signs.
For homeowners
The panel upgrade Sheet is for licensed pros
Here’s what the job involves, what to ask and how to hire a licensed electrician.
Why this is a pro job
New outlets, lights and circuits are licensed work: a licensed electrician, a permit and inspections. A wiring mistake hides in the wall until it overheats or shocks someone. Panel and service work also involves the utility. A few places let the owner of a single-family home wire the house they live in under a permit — ask your building department before you touch a wire.
Hire this out: licensed work with a permit.
How it goes
4 stages
1
Hire a licensed electrician
Compare quotes; check the license. The electrician pulls the permit.
2
Rough-in
Boxes and cable run with walls open, then inspected.
3
Close up
Drywall after the rough inspection passes.
4
Trim-out
Devices, fixtures, final inspection.
What you can do yourself
Once the pros are done, these parts are DIY. Each has a Sheet: the materials counted, the tools and the steps.
These are the general rules. Your state, province or town may add its own: check with your local building department before you start.
Licenses and registration
Hire an electrician licensed for your area — by the state, or in some places the city or county — who pulls the electrical permit from your local building department. A home improvement contractor’s registration doesn’t cover electrical work. Some places let the owner of a single-family home do their own wiring under a homeowner permit — ask your building department before you start. Rules change — your building department has the last word.
How to hire a licensed electrician
This is licensed work: only a licensed electrician should do it. Ask these questions and check the license before you sign.
Ask before you hire
•
Your license number? Look it up on your state’s (or city’s) licensing board website before you sign.
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Will you pull the permit in your name and be there for the inspections?
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Can I have the price and the scope in writing, with the license number on it?
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Do you patch the holes you cut, or is that on me?
Check the license
Look the license up with your state or local licensing board before you sign.
Permit and inspections
The electrician pulls the electrical permit from your local building department. Walls stay open until the rough-wiring inspection passes; the final inspection comes once the devices and fixtures are in. Keep the approval with your house papers — buyers and insurers ask for it.
Get quotes from local pros
Describe the job once. Up to 3 verified local pros see it with this page, and your contact goes only to the pros who answer.
Pros see the job and your town. Your name and contact go only to the pros who answer.
ZIP code of the job
Verified pros who cover it can answer.
When do you want it done?
What do you want done?
Rooms, sizes, what’s there now. Leave out your phone, email and street address.
Town
Pros see it with the ZIP. Town only, no street.
Your name (optional)
Only the pros who answer see it.
Phone or email
Only the pros who answer see it. It’s never posted.
Photos help. Send them to the pros who answer.
Pros see this page with it, so they know the job.
Free. Up to 3 verified pros can answer. It stays open 30 days; close it any time in My quote requests.
After the work
Painters can patch and paint the holes the work leaves. Never the licensed work itself.