illegal panel modification?

19 years ago

First off, I am not an electrician and I live in Canada.

I saw this electrical panel in a store and was wondering if it is not an allowable change to the electrical panel. If it isn't legal, under what part of the NEC (for Americans) or the CEC (for Canadians) does it violate?

The panel is installed in some sort of brick/stone wall. The panel is then painted to hide the fact that it is a panel.

I know that there are certain restrictions with respect to panel placement, clearances, etc. I was thinking that this was really, really dangerous. If some emergency happened, someone (like me) might not be able to find the panel and flip the breaker.

A picture is worth a thousand words. (you can laugh out loud now.)

Here it is:

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Comments (8)

bus_driver
19 years ago
Assuming that the cover is still removable for servicing, I see no violation of the NEC (USA). I admire the skill of the person who did the painting.
petey_racer
19 years ago
That is WAY cool. I am also impressed.
No violation there.
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cobraguy
19 years ago
Wow! I'm impressed! What a great way to blend a panel in with the room!
joed
19 years ago
So far as I know there is no violation in Canada. The panel even has the required label on it.
fubar411
19 years ago
Are you still able to access sides to add additional wiring with it imbedded in the brick wall?
joed
19 years ago
Are you still able to access sides to add additional wiring with it imbedded in the brick wall?

That is not a code requirement.
spielbass
19 years ago
"Are you still able to access sides to add additional wiring with it imbedded in the brick wall?"

There are millions of stucco homes out here in CA which have the panel embedded in the wall, my own included. Not a code violation as joed said but, yeah, it makes it impossible to add wiring to the sides. You have to plan ahead. When I had my service replaced we ran empty conduit down into the crawlspace for future expansion.
brickeyee
19 years ago
There is a special place in hell for folks who box in panels and then complain about the damage required to add new branch conductors.

If you understand what is required fine.