Location of panelboard

[RobertSmith]

I did an inspection on Friday. The panelboard was located 2 feet off the floor. I called a fellow inspector and he said there was not any minimum requirement but for some reason I'm thinking there should be a minimum of 36 inches from the floor or ground? I couldn't find the reference in IRC (we are on the 2006 version in austin, finally!). Am I wrong?

Rob

[Jerry Peck]

The only minimum height is that of "safety" ... if it looks to low for the electrician to "safely" work on it, then it probably is and there is probably the risk of the electrician being injured (shocked), in which case you need no code ... just write it up referencing "safety" and if someone comes back and says 'there is no code stating that height is too low', you respond with 'and, as you probably noticed, *I* did not say it was against code, *I* said it was a potential "safety" concern ... personally, I would not want an electrical contractor, or any contractor for that matter, to be killed at my house because something "met code" but was still potentially "unsafe" '.

Sometimes, you've got to be ready to poke them in the eye to wake them up. :)

[David Banks]

To Jerry's point I found one in a crawl basement 2 feet off the ground and there was signs of water. Looked scary to me.

[Richard Stanley]

I have called several in the past because they were readily accessible to children. Usually happened when they wer installed on the exterior and somebody added a deck under them.