What to Expect From an Electrical Inspection When Buying a Home

A standard home inspection covers a lot of ground quickly — structure, roof, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical all in a few hours. The electrical component of a general inspection is necessarily superficial: an inspector flips switches, checks a few outlets, and looks at the panel. They're not licensed electricians, and they often note 'recommend further evaluation by a licensed electrician.'

A dedicated electrical inspection by a licensed electrician is a completely different level of scrutiny. For any home built before 1980 — and honestly, for any home where you're making a major financial commitment — it's worth the cost.

What a licensed electrician checks

The service panel

The panel gets opened and examined closely. We're looking at the brand (is it a known problem panel like Stab-Lok or Zinsco?), the service amperage (100A vs. 200A), the condition of wiring connections, signs of overheating or burning, whether breakers match the wire gauges they're protecting, and whether the work inside was done professionally.

Wiring type and condition

We check for aluminum branch circuit wiring, knob and tube wiring, double-tapped breakers (two wires on one breaker — not allowed in most cases), wire gauge mismatches, and any visible DIY work that doesn't meet code. Accessible attic and basement wiring gets examined where possible.

GFCI and AFCI protection

We test all GFCI outlets and verify they're present where required by code: bathrooms, kitchen countertops, garages, outdoors, and unfinished basements. AFCI (Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter) breakers, required by newer codes for bedroom circuits, are also checked.

Grounding

Proper system grounding is checked at the panel and verified at a sample of outlets throughout the home with a receptacle tester. Two-prong (ungrounded) outlets throughout a home indicate either aluminum wiring era construction or previous homeowner DIY work.

Exterior and special locations

Outdoor outlets, the electrical at any outbuildings (garages, sheds), and any pool or hot tub wiring are included. These areas have specific code requirements that non-specialists commonly miss.

What you get: a written report

A proper electrical inspection delivers a written report categorizing issues by severity: immediate safety concerns, code violations to address before closing, items to budget for in the near term, and items to note for future maintenance. This gives you concrete, dollar-valued information for negotiations.