Electrical problems found during home inspection

18 electrical findings from a home inspection report, what a primary source says about each, and what each costs to fix. Start with the hazard rows.

UpdatedOctober 30, 2026 · By Ben Sikes

What electrical issues show up on a home inspection, and which are serious?

This list covers 18 electrical issues a home inspection can turn up, with what a primary source says about each and what each costs to fix. Before your inspection deadline, get a licensed electrician's written bid on every electrical line, hazard rows first. Most of those sources are the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI). The widest dollar ranges are rewiring and panel replacement.

Key takeaways

Three rows with no hazard quote can still be big jobs: 60-amp service, panel location and missing arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) breakers run $1,000 to $4,000 for a whole-house AFCI job, and one Winston-Salem, NC electrician quotes $4,000 to $8,000 for a 60-amp service upgrade.
Reversed polarity and subpanel bonding are priced as an electrician's visit, $176 to $327, not as a repair.
The top figure in every five-figure row comes from one local electrician, so your own bid decides where you land.

Finding	What the source says	Cost to fix	Guide
60-amp service or fuse box	InterNACHI: with modern appliances, "60-ampere installations may be inadequate"	$4,000 to $8,000, plus $10,000 to $30,000 if the upgrade triggers knob-and-tube rewiring (Caudill's Commercial Electric, local, Winston-Salem, NC)	Guide
Aluminum wiring	CPSC: homes built before 1972 and wired with aluminum are "55 times more likely to have one or more wire connections at outlets reach 'Fire Hazard Conditions'" than homes wired with copper	$395 per circuit to $25,000+ for a whole-house copper rewire (Homewyse; Black Rhino Electric, local, Northern Utah)	Guide
Bulldog Pushmatic panel	InterNACHI: "The recommendation for these panels is to replace the electrical panelboard"	$1,300 to $6,800 (This Old House; Denommee Plumbing, HVAC & Electric, local, Massachusetts and New Hampshire)	Guide
Challenger panel	CPSC recall of Challenger ground-fault breakers: "a mechanical part may become detached and prevent the ground fault feature of the circuit breaker from functioning"	$1,300 to $4,500 (This Old House; Epic Electrical, local, Dallas-Fort Worth)	Guide
Cloth wiring	CPSC: "When electrical components age or are overloaded, the system can overheat and wear out insulation"	$3,000 for a 1,000-square-foot home to $30,000 for a full rewire (Bob Vila; Prairie Electric, local, Portland-Vancouver)	Guide
Corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST) gas line bonding	Maryland Public Service Commission: "If lightning strikes on or near a structure, there is risk that it can travel through the structure's gas piping system and cause a leak and, in some cases, a fire"	$100 to $500 (Dawson's Electric, local, Raleigh, NC; On Time Professionals, local, Central Iowa)	Guide
Double-tapped breaker	InterNACHI Inspection Narrative Library: "Poor connections are prone to overheating, a potential fire hazard"	$100 for a new breaker to $2,000+ if it needs a subpanel (Trinity Inspections, a home inspection company)	Guide
Panel location and clearance	InterNACHI: panelboards "must not be located in bathrooms, toilet rooms, clothes closets, or over the steps of a stairway"	$1,000 to $4,000 added to a panel upgrade to relocate the panel (Fixr)	Guide
Federal Pacific panel	CPSC testing "confirmed that these breakers fail certain UL calibration test requirements"; CPSC closed the matter "without making a determination as to the safety of FPE circuit breakers"	$1,300 for a 200-amp swap to $10,000 for a complete replacement (This Old House; The Electricians, local, Colorado)	Guide
Knob-and-tube wiring	InterNACHI: "likely to be a safety hazard due to improper modifications and the addition of building insulation"	$2,000 for the remaining runs to $32,000 for a full rewire (Block Renovation; Integra Electrical, local, Des Moines, Iowa)	Guide
No arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) breakers	InterNACHI: where AFCIs are required depends "on the building codes adopted by their jurisdiction"	$110 to $215 per circuit, $1,000 to $4,000 for 10 to 20 circuits (InstaElectricians, a nationwide electrician service)	Guide
No main disconnect	InterNACHI: the main service disconnect "is the master switch for the panelboard. It shuts off the power to everything downstream"	$800 to $4,000 for a panel upgrade (This Old House)	Guide
Overfused breaker	InterNACHI electrical inspection course: with a 30-amp breaker on wire rated for 15 amps, "we are likely to see the conductor overheating and potentially starting a fire"	$319 to $382 per breaker (Homewyse)	Guide
Reversed polarity, ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI), junction box	InspectApedia: "Reversed polarity on an electrical outlet is dangerous"	$176 to $327 for an electrician's visit (Fixr)	Guide
Rust in electrical panel	InterNACHI: rust "can disrupt power flow, cause heat buildup and lead to a fire, or cause electrocution"	$1,300 to $4,500 for a new 200-amp panel (This Old House; Toth Electric, local, Northern New Jersey)	Guide
Subpanel bonding	IAEI Magazine: a second bond downstream "will create parallel ground fault return paths that may not push the overcurrent device to react in a timely fashion"	$176 to $327 for an electrician's visit (Fixr)	Guide
Ungrounded outlets	InterNACHI: two-slot receptacles "are outdated and potentially dangerous"	$130 per GFCI outlet to $25,000+ for a full rewire (Bob Vila; Epic Electrical, local, Dallas-Fort Worth)	Guide
Zinsco panel	Great American Insurance Group: "Due to the inherent design flaw, all Zinsco breakers/panels should be replaced with current, UL listed equipment"	$800 to $4,000 for a panel upgrade, up to $18,000 for a full replacement (This Old House; Point Loma Home Pros, local, San Diego)	Guide

Kept prices every line of an inspection report for $79, usually under 4 hours, and marks the ones that need an electrician's bid.

Which electrical findings should you deal with first?

Start with the rows whose source describes a hazard or says to replace: aluminum, cloth and knob-and-tube wiring, a double-tapped or overfused breaker, rust, reversed polarity, ungrounded outlets, subpanel bonding, CSST bonding, and Bulldog Pushmatic, Challenger or Zinsco panels. You don't need a separate appointment for each. Send one licensed electrician your report and ask them to price every flagged row, then every other electrical line, before your deadline.

Federal Pacific is the row to read twice. CPSC found the breakers fail certain calibration tests but made no call on their safety, so let the electrician judge your panel. Put a missing main disconnect on the same visit. Also have 60-amp service, panel location and missing AFCI breakers priced even though their sources don't call them hazards, because each can cost $1,000 or more.

If you smell gas at any point, leave the house, call the gas utility or 911, then a licensed professional.

How much does it cost to fix electrical problems from an inspection?

Breaker, outlet and bonding rows start at a few hundred dollars or less. The same finding turns into a bigger job when the fix is a new panel or new wiring.

Scope moves panel prices most. Take a Federal Pacific panel. This Old House puts most 200-amp upgrades at $1,300 to $3,000. A Colorado electrician lists $6,000 to $10,000 for a complete replacement, with permits and inspection included. Ask your electrician which job your panel needs, in writing.

How to use this list before your deadline

Match each electrical line on your report to a row above.
Get the electrician's bid in writing, line by line.
Ask for a repair, a credit or a price cut backed by those numbers.
If the seller says no, your contract sets your options and dates. Confirm both with your agent or attorney.

What do home inspectors look for in electrical?

Under InterNACHI's Standards of Practice, the inspector checks the service coming in, the main disconnect, the panels and breakers, grounding and bonding, and a sample of switches, lights and outlets. The same standard does not require the inspector to remove the panel cover. If your report doesn't say the cover came off, ask your electrician to open it.

What will fail an electrical inspection?

A home inspector reports conditions and is not required to judge code compliance; the codes your jurisdiction adopted decide what a municipal electrical inspection fails. Code rules vary by place, as the arc-fault row shows. Ask your electrician which rows your jurisdiction requires fixed.

How do I know what my electrical list is worth?

Add the electrician's line-by-line bid to priced lines for everything else on the report. That total is your ask, and each line shows the seller where it came from.

Before your window closes, upload your inspection report to Kept and send the seller a priced list instead of a guess.

Sources

Cost figures are modeled from public wage and materials data unless a line says observed. Kept is accountable for the numbers on this page, and corrections go to support@usekept.com. How we price.