How Unsafe, Failing Electrical Panels Could Zap Your HOA’s Insurance Coverage!
Jamie Hackwith, CMCA, AMS, PCAM, Agent-Broker, Prendiville Insurance Agency, and Don Holly, President, Fullerton Electric Co.
It’s time for associations to talk about something that might not be the most glamorous topic but is super important— outdated electrical panels. Although it sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry, hang in there because there’s a good reason why this is worth your attention. For clarity, some people may refer to an electrical load center as an electrical panel, a fuse box, or a breaker box. For this article, they are all the same item. Certain brands require urgent replacement to prevent fires and loss of association insurance because of increasing risk of fires.
Insurance agencies and electricians absolutely understand the juggling act community associations face in condominiums and attached buildings with unsafe electrical panels. But here’s the kicker—what used to be just recommendations from a Loss Control Survey are now more like directives. Ignore them, and you might be risking your current association insurance coverage even if the electrical panels are a unit owner’s responsibility. The stakes for a catastrophic loss have gone up, and that’s why it’s more important than ever to focus on these issues.
The Peril of Unsafe Electrical Panels These panels aren’t
What’s the issue with these Electrical Panels? Here’s why these specific panels are causing such a stir:
• Zinsco Electrical Panels were popular from the 1950s through the 1970s. Some panels (built after 1973) will be branded as “GTE-Sylvania” yet still contain the same problematic components. They are notorious for not tripping – allowing electricity to continue to flow when it should NOT during an overcurrent, short circuit, or power surge due to aluminum alloy bus bars and loose breaker connections. The effects of this over-heating at the connection point would cause several issues ranging from either circuit breaker nuisance tripping during low power consumption or not tripping during an over-current event leading to circuit breaker failureand burned-up wire connections to full panel meltdowns and fires depending on the severity of the issue. Zinsco production ceased in the 1980s when the company was rebranded to Challenger.
just old relics sitting quietly in your
community’s buildings; they’re ticking time bombs. Panels like Zinsco, Federal Pacific, Sylvania, Challenger, and sometimes Murray have been flagged as major fire and electrocution hazards. If your community has any of these, it’s no longer just a suggestion to replace them – it’s now becoming an insurance coverage requirement. Ignore this, and you could face a non-renewal notice or cancellation of your insurance policy.
• Federal Pacific / Stab-Lok Breaker Panels: Similar to Zinsco, these panels have a high failure rate. Federal Pacific electrical panels were popular from the 1950s through the 1980s. They were installed in millions of homes and businesses throughout
the United States.
Commonly, Federal Pacific panels will be branded “Stab- Lok.” This refers to the connection method of the breakers to their respective panel bus plug-in point. The breaker would be equipped with tabs that would slot into a keyed hole in the panel’s main bus. The main issue with these breakers
is they are notorious for not tripping Continued on next page
www.caioc.org 23
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
