In 1995 an electrician who was also a friend of the family helped me out by installing a sub panel in my garage. He tapped the feeder cable directly into the main lugs in the main box and ran them to a shut off switch in the crawl space then out to the panel in the garage. He provided all the hardware and cabling as leftovers from other jobs he'd done (he worked for a major commercial electrical company in the area at the time), so I sure wasn't complaining about anything he provided or any of the work he did.

Knowing what I know now, though, I'm pretty sure this installation doesn't meet current code, and I'm not sure it met code back then, either. Since we're planning a small, 2-bathroom addition for next summer, I'm trying to get myself prepared for the amount of electrical work that will need to be done.

### Did this installation meet code in 1995 and does it still meet code today?

The main panel:
[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/W3fYz.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/W3fYz.jpg)

This panel is completely full:
[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DFMnd.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DFMnd.jpg)
We have a gas fired furnace, so 120v/20a to run the blower & electronics.

The main panel hots tap to the sub-panel:
[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/WO2jq.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/WO2jq.jpg)
The two smaller wires in front are the taps to the sub-panel. The power was still on to the house - I stood well back with a 2x4 in hand, just in case.

The main panel ground and neutral taps to the sub-panel:
[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/cerJb.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/cerJb.jpg)
I'm sure someone will yell about the grounds and neutrals all intermingled. This is how I found the box the first time I opened it, and this is how he tapped them in when he added them.

The cable:
[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/XNfx8.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/XNfx8.jpg)

The cutoff switch *in the crawlspace* directly below the main panel and nowhere near the access to the crawlspace:
[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fX2Mn.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fX2Mn.jpg)
Yes, that says "Lime Agitator". Did I mention he provided everything for free as leftovers from other jobs?
**The location of this cutoff switch is the main thing that I'm questioning the legality of.**

The switch sticker:
[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hdXNp.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hdXNp.jpg)

The inside of the cutoff switch:
[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/faPJJ.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/faPJJ.jpg)

The label on a fuse:
[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/EKzpo.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/EKzpo.jpg)
*Another one the camera wouldn't focus on.* I turned the camera upside down to get around the side for the sticker, you're not going crazy. Is this a 30amp fuse (FRS-R-30)?

The panel in the garage:
[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tJhBf.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tJhBf.jpg)
This panel is now also full.

I know that when we do the addition, we'll have to replace the garage sub-panel with something much larger (I know, *minimum* 30 spaces, probably 40) than this little QO box.