federal breakers

[puckman]

i have a customer whos insurance co wants a letter from a ec to check the cb and make sure there are no lose connectons to the breakers or any heated spots to cb. by doing this does anyone think there is any liablity directed to me. ? iwould only do an inspection and maintence to breakers.
they are the fpe stap lok type. i was thinking about changing them to the replacement ones they have. any opinions. thanks

 

[bphgravity]

Perform the inspection and maintenance, and then provide a disclaimer on your report indicating your concern with the product and perhaps provide an estimate for replacement.

 

[JohnE]

Bryan's right on with his advice.

 

[Minuteman]

If you find no noticeable damage, in your letter write something to the effect:

"At the time of my inspection, I detected no lose connections to the breakers or any hot spots. However, due to the history of this type of equipment, I recommend a panel upgrade." And include a estimate.

Also included a print out of this report about FPE breakers.

 

[charlie tuna]

without the technology of infrared scanning your comments about hot spots would not fly in court. and what insurance companies know about a particular brand of equipment is a joke!!! the major cause of "hot spots" in electrical systems are the installers, not equipment manufacturers. i have been in the thermography business since 1989 and have personally seen many fpe installations with very little problems and then do a square d job with all types of problems.... one particular major fire job had three fire investigators on the job for almost two weeks --- they never asked us anything....? so we never offered them any information. actually they never found the actual cause -- and it was a mistake by square d in the manufacturing of the main switchboard. then after two years they sent me a letter telling me they were going to sue me for "not informing the building owner that he had moisture in his bus duct". we performed infrared scans on this building. bus duct has zero tolerance to moisture -- you have moisture -- you have an explosion!!! now the building's chief engineer explained that they had a roof leak in the elevator machine room for over four years and this was confirmed by the elevator maintainance man!!!

 

[GUNNING]

The insurance company wants to write a policy and the owner wants a policy. Why not just make the look see, and see if there is evidence of any damage and write the letter. As for the 2 cents worth of this panel is not as nice or sturdy as others I have seen, no way. Give the owner an estimate for a new panel maybe some smoke detectors or arc faults or upgrading to new and improved GFCI's! The Insurance Company underwriters wouldn't know what to do with a qualified maybe on the inspection and the homeowner would be shopping for a new electrician before your truck left the drive.

 

[speedystevie]

We get a couple jubs a year changing out FPE panels because an insurance company demands it. I see allot more FPE breakers fail then any other brand out there. I wouldnt want them in my home.

 

[hillbilly]

There's a particular sub-division in my area, built in the middle to late 60's, that has FPE Panels in most of the (10-12) homes. To make matters worse, they also have aluminum wiring!
I try to stay out of there.
steve