Quick Summary
An electrical inspector is checking that what was installed matches what was permitted and what the code in force requires, and the checks fall into a predictable order: the service and panel, the grounding and bonding, the conductors and their protection, the devices and their required GFCI or AFCI protection, and whether everything is accessible and properly identified. In New Orleans the permit paperwork itself sets the expectation, and the City’s own forms warn that changes from what was submitted will prevent issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy or Certificate of Completion. Big Easy Electricians prepares for and corrects inspection findings across Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Tammany parishes. Estimates are free.
Last Updated: August 2026
On This Page
- What Does an Electrical Inspector Actually Look For?
- Is a Permit Inspection the Same as a Home Sale Inspection?
- What Fails Most Often in Older Homes Here?
- What Does the Inspector Check at the Panel?
- Do GFCI and AFCI Devices Get Tested?
- What Happens If the Work Was Never Permitted?
- What Should You Do Before an Inspection?
- What Happens After a Failed Inspection?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Most inspection anxiety comes from not knowing what is being looked at. The list is shorter and more predictable than people expect, and almost all of it can be checked in advance, which is the single best reason to walk it with an electrician working across the metro before the appointment rather than after.
What Does an Electrical Inspector Actually Look For?
Compliance with the code edition in force and consistency with what the permit described. In practice that resolves into a handful of areas: the service and panel, grounding and bonding, conductor sizing and overcurrent protection, required GFCI and AFCI protection, and whether the work is accessible and correctly identified.
The order matters because the early items gate the later ones. A service or grounding problem is not something that gets waved through so the rest can be looked at, and it is usually the item that turns a short visit into a return visit.
Workmanship is genuinely part of it, because the code requires electrical equipment to be installed in a neat and workmanlike manner, so untidy work is not merely cosmetic. What an inspector is not doing is opining on the appliances or on anything outside the electrical scope.
Is a Permit Inspection the Same as a Home Sale Inspection?
No, and confusing the two produces most of the misunderstandings in this area. A permit inspection checks specific permitted work against the code, is carried out by the authority having jurisdiction, and ends in an approval or a correction notice. Its subject is the permitted work rather than the whole property.
A home inspection during a sale is a general condition report by a private inspector, covers the whole property, and carries no code authority. It routinely notes electrical items that are perfectly legal because they were compliant when installed, which is why buyers arrive with lists that read alarmingly and often are not. An inspector of either kind can still raise anything visible and unsafe.
| Item | Permit inspection | Home sale inspection |
|---|---|---|
| Who carries it out | The authority having jurisdiction | A private inspector engaged by a buyer or seller |
| What it covers | The specific permitted work | The condition of the whole property |
| Code authority | Yes | No |
| Outcome | Approval or a correction notice | A condition report |
| Does it oblige you | Corrections must be made for the permit to close | A negotiating point between the parties |
The practical difference for a homeowner is what each one obliges them to do. A correction notice on permitted work has to be resolved for the permit to close. A home inspection finding is a negotiating point, and telling the two apart is the first useful step. Where a genuine defect is found either way, it belongs with repair work on existing circuits.
What Fails Most Often in Older Homes Here?
Accessibility and identification problems lead the list, and they are also the cheapest to avoid. A junction box buried behind finished surfaces, splices made outside any enclosure, and a panel directory that no longer describes the house are all common findings and none of them requires new materials to fix.
The recurring items across this housing stock:
- Junction boxes covered over during a past remodel, which are not permitted to be inaccessible
- Splices outside a box, usually in an attic or behind a cabinet
- Missing or incorrect equipment grounding, particularly where two-wire circuits were extended
- Missing GFCI or AFCI protection on work being altered or added, where the current rules now reach
- Openings in a panel or box left unfilled after a device was removed
- A panel directory that reflects the building as it was decades ago
The pattern behind almost all of them is the same: work added incrementally over decades without anyone revisiting the whole. That is also why an inspection so often turns up things nobody knew existed, and why the conditions that lead to trouble are worth understanding in advance through how electrical fires start in homes and businesses.
What Does the Inspector Check at the Panel?
The panel gets more attention than anything else, because a problem there affects every circuit downstream. The checks cover the service conductors and their protection, the grounding electrode system and its connections, the bonding arrangement, and how the breakers and conductors are terminated.
Specific items that come up repeatedly: whether more than one conductor is landed under a terminal designed for one, whether neutrals and grounds are correctly separated or bonded depending on whether the enclosure is service equipment or a subpanel, whether breakers are the type listed for that panel, and whether the working clearance in front of the panel is genuinely clear.
The clearance item catches people out more than any technical detail, because storage accumulates in front of panels in garages and utility rooms without anyone thinking of it as an electrical matter. Where the panel itself is the problem rather than what is in front of it, the answer is the right breaker box for the house rather than another correction.
Do GFCI and AFCI Devices Get Tested?
Yes, and testing them is one of the fastest ways an inspection goes wrong. Devices are operated to confirm they trip and reset, and the check also covers whether protection exists everywhere the current rules require it rather than only where a device happens to be fitted.
These requirements have expanded steadily across code editions, which is why a house that passed comfortably years ago can have gaps now. Kitchens, bathrooms, laundry areas, garages, outdoors and basements have all seen their requirements broadened, and specific appliances have picked up their own.
Existing installations are generally judged against the code in force when they were done, so the gaps matter most where work is being altered or added. Anyone testing devices themselves should note that one which trips and will not reset is usually reporting a real condition on the circuit, though the device itself can also be at fault, so either way it needs looking at rather than ignoring. The same logic runs through preventing everyday electrical hazards.
What Happens If the Work Was Never Permitted?
It surfaces, usually at the worst moment. Unpermitted electrical work tends to come to light during a sale, during an insurance review after a storm claim, or when a later permit application forces someone to look at the whole installation rather than the new part of it.
The resolution is not automatically demolition. Depending on what was done, the route can be an application to permit the existing work with an inspection of what is accessible, opening up specific areas so the concealed work can be examined, or replacing the section outright where it cannot be verified.
What makes it expensive is concealment rather than the work itself. Wiring behind finished walls that nobody can inspect leaves few options, which is exactly why the permit sequence exists in the order it does. The City’s own residential forms make the consequence explicit, warning that changes from what was submitted will prevent issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy or Certificate of Completion.
What Should You Do Before an Inspection?
Walk the list yourself, or have it walked. Much of what an inspector checks at a final is visible in advance, and several of the items that come up most often cost nothing to put right beforehand. Concealed routing and rough-in work are the exception, which is why those get their own inspection earlier.
A realistic pre-inspection sequence:
- Confirm the permit paperwork matches what was actually installed
- Make sure every junction box is accessible and none has been covered
- Fill unused openings in panels and boxes and fit missing covers
- Test every GFCI and AFCI device and note any that will not reset
- Correct the panel directory so it describes the house as it is now
- Clear the working space in front of the panel completely
The directory is the item worth doing properly rather than quickly. It is checked, it is easy to get right while the circuits are being tested anyway, and it saves time on every future visit to the house by anyone. The wider preparation for any project sits in what to settle before electrical work starts.
What Happens After a Failed Inspection?
A correction notice listing the specific items, then the corrections, then a reinspection. It is a normal part of the process rather than a verdict on the work, and a first inspection that returns a short list of minor items is an ordinary outcome on an older property.
What matters is the shape of the list. Several small identification and accessibility items are quick and cheap. A finding about the service, the grounding electrode system, or the condition of the branch wiring is a different category, and it can mean the scope was always larger than the project assumed.
Where the finding is that the branch wiring itself cannot be verified or is no longer serviceable, the conversation moves to replacing the wiring rather than repairing it. Where it is a list of discrete items, a documented inspection of the whole installation first is usually cheaper than correcting them one call at a time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does an electrical inspection take?
A focused inspection of specific permitted work is usually short, while a whole-property assessment on an older house takes considerably longer because the wiring has to be traced rather than simply viewed.
Does old wiring automatically fail an inspection?
No. Existing installations are generally judged against the code in force when they were done, so age alone is not a defect, though condition, damage and missing grounding certainly are.
Can I be present during the inspection?
Homeowners are commonly present, and having the electrician who did the work there as well is worth arranging, because most questions are resolved faster in person than through a correction notice.
What is the difference between rough-in and final inspection?
A rough-in inspection happens while the wiring is still open and visible, and a final happens once devices and covers are fitted, which is why closing walls before the first one causes real problems.
Will an inspector check work I did not have permitted?
An inspector looking at a property can raise anything visible, and later permit applications frequently draw attention to earlier work, so unpermitted alterations rarely stay invisible indefinitely.
Does a home inspector have code authority?
No. A private home inspector produces a condition report for a buyer or seller and cannot require corrections, which is different from a correction notice issued against permitted work.
What if I disagree with a finding?
Ask which code section the finding rests on, since a specific citation makes the issue concrete and is the starting point for either correcting it or discussing it with the authority.
Walk the List Before the Inspector Does
Much of an inspection list can be checked beforehand, and the items that come up most often are identification, accessibility and missing protection rather than anything structural. Big Easy Electricians walks the same list an inspector will, corrects what can be corrected on the visit, and gives a written finding on the rest. The estimate is free. Call 504-226-7555 or describe the property and the permit on the contact page, including whether an inspection is already booked, since that decides what gets done first. Households wanting the background on which code edition applies will find it in how electrical safety standards are updated and enforced.