Panel upgrade permit and inspection

The short version

Cities treat a new or replaced panel as permit work. The city inspects it, and the utility will not reconnect a service until the city says the work passed. The steps below follow the pattern cities such as Laguna Niguel publish. Yours might shift a step or two, and your city’s handout beats any general page. The electrical permits guide covers permits across the region.

Step 1: utility first

Most of the delay lives here, so start here. The electrician contacts the utility service planner for the address: SCE or SDG&E in most of the region, LADWP in much of Los Angeles, or a city utility such as Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale, Anaheim or Riverside. The planner gives the requirements, approves a changed meter location and sets up the disconnect. Laguna Niguel states that a copy of the SDG&E or SCE service order is required before it issues the permit. The utility coordination guide lays out the differences.

Step 2: the permit

The city building department takes the application. Expect these items:

• the address and the work description (for example “replace 100 amp panel with 200 amp, outdoor rated”),
• the contractor’s license information, or an owner-builder statement,
• a load calculation or single-line diagram if the city asks for one,
• the utility service order.

Fees are set by each city and are published on its fee schedule. No single figure applies across SoCal.

Step 3: book the disconnect and the inspection

The utility cuts power for the swap. Laguna Niguel says the utility generally disconnects in the morning and reconnects in the afternoon when the panel passes the preliminary inspection, and tells you to call in the inspection request the day before the utility date. SDG&E guidance for meter panel jobs describes the same pattern, with the city telling SDG&E when the work passes. If the panel moves, the disconnect and the inspection are scheduled separately.

Step 4: the swap

Power is off for most of a working day. The electrician installs the new panel and connects each circuit. Items that the 2022 and 2025 codes add:

• a surge protective device (230.67), Type 1 or Type 2, inside or next to the panel, on new and replaced dwelling services,
• an emergency disconnect (230.85) outdoors for one- and two-family homes, marked as such.

California’s 2025 Electrical Code took effect January 1, 2026 and is based on the 2023 NEC.

Step 5: the inspection

The inspector checks the work against the code and the city list. Laguna Niguel’s list includes:

• an electrical permit and inspection card posted on site,
• the panel secured to a framing member, the dead front in place, and every circuit labeled,
• one wire per breaker, neutrals and grounds landed correctly,
• 240-volt breaker handles tied together with listed handle ties,
• a grounding conductor sized from the data plate, bonded to the water and gas pipes, with an accessible ground electrode,
• 36 inches of clear space in front and 30 inches across,
• empty knockouts plugged and unused wires capped.

Step 6: release and reconnect

When the panel passes, the city releases the meter to the utility, and the utility reconnects. For LADWP jobs inside the City of Los Angeles, the Department of Building and Safety sends its release to LADWP after the final inspection, and LADWP can then schedule its meter work. Open your LADWP service account early, because LADWP says final work waits on it.

If something fails

The electrician fixes the item and the inspector comes back. Check what the city wants for a reinspection fee and notice. To lower the odds, use the prep guide for the electrician visit, keep the panel area clear, and be home for the inspection.

After it passes

Keep the signed permit card. It proves the work was inspected, which matters when you sell. The timeline guide covers how long the whole job runs from first call to restored power.