Top Five Failed Building Practices: Part 4 of 5 Federal Pacific "Stab-Lok" Electrical Panels

Here is the fourth installment of the five-part series, The Top five Failed Building Practices. You can read Part 1: Aluminum Branch Wiring here, Part 2: Fire-Retardant Treated Plywood here, or Part 3: Polybutylene Pipes here.

Part 4: Federal Pacific "Stab-Lok" Electrical Panels

The fourth item on our list of the Top Five Failed Building Practices is Federal Pacific "Stab-Lok" Electrical Panels.

Federal Pacific "Stab-Lok" electrical panels These electrical panels, which were widely used by builders in the 1960s and 1970s, are considered unsafe. The problem is usually described as a latent hazard - that is, the panels and circuit breakers themselves do not cause an unsafe condition such as a short in a wire, but the breakers often will not trip when they should. That can lead to overheating and fires.

In extensive testing by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the circuit breakers had a failure rate of approximately 25 percent.

I see many Federal Pacific brand electrical panels in homes I inspect, sometimes several in a week. They are easy to identify by the Federal Pacific and Stab-Lok branding on the panel cover.

If a household electrical circuit is overloaded, the circuit breaker in the panel is supposed to trip and cut off so that heat cannot build up and cause scorched wires, melting and fires. I rarely see evidence of this, but the many cases of failure have led to an industry view that because these panels are obsolete and possibly dangerous, replacement should be considered. Replacement usually costs between $1,000 and $1,600.

To date, there is no recall or class action lawsuit for this panel but the Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued safety warnings. The product is not made anymore.

Next up: Part 5: Asbestos Insulation.

Read Part 1: Aluminum Branch Wiring
Read Part 2: Fire-Retardant Treated Plywood
Read Part 3: Polybutylene Pipes