Electrical

New in 2026: surge protection on every service replacement

Pennsylvania moved to the 2021 International Code family and the 2020 National Electrical Code on 1 January 2026. One change in that edition affects a very common job.

NEC 230.67 requires a surge-protective device on services supplying dwelling units — and 230.67(D) extends that to replacements: where service equipment is replaced, all of the requirements apply. In practical terms, a panel or service upgrade in these counties now includes whole-house surge protection as a code requirement rather than an upsell. If you are comparing quotes written either side of that date, or comparing against advice published before it, that is a real difference and not a contractor padding the bill.

The same code cycle brought other residential changes — a 36-inch clear path to a public way from emergency escape openings, revised deck design provisions, new vapour retarder and continuous insulation rules — which matter more for additions than for service work.

Aluminium branch wiring, and why it matters here

The Consumer Product Safety Commission notes that cables installed between 1965 and the mid-1970s may contain aluminium branch-circuit wiring, and that homes built before 1972 with aluminium wiring are 55 times more likely to have one or more connections reach what it calls fire hazard conditions.

That window lines up with a large slice of the local housing stock. Roughly 29% of Bucks County homes and 24% of Montgomery County homes were built between 1960 and 1979 — the single largest age cohort in Bucks. Not all of those have aluminium branch wiring, but it is common enough that it is worth knowing what a proper repair looks like.

The CPSC recognises three permanent remedies: complete replacement with copper, a COPALUM crimp connector, or an AlumiConn connector. It specifically advises against ordinary twist-on wire connectors and against CO/ALR-rated devices as permanent repairs. If someone proposes pigtailing with standard wire nuts, that is worth questioning.

Who inspects the work depends on your township

This is genuinely local and catches people out. Electrical inspections in Pennsylvania are often performed by a third-party electrical underwriter — and whether your township assigns one, keeps a list, or expects you to hire your own varies municipality by municipality.

• Newtown Township brought electrical inspections in-house from 1 January 2023. Before that, the homeowner or contractor hired their own independent underwriter.

• Doylestown Township publishes its own list of approved third-party underwriters, noting it is not exhaustive.

• Some municipalities add their own contractor registration on top of the state requirement — Bristol Township requires annual registration plus a local tax registration.

Older wiring in the older boroughs

About 9.8% of Bucks County's housing predates 1940, concentrated in the boroughs — Doylestown's historic district alone has over a thousand contributing buildings, and New Hope's spans the early 18th century to the early 20th. Houses of that age may retain original wiring in parts of the structure, often alongside two or three later partial rewires. The cost driver there is access and discovery rather than materials: what is actually behind the plaster is not known until it is opened.

Permits

Electrical work needs a permit in essentially every municipality here. Pennsylvania's code requires one for the installation, alteration, repair, removal or replacement of any electrical system; the "ordinary repair" exemption does not cover relocating wiring. Doylestown Borough draws the line at fixtures and devices: swapping a light fixture, a switch or a box does not need a permit unless wiring behind the walls is being moved.

Permits here are municipal, not county. Pennsylvania's Uniform Construction Code sets the floor, but over 90% of the state's 2,562 municipalities administer and enforce it themselves, each with its own office, fees and inspection scheduling. Every municipality in Bucks County has opted in. Municipalities that opted in before 1999 may also carry local amendments that exceed the state baseline — and the state openly says it has no record of what those amendments are, so there is no central place to look them up.

One thing worth knowing in advance: the sewage and well permits go the other way. Those are issued by the county health department, not your township. A project that touches both — a bathroom addition on a septic system, say — needs two offices rather than one.

Pennsylvania requires anyone doing more than $5,000 a year of home improvement work to register with the Attorney General's office. Registration numbers start with "PA", carry minimum insurance requirements, and are searchable on the state's public register. Contracts for work over $500 must also give you three days to cancel. Asking for the number is reasonable and every registered contractor expects it.