Overcurrent Device Location & Accessibility Calculator
Check where a panelboard, breaker, or fused switch may be installed under NEC 240.24: the 6 ft 7 in (2.0 m) maximum operating-handle height and the readily accessible requirement (240.24(A)), each occupant's ready access to their own overcurrent devices (240.24(B)), and the prohibited locations in (C) through (F) such as clothes closets, bathrooms, and over the steps of a stairway. Pick the rule and the tool states it; supply a measured height or a location and it also returns a compliance verdict.
How to use this calculator
- Choose the rule: mounting height and accessibility (240.24(A)), occupant access (240.24(B)), or permitted location (240.24(C) through (F)).
- For mounting height, read the 6 ft 7 in ceiling. Optionally enter the measured handle height, pick an exception if one applies, and say whether the device is readily accessible.
- For occupant access, say whether each occupant can reach the devices protecting their conductors, and select a building-management exception only if one truly applies.
- For location, pick where the device would go. For a bathroom, select the occupancy and check the box if the device is supplementary overcurrent protection.
- Read the verdict: meets 240.24, does not meet 240.24, or needs review when a condition still has to be confirmed.
NEC reference
This calculator implements NEC 2020 240.24, Location in or on Premises. Section 240.24(A) requires overcurrent devices to be readily accessible and installed so the center of the grip of the operating handle, in its highest position, is not more than 2.0 m (6 ft 7 in) above the floor or working platform, with four exceptions (busways per 368.17(C), supplementary protection per 240.10, service and outside feeder devices per 225.40 and 230.92, and devices adjacent to the equipment they supply accessible by portable means). Section 240.24(B) requires each occupant to have ready access to the overcurrent devices protecting their conductors, with two building-management exceptions. Sections 240.24(C) through (F) bar overcurrent devices from locations where they would be exposed to physical damage, in the vicinity of easily ignitible material such as clothes closets, in bathrooms of dwelling units, dormitory units, and guest rooms or suites, and over the steps of a stairway. The "readily accessible" term uses the NEC Article 100 definition.
Results are for reference only. Verify against the applicable adopted edition of the NEC and consult a licensed electrician for code compliance.
The six 240.24 rules
Article 240.24 is titled Location in or on Premises, and it gathers the placement rules an electrician looks up before setting a panel: how high the handle can be, who has to be able to reach it, and the handful of places a panel simply cannot go.
| Subsection | Requirement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | Readily accessible; handle center, highest position, not more than 6 ft 7 in (2.0 m) above the floor or working platform | 240.24(A) |
| Occupancy | Each occupant has ready access to the devices protecting the conductors supplying that occupancy | 240.24(B) |
| Physical damage | Located where it will not be exposed to physical damage | 240.24(C) |
| Easily ignitible material | Not in the vicinity of easily ignitible material, such as in clothes closets | 240.24(D) |
| Bathrooms | Not in bathrooms of dwelling units, dormitory units, or guest rooms or suites (other than supplementary protection) | 240.24(E) |
| Over steps | Not over the steps of a stairway | 240.24(F) |
The 6 ft 7 in handle-height ceiling
The limit is on the center of the grip of the operating handle when the handle is in its highest position, measured to the floor or a permanent working platform. Six feet seven inches is 79 inches; the paired metric value in the code is 2.0 m, which is about 78.7 inches. There is no minimum height in 240.24(A): the rule is only a ceiling, so a panel set low still complies with this section. The reason the figure reads as an odd 6 ft 7 in is that the code is written in metric first, at a round 2.0 m, and the imperial value is the conversion.
Four exceptions let the handle sit higher. Overcurrent devices on a busway follow 368.17(C). Supplementary overcurrent protection, as described in 240.10, is not required to be readily accessible. Service and outside feeder overcurrent devices covered by 225.40 and 230.92 are permitted not to be readily accessible. And a device adjacent to the utilization equipment it supplies may be reached by portable means such as a ladder.
Where a panel cannot go
Three of the subsections are flat prohibitions. A panel cannot sit where it is exposed to physical damage (240.24(C)); it cannot go in the vicinity of easily ignitible material, with clothes closets called out by name (240.24(D)); and it cannot be located over the steps of a stairway (240.24(F)), because reaching for a breaker from the steps is a fall hazard. None of these turns on a measurement; the question is simply whether the proposed spot is one of them.
The bathroom rule (240.24(E)) is the one that trips people up, because it is scoped to occupancies. In the 2020 edition it bars overcurrent devices, other than supplementary overcurrent protection, from bathrooms of dwelling units, dormitory units, and guest rooms or guest suites. It does not, in that edition, name a commercial or industrial bathroom, so a panel in an office-building restroom is not prohibited by 240.24(E) itself, although the 110.26 working space in front of it and local amendments can still rule it out. A panel proposed for a half-bath in a house, by contrast, is a bathroom in a dwelling unit, so 240.24(E) prohibits it.
Worked examples
A loadcenter in a finished basement has its highest breaker handle 84 inches (7 feet) above the floor with no exception in play. That is above the 79 inch ceiling, so it fails 240.24(A). Lowering the panel so the top handle lands at 72 inches brings it within the cap, and as long as it is also operable from a readily accessible place the install complies.
A remodel wants to tuck the dwelling panel into the bedroom closet to hide it. Because that is a clothes closet, 240.24(D) prohibits it regardless of how the closet is finished. Relocating the panel to the adjoining hallway or the garage, neither of which is a prohibited location, solves it. The same panel proposed for the basement half-bath would be barred by 240.24(E) because the home is a dwelling unit.
Common mistakes
- Measuring to the panel, not the handle in its highest position. The 6 ft 7 in is to the center of the grip of the topmost operating handle at the top of its travel, not to the top of the enclosure.
- Assuming a minimum height. 240.24(A) has no minimum; it only caps the maximum handle height.
- Reading the bathroom rule as universal. In the 2020 NEC, 240.24(E) names dwelling units, dormitory units, and guest rooms or suites only; a later edition broadens it.
- Calling an ordinary breaker supplementary. Only supplementary overcurrent protection as described in 240.10 is exempt from the bathroom rule, not a branch-circuit or feeder breaker.
- Hiding a panel in a clothes closet. 240.24(D) prohibits it outright, no matter how neat the closet is.
Frequently asked questions
Can an electrical panel go in a bathroom?
Not in a dwelling unit, dormitory unit, or hotel or motel guest room or suite. NEC 240.24(E) bars overcurrent devices, other than supplementary protection, from bathrooms of those occupancies. In the 2020 edition the rule names only those occupancies; the 2023 edition broadens it.
How high can a panel or breaker be mounted?
No more than 6 ft 7 in (2.0 m) to the center of the grip of the handle in its highest position, and the device must be readily accessible (240.24(A)). There is no code minimum. Busway, supplementary, service and outside feeder, and adjacent-to-equipment exceptions allow higher mounting.
Can a panel be installed in a clothes closet?
No. NEC 240.24(D) prohibits overcurrent devices in the vicinity of easily ignitible material and names clothes closets specifically.
Can a panel be located over the stairs?
No. NEC 240.24(F) prohibits overcurrent devices over the steps of a stairway. Locate the panel over a landing or floor instead.
Does every tenant need access to their own breakers?
Generally yes, under 240.24(B). Only where building management provides the service and maintenance under continuous supervision may the service and feeder devices serving more than one occupancy, or the branch-circuit devices for hotel and motel guest rooms without permanent cooking, be accessible to management alone.
Related calculators
- Electrical Working Space Clearance Calculator: required depth, width, and headroom in front of a panel per NEC 110.26(A).
- Dedicated Equipment Space Calculator: the clear space that must stay above a panelboard or switchboard per NEC 110.26(E).
- Snap Switch Mounting Height & Grouping Calculator: the matching 6 ft 7 in handle rule for switches and breakers used as switches per NEC 404.8.
- Breaker Size Calculator: size the overcurrent protection the panel houses per NEC 240.6 and 240.4.
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