Can you move an electric box

Of course you can. You need to hire an electrician, get a permit, make sure the coop approves of your plans. It might add $10K to 15K to your budget, maybe more if the electrical wiring needs to be upgraded throughout your apartment as a result.

You do not need a permit to move an electrical box. It will not cost you 10 or 15k either

thanks - our contractor told us since the line runs through all the apartments on the same line it was a major issue to change. Glad to hear it is possible

You don't need a building permit. But your co-op may require you to file plans with them, etc.

Wait a second, you mean you want to move the fuse/switchbox? It is certainly possible (I've done it in 3 apts) but you definitely need to get approval from the building, and my guess is that they will probably make you pull an electrical permit (with the DOB). The other issue is that they will probably not let you move the box very far.

Also, they will (most likely) want your electrician to have separate insurance, which will drive up costs. In addition, if you're moving the box, why don't you replace it?

Lots of big-bucks potential in moving a fusebox.

The conduit for each circuit, and the wires inside, has to be shortened or lengthened. If lengthened, then the wire all the way to the first fixture has to be pulled and replaced.

Then there's the wire from fusebox to meter. If you're lucky and in a newer building, it's on your floor or a few floors away in an electrical closet. Otherwise you've got a vertical riser to the cellar to replace. If the risers to the apartments above you in your line are in the same wall, you can't get rid of the wall anyway.

I'd just have the architect come up with a clever way to leave that section of wall intact.

It's certainly possible, but I believe another issue is that if you're not up to code and you're not poking at your electricity, no one cares ... but once you start playing with your electricity you may suddenly need to bring your whole apartment up to code, which could mean substantial rewiring, new breakers, etc.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

FYI, primer probably thought you meant a "junction" box.

The main box with the fuses in it can be moved. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes it is very involved. The shorter the distance, the fewer the likely issues, but even 6" could be a problem in a particular location. This is a good time to talk to the electrician and architect together on site; you might invite the super over for the discussion--supers know a lot about a building and what has been done in other apartments.

Thanks all - super helpful. Yes as I feared this may be hard - lets see what electrician and architect can do. In order for this to work we will need to move it reasonably far ie a few feet

I was thinking just a junction box, I probably have moved about 50 electrical panels in my life. The electrician needs to file but its not a big deal, As far as price an electrician would charge anywhere from 1,500-2,500 to move the panel, there is also the contractor that will have to repair any cutting and that will cost more but the whole cost of moving an electrical panel should be at most 3,500.00.

If you are not getting a good price i will give you an electrician that will move it for roughly $1,500.00 as long as it will be on a wall that is close to the existing.

hey can you email me that electrician's name - tommy10009@yahoo.com

primer05 can you send me his email - thank you

Moving the circuit breaker panel is not such a big deal, as has already been said. If you have to move the riser also, then you're in for a headache. The riser is the conduit that brings power to all apartmnets in your line. Moving that means shutting down the entire riser, and many buildings will not let you do that, ever. You will also have to find a way to reroute the riser within your space and still keep the same connection points to the apts above and below. Not so hard if you have a dropped ceiling and floor with a cavity below it to hide the horizontal offsets.

Primer05 or Nezawithaz - I'm doing the same thing you guys discussed here in an apartment I'm currently renovating. Would you mind emailing me the name and info for the electrician that has done this in the past and doesn't charge too much. I'm trying to move the box about 4 feet, and I'm trying to do the whole thing for under $5k. My email address is davidadamcohen1@gmail.com. Thanks, david