An electrical rough-in inspection checklist covers the wiring, boxes, circuits, and protective devices a local inspector examines against the National Electrical Code before insulation or drywall closes up the walls.1NFPA. Learn Where the NEC Is Enforced Once the walls are covered, nothing inside is visible without tearing them open, so this is the last practical chance to catch problems that could cause fires, shocks, or costly rework later.
When the Walls Have to Be Open
The inspection happens after the electrician has finished running wire, mounting boxes, and installing conduit, and before anyone installs insulation, vapor barriers, or drywall. Plumbing and HVAC rough-ins should be complete first. Those trades sometimes drill through the same framing or run lines close to electrical cables, and a stud moved or notched after the wiring is done can damage cables or shift boxes out of position.
Wall cavities need to be completely open. If insulation or drywall goes up before the inspector signs off, the building department will typically require it removed at the homeowner’s expense. Inspectors need clear sight lines to every wire run, every box, and every framing penetration, so all drilling, blocking, and framing modifications should be finished before you request the inspection.
Permit and Plans on Site
A valid electrical permit must be on-site and available. This is the legal authorization for the work and identifies the licensed contractor, or in some jurisdictions the homeowner, responsible for the installation. Working without a permit can trigger a stop-work order and fines that vary by jurisdiction.
When you request the inspection, you generally need the permit number, the job site address, and a contact phone number. Most departments accept requests online or through an automated phone line, and inspectors usually arrive within 24 to 48 hours. Keep a copy of the approved electrical plans on-site. The inspector compares what’s installed against what was approved to confirm the scope hasn’t changed without authorization.
Cables, Boxes, and Grounding
Cable securing is one of the first things inspectors look at. Nonmetallic-sheathed cable must be fastened with staples, straps, or listed cable ties at intervals no greater than 4½ feet, and within 12 inches of every box, cabinet, or fitting it enters.2Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Maximum Allowable Distance Between Supports for Temporary Electrical Wiring The cable between the box entry and the nearest support point cannot exceed 18 inches. Cables sagging between studs are one of the easiest ways to fail.
Where cables pass through bored holes in wood studs or joists, the edge of the hole must sit at least 1¼ inches from the nearest edge of the framing member. When that clearance can’t be met, a steel nail plate at least 1/16 inch thick must cover the area to prevent drywall screws or finish nails from piercing the wire later. Inspectors look for this carefully. The consequences of skipping a nail plate can show up years down the road as a nail slowly works into a live conductor.
Wire gauge has to match breaker size. The NEC limits 14 AWG copper to a maximum 15-amp overcurrent device and 12 AWG to a maximum 20-amp device. Undersized wire on an oversized breaker means the wire can overheat before the breaker trips. Low-voltage and communication cables such as network, coaxial, and speaker wire must be physically separated from power wiring and cannot share the same bored holes without a listed barrier.
Box fill is a common quiet failure. The NEC assigns a volume allowance to each conductor by wire gauge: 2 cubic inches for 14 AWG, 2.25 cubic inches for 12 AWG, and 2.5 cubic inches for 10 AWG. Each conductor entering and terminating or passing through the box counts once. Internal cable clamps, devices like receptacles and switches, and equipment grounding conductors each add their own deductions, and the total cannot exceed the box’s listed capacity. A single-gang box crammed with six cables and a device fails immediately.
Every circuit needs a continuous equipment grounding path back to the panel. Grounding conductors must be bonded to metal boxes or connected through approved fittings in nonmetallic boxes. Missing or improperly connected grounding is one of the most serious deficiencies an inspector can find, because it’s the safety system that limits shock hazard when a hot wire contacts a metal enclosure.
Wire terminations inside boxes must be neatly stripped and secured, with at least 6 inches of free conductor past the point where the cable enters the box, and at least 3 inches past the front face of the box. Conductors stripped too close to the sheathing, nicked insulation, and exposed copper at wire nuts are all grounds for failure.
GFCI and AFCI Protection
Missing ground-fault and arc-fault protection is one of the top reasons rough-in inspections fail, and the requirements have expanded in recent code cycles. During rough-in, the inspector verifies that the panel and circuit layout account for every location that needs this protection. Retrofitting it later means rewiring.
Where GFCI Is Required
Ground-fault circuit interrupter protection is required for receptacles in these areas of a dwelling:
- Bathrooms, all receptacles, not just those near the sink.
- Kitchens. Under the 2023 NEC this now extends beyond countertop outlets to include receptacles serving refrigerators, disposals, dishwashers, and microwaves.
- Garages and accessory buildings used for storage or work areas.
- All outdoor receptacles on the dwelling.
- Unfinished portions of basements and crawl spaces, including any area at or below grade.
- Laundry areas, all receptacles serving the laundry space.
- Any receptacle within 6 feet of the top inside edge of a sink bowl.
- Any receptacle within 6 feet of the outside edge of a bathtub or shower, even outside a bathroom.
- Indoor damp or wet locations where moisture is regularly present.
The expanded kitchen requirement catches many electricians working from older habits. A refrigerator on a non-GFCI circuit was fine under earlier codes but now fails inspection where the 2023 NEC has been adopted.
Where AFCI Is Required
Arc-fault circuit interrupter protection targets a different hazard: electrical arcing from damaged or deteriorating wires, a leading cause of residential fires. Under NEC 210.12, AFCI protection is required on all 120-volt, 15- and 20-amp branch circuits supplying outlets in kitchens, living rooms, family rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, hallways, closets, sunrooms, recreation rooms, laundry areas, libraries, dens, and similar rooms. In practice, that covers nearly every room in the house except bathrooms, garages, and outdoor areas, which are already covered by GFCI requirements.
AFCI protection is typically provided at the panel with combination-type AFCI breakers, so the rough-in phase is when the circuit layout has to account for these breakers. If the panel doesn’t have enough spaces, or the circuits aren’t laid out to match the protection zones, the inspector will flag it.
Dedicated Circuits and Receptacle Spacing
The NEC requires specific dedicated branch circuits that cannot share loads with other areas of the house. Getting these wrong means rethinking the panel layout, so it has to be right at rough-in.
- Kitchen countertop circuits. At least two 20-amp small-appliance circuits must serve the countertop surfaces, and no small-appliance circuit can serve more than one kitchen. These circuits may also supply receptacles in a pantry, breakfast room, or dining room.
- Laundry circuit. A dedicated 20-amp circuit must serve the laundry room receptacles, and it cannot share with lighting or outlets in other rooms. Electric dryers need their own 30-amp, 240-volt circuit with four conductors.
- Bathroom circuit. Bathroom receptacles require a dedicated 20-amp circuit. A single 20-amp circuit can serve all receptacles in one bathroom, but only if it serves no other areas and the bathroom has no built-in heaters. Vent fans with integrated heaters need their own separate 20-amp circuit.
Receptacle spacing gets scrutinized too. In every habitable room, no point along the floor line of any wall can be more than 6 feet from a receptacle outlet. That effectively means an outlet roughly every 12 feet along continuous wall space. Kitchen countertops are tighter, requiring an outlet every 4 feet.
Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Wiring
Rough-in is when smoke and carbon monoxide alarm wiring goes in, and inspectors check the routing before walls close up. New residential construction requires hardwired, interconnected smoke alarms so that when one activates, every alarm in the dwelling sounds.
Smoke alarms belong in each sleeping room, outside each separate sleeping area (typically the hallway serving the bedrooms), and on every additional story including basements and habitable attics. Carbon monoxide detectors are required on each floor and near sleeping areas in homes with fuel-burning appliances, attached garages, or other CO sources. The EPA recommends mounting CO detectors on a wall about 5 feet above the floor, away from fireplaces and flame-producing appliances.3United States Environmental Protection Agency. Where Should I Place a Carbon Monoxide Detector?
The interconnection wiring requires a dedicated conductor, typically red or orange, in addition to the standard hot, neutral, and grounding conductors, all run in the same cable. All interconnected alarms must be powered from the same unswitched branch circuit. If a switch can kill power to the smoke alarms, the installation fails.
Fireblocking at Penetrations
Where electrical cables pass through top plates, bottom plates, or fireblocking members between stories, the holes must be sealed with an approved material that resists the passage of flame and combustion byproducts. This requirement comes from the building code rather than the electrical code, but electrical and building inspectors both look for it.
Fireblocking is required at all openings around wires and cables at ceiling and floor levels, and in concealed stud wall spaces both vertically at ceiling and floor and horizontally at intervals not exceeding 10 feet. Approved sealants include fire-rated caulk, intumescent foam, mineral wool, and similar products rated for fire-stop use. Standard expanding foam from the hardware store may not qualify; check the label. Inspectors look for every penetration to be sealed, not just the obvious ones. Missed holes at the top plate in an interior wall are a frequent deficiency.
The Violations That Fail Inspections Most Often
Knowing the code is one thing. Knowing what inspectors actually flag is more useful for passing on the first try. These are the items that generate the most correction notices:
- Missing GFCI or AFCI protection, especially in kitchens where the 2023 NEC expanded GFCI to all receptacles rather than just countertop outlets.
- Improper wire sizing, such as 14 AWG on a 20-amp breaker or 12 AWG on a 30-amp circuit.
- Overfilled boxes, with too many conductors crammed into an undersized enclosure.
- Unsecured cables, missing staples, cables not fastened within 12 inches of boxes, or runs exceeding 4½ feet between supports.
- Poor grounding, including missing equipment grounding conductors, unbonded metal boxes, or incomplete grounding electrode connections.
- Missing nail plates where cables pass through framing less than 1¼ inches from the edge.
- Improper splices, including taped connections, splices made outside of boxes, and undersized wire connectors that leave copper exposed.
- Outlet spacing violations, with gaps exceeding the 6-foot wall rule or kitchen countertop outlets more than 4 feet apart.
- Missing or inaccessible permits, which can trigger automatic failure and a potential stop-work order.
Most of these are quick fixes individually, but a correction notice with five or six items adds up in labor time and scheduling delays. Walking the job before calling for inspection, checking every box, every staple, every nail plate, is the single most effective way to pass on the first visit.
During the Visit and After
The inspector moves through the structure room by room, comparing the installed wiring against the approved plans and checking the code requirements above. Having the licensed electrician or a knowledgeable representative on-site is worth doing. When the inspector has a question about a circuit layout or routing choice, an immediate explanation can sometimes resolve what would otherwise become a written deficiency.
If the work passes, the inspector marks the approval on the permit card, attaches a green tag to the main panel, or records the result electronically, depending on local procedure. That approval clears the project to move forward with insulation and drywall, and it becomes part of the permanent property record.
If the work fails, the inspector issues a correction notice listing each specific deficiency. The electrician makes the corrections and you request a re-inspection. Most jurisdictions charge a re-inspection fee, commonly in the range of $50 to $200 per visit. Multiple failures mean multiple fees. The building department will not allow the project to advance until every deficiency is cleared and the re-inspection is approved.
One boundary worth flagging: most states allow homeowners to perform electrical work on a home they personally own and occupy, but the rules vary, and the inspection standard does not change based on who did the wiring. Check with the local building department about permit requirements and any scope limits before starting.