For years, a common practice for one and two-family dwellings has been to install a meter enclosure outside and main breaker panel suitable for use as a service disconnect inside. As electrical professionals, many of us had that hunch to ask ourselves, "what about first responders." A recently added Code rule now requires an emergency disconnect for ALL one and two-family dwellings regardless of the panel's location indoors.

But what are the requirements of this new rule? Can the service disconnect act as an emergency disconnect, or does the emergency disconnect have to installed separately? How do we identify and distinguish between a service disconnect and an emergency disconnect?