ECN Electrical Forum
Discussion Forums for Electricians, Inspectors and Related Professionals

Greg:
The McMansions have no issue with 6'6", or 36x30. A few have enough sq footage and clear ceiling heights to 'finish' into living space, if only zoning (and egress) would allow.

A McMansion here would still only have a 5:12 roof and those "Mediterranean" roof lines with hips everywhere make this a maze of truss members. I guess it is just a question of what they build.

I wouldn't want to crawl into the attic just to reset a breaker

I guess that is John's point. He sees attics where there is no crawling involved. You can walk up to the panel normally.
It would have to be that way to get my OK.
I did allow some attic mounted panels in the Ringling (the circus people) mansion but it was air conditioned space with a 7-8 foot ceiling. I still made them add a better access ladder (permanently mounted) and closer to the panel than the existing one which did require crawling over mechanicals to get to it.

Clear the air time....
The 'attic' would have to be accessable, not one that requires a portable ladder, but fixed stairs. The ceiling height of 6'6" is required, with the 30-36 clearances. A clear path from the point of egress is also necessary; no crawling thru trusses.

I have not seen, nor heard of any EC thinking about the service being in the attic, but...ya never know.

There are two entirely different kinds of attics being discussed here. One is a maze of trusses. The other is a large lofted space with a floor and headroom and easy access from a stairwell. I'd say flat NO to putting a panel in most houses in my area, but quite a few houses, especially in new england, have steep pitched or simply high-peak roofs with no trusswork and not only have quite useable space, but often full stairs up to them.

A friend of mine's attic is so large, he built a full apartment in it with stairs and everything- all finished, heated, etc. He put a full sized door opening into the attic-attic portion to use for storage and access to the HVAC equipment. In this case, the attic would easily meet all accessibility requirements, and the only problem problem I'd see with putting an electrical panel there is how hot it would get in the summer.

with so many better places to put the panel the attic would be my last choice

I have seen attics with a ton of head room and windows that open up there. Plus a lot of attics have roof fans which keep the attic at a nice cozy 90-100 deg. (F). As for work space clearances, here in NJ we have a rehab code that allows less than idea conditions for head room. (if existing). I have seen a lot of old houses with fuse boxes in their attics also.
Now granted if the attic was made up with trusses, there wouldn't be floor boards and a panel up there would be out of the question.