TL;DR
A service disconnect is the switch or breaker that cuts all power to a building's electrical system in one motion, located at or near where the conductors enter. The NEC caps the count at six handle movements historically and, since the 2020 edition, requires an outdoor emergency disconnect on new one- and two-family dwellings so firefighters can kill power without entering.
What it means
A service disconnect is the switch or breaker that cuts all power to a building's electrical system in one motion, located at or near where the conductors enter. The NEC caps the count at six handle movements historically and, since the 2020 edition, requires an outdoor emergency disconnect on new one- and two-family dwellings so firefighters can kill power without entering. Solar and EV-charger installs often add or relabel one to satisfy utility interconnection rules.
Where it sits in the glossary
Service disconnect is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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