Federal Pacific panel replacement in Brandon

EC13014957 is printed on SANDD Electric’s Brandon page about Federal Pacific replacements. Hillsborough County takes permit applications through HillsGovHub.

A letter from your insurer does not create a county permit record on its own. The county record still needs the contractor’s EC number.

What the utility actually wrote

Confirm the logo on the bill before anyone prices the job. Tampa Electric’s own service-area page says it serves Hillsborough County. Peace River Electric Cooperative, a rural co-op, also lists Hillsborough County and the Lithia and Wimauma ZIP codes, and SANDD’s Brandon page lists Lithia and ZIP 33598. Where two utilities serve an area, the bill decides.

If the bill says Tampa Electric, its Standard Electrical Service Requirements apply. When a service change needs the company side opened, the customer asks Tampa Electric for a disconnect and reconnect and books the appointment ahead of time. Tampa Electric crews disconnect the service and reconnect it after any inspection the local authority requires.

All connections to or disconnections from TEC owned transformations, whether overhead or padmounted type, shall be done by TEC only.

The exception is for a licensed electrician, not the homeowner. On a residential or small commercial single-phase overhead service of 300 amps or less, an electrician may choose to do the disconnect if Tampa Electric personnel approve. The attachment point has to stay intact, no Tampa Electric conductor can be cut, the reconnect has to be booked first, and the meter comes out only after the service is dead. Tampa Electric disconnects every three-phase service itself.

The first page of the manual reprints Florida Statute 812.14, which makes it unlawful to willfully alter, tamper with, or injure a meter or meter seal.

Section II.J adds that Tampa Electric cannot energize a new service or change an existing one until the local authority has inspected the work and Tampa Electric has the formal approval notice.

SANDD says on its Brandon page that it handles the permit, the utility coordination, and the inspection. We did not find that claim confirmed by anything Tampa Electric wrote. Lightning Bay’s Tampa Bay article says a like-for-like swap with a sound meter base usually takes four to eight hours without power, which is also one shop’s description.

Permits for a Brandon address

Hillsborough County Development Services handles the application, at 601 E. Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa, phone (813) 272-5600. Applications go through the HillsGovHub portal, and the county asks for the property folio number. SANDD’s Brandon page says permits for Brandon go through that office.

The county says submitting an application is not the same as being issued a permit. The permit issues after review, approval, and payment of the fees.

Who pulls the permit matters. The county’s homeowner page says an owner may pull their own permit under Florida Statute 489.103(7) if the property is in the owner’s name and is their primary residence. The county’s owner-builder page adds three conditions. The owner signs and uploads the county’s Owner Builder Disclosure Statement. Property owned by an LLC, corporation, or partnership needs a licensed contractor to pull the permit. And the property cannot be offered for sale, lease, or rent for one year after the work is finished. Hiring an electrician hands the permit to that electrician, and the EC number on the HillsGovHub record should be theirs.

Inspections are scheduled on the permit record in HillsGovHub. The county’s FAQ mentions an ELE-Electrical power release inspection only as the way to get temporary power, so ask Development Services which inspection a panel swap gets.

Price, without inventing one

The cost figures come from Lightning Bay Electric’s January 2026 article on Federal Pacific and Zinsco panels in the Tampa Bay area, which mentions Brandon. The shop gives roughly $2,500 to $4,500 for a 150 or 200 amp replacement, permit included, when the meter and service entrance are in good condition and the panel stays where it is. It gives roughly $4,000 to $7,000 when the meter base, mast, or service entrance also has to be replaced, including Tampa Electric or Duke Energy coordination.

Both ranges come from the one shop and describe different jobs, so we do not blend them. Neither is a Hillsborough County figure or a quote for your house.

Florida’s lic08el.csv row for EC13014957 is SANDD ELECTRIC LLC, class EC, status Current and Active, original license date 04/23/2025, expiring 08/31/2028. The mailing address in that extract is in Palm Harbor, in Pinellas County. SANDD’s Brandon page prints no street address and names Brandon, Bloomingdale, Valrico, and FishHawk as places it works. That is the listing. Lightning Bay is already on the New Port Richey page, so it appears here only as a cost source.

A shop found only in a directory is not listed, and neither is one whose own Brandon page lacks an EC number. The listed shop is not affiliated with Panel Letter.

What to hand the carrier

Start with whatever the carrier’s letter lists. Without a list, the closed county permit, the passed inspection, and an invoice repeating EC13014957 are the core of a packet. Before and after photos of the panel help if the letter mentions them. We found no Florida carrier checklist to cite, so ask the carrier what its adjuster wants.