Berkeley puts knob and tube on its own city paperwork. One form governs what happens before an attic is insulated, and the city’s time-of-sale ordinance gives a full rewire its own line on the menu of upgrades a seller can make. Fog City SF Knob and Tube replaces knob and tube wiring in Berkeley and neighboring Albany. The company manages each job, and licensed and insured electrical contractors (California C-10) carry out the electrical work under City of Berkeley permits.
Census figures show 46.3% of Berkeley’s 53,145 housing units were built before 1940, and 54.6% before 1950. That is context about the housing stock, not a finding about any one house: what is actually in a particular attic or wall is only known once every circuit is tested, which is where a knob and tube inspection starts.
Form #146: the report before attic insulation
In Berkeley, an attic with knob and tube may not be insulated unless a licensed electrical contractor signs the city’s Knob-and-Tube Wiring Safety Report, Form #146. Copies are posted in the attic before inspection, and the original goes to the building inspector at final.
The form follows California Electrical Code 394.12, which bars insulation that envelops concealed knob and tube unless a California-licensed electrical contractor surveys the wiring and certifies it, the certification is filed with the building department, and the insulation is noncombustible and free of conductive material. Berkeley’s version adds a practical detail: warning signs in English and Spanish at every attic access where insulation conceals the wiring, posted before the inspection. Homeowners report confusion over why Berkeley treats this differently from Oakland. The state rule is the same in both cities; what Berkeley adds is a named form and a posted record, so the electrical survey belongs on the schedule before the insulation crew is booked. The attic insulation service covers how the two jobs are coordinated.
What the three boxes on the form mean
The electrician checks one of three statements, and each sends the project a different way.
The first says the wiring is in good condition: no deterioration, proper overcurrent protection, no improper connections or splices. Insulation can then go in over the surveyed runs, with the posted copies and signs. The second says the wiring is not in good condition and may not be covered without repair or rewiring. That turns an insulation project into an electrical one: the affected circuits are rewired, or repaired where that is allowed, before anything is blown into the attic. The third says the wiring is disconnected, not live or removed, which is the cleanest path and a reason to rewire the attic runs first. Old runs are disconnected at both ends and removed where they can be reached, so the report describes wiring that is actually dead, not just switched off. The active vs abandoned guide explains how that is tested.
BESO at sale: one rewire, six credits
Since January 1, 2026, sellers of Berkeley single-family homes and duplexes must get a Home Energy Score before listing under the Building Emissions Saving Ordinance (BESO). They then either complete upgrades worth at least six credits per unit before the sale, or defer them to the buyer with a deposit that is refunded once the buyer finishes within two years. Buildings of three or four units phase in starting January 2028; condos and ADUs are excluded.
The city’s menu lists knob and tube replacement with pre-wiring of 240-volt receptacles at six credits, the whole requirement in one measure. The measure sheet asks for code-compliant wiring in place of the knob and tube, plus one 240-volt receptacle each for the water heater, the heating and cooling equipment, the clothes dryer and the stove or oven. All four must be installed to receive the credit; three earn nothing toward this measure. Verification is a permit with a final inspection, a scope stating it is “for BESO compliance,” and a contractor invoice that describes the rewire and gives the location of every 240-volt outlet.
That changes the scope in two ways. Four 240-volt circuits need panel space and service capacity, so the panel question is asked at the start, and the panel upgrade is priced alongside the rewire when the existing panel cannot carry them. And the permit wording has to match, which is easy to get right when the scope is written for it and awkward to fix after final. Sellers weighing the timing will find more in the selling guide, and buyers inheriting a deferral in the buying guide.
Planning a Berkeley rewire around a sale or an insulation job?
Start with a test of every circuit and a written scope that matches the city's form or the BESO measure sheet.
How a Berkeley job usually runs
The first conversation sorts out which Berkeley process is driving the work: an insulation project, a sale or simply the wiring itself. The walk-through tests every circuit, follows the runs through the attic and basement, and checks the panel and service for capacity, especially if four 240-volt circuits are on the table.
The written scope then lists each opening in plaster and who closes it, with patching as its own line in the quote, and states the permit wording the job needs. Attic, basement and crawlspace routes are used first so wall openings stay small; the plaster-wall rewiring page explains how. At the end, every owner gets a written circuit record and a labeled panel directory, a record a buyer, an insurer or the next contractor can use.
PG&E service and the BayREN rebate
Berkeley is in PG&E territory. When a rewire comes with a service upgrade, new load goes through PG&E’s application process, which can include a load assessment of up to 30 days, and PG&E reconnects after the city inspector approves the work. Those steps are scheduled into the plan rather than discovered at the end.
Being a PG&E customer is also what makes BayREN’s EASE Home program available. For income-qualified households in homes of four or fewer units built before 2010, it reimburses up to $2,000 toward fixing active knob and tube, alongside at least one measure such as insulation. The contractors supply the licensed electrician’s invoice or inactivity certification the rebate needs, and the company helps with the paperwork; BayREN decides approval. Alameda County’s income ceilings are lower than San Francisco’s, so the BayREN rebate guide is worth checking before counting on it.
Albany: next door, its own building department
Albany shares Berkeley’s northern edge and much of its housing age: Census figures put 38.5% of its 8,070 units before 1940 and 48.7% before 1950. It is a separate city with its own building department, which takes new permit applications through an online portal, and no Albany-specific knob and tube form or electrical amendment turned up in research. Berkeley’s Form #146 and BESO credits therefore do not apply there.
What does follow the house across the line is state law. California Electrical Code 394.12 governs insulation over knob and tube in Albany as everywhere else, and since January 1, 2026, Civil Code 1102.6i has required sellers to deliver a statement that an electrical inspection may be advisable and that faulty wiring can make insurance hard to get. Albany is also PG&E territory, under the same Alameda County BayREN income limits. Anything beyond that, from inspection steps to local forms, is confirmed per address with Albany’s department.
For the rules behind all of this, the California legality guide covers what the state code allows, and whole-house rewiring covers the full scope. Neighboring cities are on the Oakland and Piedmont pages.