Ecmweb 4653 Cw2nov10web
Ecmweb 4653 Cw2nov10web
Ecmweb 4653 Cw2nov10web
Ecmweb 4653 Cw2nov10web
Ecmweb 4653 Cw2nov10web

Whats Wrong Here?

Nov. 24, 2010
Hint: Take a ticket, please.

How well do you know the Code? Think you can spot violations the original installer either ignored or couldn't identify? Here's your chance to moonlight as an electrical inspector and second-guess someone else's work from the safety of your living room or office. Joe, who has a knack for finding shoddy electrical work, did the dirty work and found this mess. Now it's your turn to identify the violation.

Find the Answer

This damaged equipment is located near a parking lot attendant's booth in the theater district of a major city. Lots of drivers use this particular parking lot when they want to visit the shops nearby. Others use it for weekly or monthly parking.

As you can see in the photo, the two posts on the right were originally installed to protect the ticket-dispensing machine on the left. Unfortunately, whoever installed the electrical equipment didn't think about protecting it properly. As a result, you can clearly see where a car or truck bumper has made contact, damaging the conduit body and connection into the meter socket enclosure. Reference Art. 312 for the requirements of a proper meter socket enclosure installation. In addition, if you search your electronic copy of the NEC for the term "physical damage," you'll find many references to support a citation on this installation.

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About the Author

Joe Tedesco

Tedesco served the industry in many roles during his career. He was a director, senior electrical code instructor for National Technology Transfer, Inc. and American Trainco, Inc.. He was also a codes, standards and seminar specialist for the International Association of Electrical Inspectors and an electrical field service specialist for the National Fire Protection Association in Quincy, Mass. He ran his own business as an NEC consultant and is a Massachusetts licensed master electrician and journeyman electrician and certified electrical inspector (one and two family 2A; General 2B, and Plan Review, 2C). Tedesco also wrote articles for CEE News and EC&M (Code Violations Illustrated and What's Wrong Here?) for more than 15 years and helped launched the Moving Violations video series.

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