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 Tedesco, 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.
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Randy Dettloff, a superintendent with JLT Electric Construction in Schaumburg, Ill., found this installation in a parking lot near the company’s offices. Section 410.15(B) in the 2005 NEC permits metal or nonmetallic poles to be used to support luminaries (lighting fixtures) and as a raceway to enclose supply conductors, provided six conditions are met. But there’s no chance that any of the six conditions of this rule have been met here.
Most of the older types of underground wiring methods, sometimes called "parkway cable," have lived a long life, only to disintegrate because of corrosion. I see this all over the country. This is just another situation where physical damage caused by vehicles and/or vandals can lead to potential electrocution hazards.
