Inspector requiring interconnected Smoke/carbon for a service upgrade/new panel

[augie47]

Just be sure you are referencing the IRC Code cycle they are enforcing. I think the latest one is more stringent than the one your quoted.

 

[esox39]

I require it and it states it on the permit application. My town made it a ordinance so it's the law.

 

[readydave8]

Thanks growler yeah I heard Delkab can be tough but they inspector has been pretty responsible yeah it is tough here in Atlanta to compete. I am starting to think I should have been a BMW mechanic I just got a quote to replace a water pump for $1400 for a part that cost a little over $200

I'm sure it is tough to compete in Atlanta, also hard to compete in rural areas with no permits required, amazing how cheap a handyman can price an electrical job.

 

[readydave8]

augie47 it looks like its IRC I have looked through the codes and have not seen it yet. I did want to put the inspector on the spot by asking. I am looking at the wireless ones now as I am ready to move on from this job he said something to the extent that as long as you have access IE to the attic I would need to install them. Just trying to find out where he is getting it from so I can tell the customer. Here is a thought if he wants me to run wire interconnected then it would have to come from the basement where the new panel is to connect my ground wire so that would require cutting sheet rock as the branch circuits are still 2 wire without a ground.

I'm thinking the smokes I've been seeing are plastic case and don't get grounded? If you use plastic boxes would you need a ground? Or am I overlooking something?

 

[Flux]

Thank God they do not allow home owner electrical permits in Atlanta anymore. The inspector said that I would only have to install them if there was access and would not have to cut sheet rock as there is no access to the basement (where the panel is) from the 2nd story bedrooms without cutting sheet rock and if I run new wire it will have a ground wire requiring me to ground it per the NEC I would have to run a HR to the new panel. 250.130

 

[Ponchik]

Thank God they do not allow home owner electrical permits in Atlanta anymore. The inspector said that I would only have to install them if there was access and would not have to cut sheet rock as there is no access to the basement (where the panel is) from the 2nd story bedrooms without cutting sheet rock and if I run new wire it will have a ground wire requiring me to ground it per the NEC I would have to run a HR to the new panel. 250.130

So you can't install wiring for hardwired smoke detectors from an existing (2) circuit?

Second, are you saying that the smoke detectors are to be on a dedicated circuit?

 

[growler]

I am really starting to dislike residential.

Why? You don't have to install these smoke detectors for free.


You are going to run into the same thing with a small commercial remodel. You get a permit and do the electrical wok ((easy as pie) then the fire marshal comes for his inspection and finds that half the exit and emergency lights in the building are not working. The customer is not a happy camper when they have to pay to have these repaired but that's life.

A residential service change is one of the easier jobs to make money on. I wish I could do about three a week.

 

[cowboyjwc]

Why? You don't have to install these smoke detectors for free.


You are going to run into the same thing with a small commercial remodel. You get a permit and do the electrical wok ((easy as pie) then the fire marshal comes for his inspection and finds that half the exit and emergency lights in the building are not working. The customer is not a happy camper when they have to pay to have these repaired but that's life.

A residential service change is one of the easier jobs to make money on. I wish I could do about three a week.

See, sometimes inspectors can be your friend.

 

[fisherelectric]

314.3.1 Alterations, repairs and additions.When alterations, repairs or additions requiring an approval are made to the spaces described in items 1 and 2 of Section 314.3, smoke alarms shall be provided in those spaces as required for a new dwelling. When one or more sleeping rooms are added or created in existing dwellings, the new sleeping rooms and the immediate vicinity outside each sleeping room shall be equipped with smoke alarms as required for new dwellings. Exceptions:
1. Work involving the exterior surfaces of dwellings, such as the replacement of roofing or siding, or the addition or replacement of windows or doors, or the addition of a porch or deck are exempt from the requirements of this section.
2. Installation or alteration of plumbing or mechanical systems are exempt from the requirements of this section.

Gregg, FYI Section R314.3.1 has been deleted by Virginia. No more smoke alarms required for alterations, repairs, or additions.

 

[fisherelectric]

Virginia will also accept the Kidde wireless smoke detectors that are battery only or will interconnect with existing interconnected Kidde alarms by RF

 

[Gregg Harris]

Gregg, FYI Section R314.3.1 has been deleted by Virginia. No more smoke alarms required for alterations, repairs, or additions.

Yes thank you I am aware of the deleation, my digital version is all of the Virginia codes and my library is ICC hard copies

 

[readydave8]

new wire it will have a ground wire requiring me to ground it per the NEC I would have to run a HR to the new panel. 250.130

So could you have run smurf? (profit opportunity).

 

[grasfulls]

Ground-dedicated circuit battery operated not interconnected

Ground-dedicated circuit battery operated not interconnected

So you can't install wiring for hardwired smoke detectors from an existing (2) circuit?

Second, are you saying that the smoke detectors are to be on a dedicated circuit?

May as well throw my favorite areas in (California), sorta tongue-in-cheek. When doing any electrical work requiring a permit, well, no...when doing any work where an electrical permit is taken out we are minimally required to install battery operated smoke detectors in all bedrooms and halls, at least one carbon every floor. We do not have to tear anything open to provide hard-wired interconnected devices and no interconnection at all is mandated with the battery operated devices.

On hard-wired detectors there is nothing to ground on the devices because there are no exposed metal parts that could become a conductor under a fault condition.

Some inspectors DISALLOW a dedicated circuit, they WANT it on a typically used lighting circuit so that if the lights do not work the homeowner SHOULD know their detectors are now on battery back-up.

 

[fmtjfw]

Last one I did in WV

Last one I did in WV

I ran wiremold and powered it from kitchen light circuit. No light in kitchen is the most likely failure to be noticed.