No proper access to junction boxes or equipment

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We have numerous locations at our facilities that have junction boxes and equipment requiring service with inadequate access.Meaning to get to them you have to crawl over ducts, piping, ceiling framing, edge of block walls etc. They are above drywall lids or in such a location that the use of lifts, ladders, scaffold are of no use.

Besides being a poor installation we are going by OSHA guidelines for walking or work surface guidelines. Clearly the safety requirements can't be maintained in these situations and we are pushing for all locations where this has occured to be modified for proper access. This will be costly but we feel it is a huge safety concern.

I'm looking for any input or experience anyone has had with this type of issue.
 
I agree 110.26 may apply on some but not all and is pretty subjective. That's why I believe going the direction of the OSHA requirements for the actual access to the boxes and work surface in front has more teeth.
 
Are you saying, if you can see it, it is accessible. I am not going to agree with that statement.

You are more than welcome to disagree, could you qualify as to why you do not agree.
It all depends on the discretion of who is inspecting the premises. For junction boxes, not the best but acceptable. Unless code states otherwise ie panel boards I have come accross this in the past. If it was me I would fix it and make it easily accessible. Otherwise if building owners do not want to spend the money leave it.

Thanks
 
Because this is such a gray area in the NEC, I think the best avenue to pursue is through the OSHA regs. They are pretty clear on walking or working surfaces. I agree per NEC you can put a box just about anywhere as long as it's not buried behind walls or concealed, but OSHA regs. Require a way to get to other than standing on stud work, piping, ducts etc.
 

K8MHZ

Senior Member
Location
Michigan. It's a beautiful peninsula, I've looked
Occupation
Electrician
I have a question about a specific box I worked on a while back. It was on the ceiling about 20 ft. up in a fairly good size store. When it was installed there was nothing below making access with a scissor lift easy as pie. Later the bakery was built below. I had to use an articulated lift and literally thread my way over, around and through the stuff on the ground and hanging off the ceiling just to get the cover on. To make things even more interesting, one of the other trades put some strut right under the box so I had to use a hole in the strut to get my screwdriver to one of the cover screws.

The Marklift is now gone and while it could be done, getting another one in there to work on that box would be a real chore.

Is that box accessible, or not? Also, if it were deemed that that box was a pull box and not a j-box, would that change anything?

I had this very same conversation with the inspector about the very same box. He was there when I was stuffed up in the steel putting the cover on.

His answer was, "Well, you got it on and didn't have to tear the building down. That works for me."
 
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