Panel Behind Door

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curt swartz

Electrical Contractor - San Jose, CA
Location
San Jose, CA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I don?t know if any of the members here visit dslreports.com but I do to read the various forums. I normally will not respond to the home improvement section since I don?t advocate DIY for most trades. The other day a member posted a question about installing a panel behind the swing of a door. All of the replies indicated that this is a code violation including 2 members that are electrical professionals. I decided to post saying I don?t feel this is a code violation. Their response was that I?m wrong. I know this subject has come up before but I didn?t come up with much doing a search. If anyone is interested in responding on DSL Reports this is the link to the topic. http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r23104224-Panel-Position You don't have to be a member to post.

I asked the electrical professionals if they would be willing to follow the topic on this forum if I posted it and this is the response I received.

I don't rely on the Mike Holt forums for information regarding my profession. Nor do the great majority of contractors, engineers and inspectors. To boot, one has absolutely no idea if a poster on the Mike Holt forum is a real professional, or simply full of BS. The only person on that forum I would trust is Mike Holt. And I can guarantee you anything, that Mike would disagree. Go ahead - start the discussion. If Mike answers and is with you, I may consider changing my opinion.
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TOOL_5150

TOOL_5150

Senior Member
Location
bay area, ca
Show me how thats a code violation, and Ill buy you dinner.

Its common practice to put a panel behind the swing of a door. As long as you have your 2 required clearances, you are not violating any NEC articles.

Those guys on dslreports think they know everything about everything... I dont go to other forums for just that reason.

~Matt
 
iMuse97

iMuse97

Senior Member
Location
Chicagoland
we did 32 high end condos (flexicore floors; underground garage, etc) and each unit had the panel behind the laundry door, or another door, in certain floorplans. I'm not much, my name's not Mike Holt, and I don't believe anything I post on this forum.
 
electricmanscott

electricmanscott

Senior Member
Location
Boston, MA
Forum wars '09! :grin:

Those guys are clueless on several levels.

Probably a bunch of metal box, #12 only, ground uppers. :cool:

The quote in the op was from "whizkid3" Obviously if he knew what he was talking about he'd be higher up in the whizkid hierarchy!
 
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mcclary's electrical

mcclary's electrical

Senior Member
Location
VA
Call the county of Albemarle and tell them that the Service I put in and got inspected yesterday should have never passed inspection!! The best thing to do about this situation is ignore these clueless people. IF they find a code reference to back this made up clearance issue,,,,,then tell them tp provide it to us. They won't be able to do it because THERE IS NONE!! This is a very simple thing to solve. Tell them to:

PROVE IT
 
infinity

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
This is not an NEC violation. So called "electrical professionals" misapply the NEC and make mistakes everyday. Just go back and read the thread here about inspectors who are only allowing 2 NM cables in a firestopped hole. That would be one example of someone who's an "electrical professional" who is simply ill-informed. I didn't read that entire thread that was provided in the link but I would ask those "electrical professionals" for the wording in the NEC that prohibits a panel behind a door.
 
e57

e57

Senior Member
Location
San Francisco, CA
Not a code violation, and a very common placement by some. The door is not in the work-space, but I have not been fond of the idea of having the door operate while I was working in a panel.... Nor IMO does the door do a good job of hiding it when it is closed - so whats the point? IMO - you better off putting it in the center of a hall wall where someone will hang a picture over it.... :roll: (most likely - eventually putting a nail right in the feeder...)

As for the other forum - they are fools and morons! :grin: Morons as they do not see there are many practices that do not comply with their opinions, and fools to call it their own practices "code" with no substantiation, or realizing that there are many other code compliant practices out there. That said, I have been both before.... ;)
 
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nhfire77

Senior Member
Location
NH
Sounds like that guy nunya has never been the creative type. So silly to be so rigid to an assumption.
 
e57

e57

Senior Member
Location
San Francisco, CA
iMuse97 said:
No need to elaborate....:grin:

More seriously, your defining comment is something I would do well to keep in mind on occasion.
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Which comment? elaborate... I'm more than confident to step into the line of fire and say I have been wrong before about things, and equally confident to stand up for what I believe is the facts of certain things.... And sometimes later admit I was wrong about those too - sometimes... ;)

jeremysterling said:
Which are you afraid of: the door knob or the live bus?:grin:
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I have no fear of the knob, too low to go anywhere - its the coat hook that gets you... ;) The shorter guys may need to worry about the knob more...
 
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norcal

Senior Member
The one advantage to placing a panel behind a door is never(well almost never) having to worry about stuff being stored in the working space.
 
mxslick

mxslick

Senior Member
Location
SE Idaho
Like my pet peeve about panels in bedrooms, a panel behind a door is NOT a Code violation. Perhaps whoever got that notion started "over there" got whacked by a door once and decided it wasn't legal because of their own bad experience. :roll:

And I wouldn't trust anyone named "whizkid" anything to have the slightest clue about anything. :grin:
 
Jim W in Tampa

Jim W in Tampa

Senior Member
Location
Tampa Florida
norcal said:
The one advantage to placing a panel behind a door is never(well almost never) having to worry about stuff being stored in the working space.
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Exactly. Any other location will easily end up with a bed, nightstand or dresser. Lock the door and your likely safe or if need be put a wedge in front of it. Some of us have been here for many years but guess we are handymen. Hate to think if 1 of them from that site turned inspector.
 
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