N.E.C. Section 300.5D

[WEILEROT]

I would like an opinion. We have been in a discussion whether or not a warning ribbon is required when the service conductors are placed in a raceway underground. Section 300.5(D) talks about "direct buried conductors". The warning ribbon requirement was added to the code in the 2002 code cycle. I personal contacted the submitter of the proposal and ask him if his intent was to have the warning ribbon apply to conductor in raceway. He told me it was the intent to have the warning ribbon to apply to raceway systems also. He said the code panel did not add it to the code as he wanted. They put the requirement for the warning ribbon to apply to direct buried conductors. Searching the public inputs that was submitted to for the 2017 code cycle, the same submitter has a public input to have raceway added to the 30.5(D) section. The response of the code panel was that section 300.5(D) never was intended to apply to service conductors in a raceway. In my opinion, the way the code section reads now, that a warning ribbon is not required. Unless there is a public comment for the public input and accepted, a warning ribbon will not be required for conductors in raceway systems.


Herb

 

[luckylerado]

I read it to apply only to service conductors and cables that are direct buried.

 

[kwired]

I have found the main convenience of marker tapes when excavating is that by the time you notice them - you will know which utility you will be calling before you ever see what damage you alread did:happyyes:

 

[infinity]

The NEC does not require the tape for raceways.

 

[kenman215]

The NEC does not require the tape for raceways.

This to me is one of those frustrating moments with the code. You sometimes find yourself having to do things that are obviously overkill and oft times expensive, yet something so obviously valuable and inexpensive to pull off is neglected. If you're operating heavy equipment in any kind of soil other than sand, you won't feel the machine hitting a conduit until it's too late. My company does its own excavation work and I ran a job where we replaced all of the existing underground primary and secondary cabling on a large town home site, all of it done around the existing live direct-buried cables. We gladly taped every inch of the 20,000 ft of conduit. Should be code, IMO.

 

[kwired]

If you are excavating with a backhoe and there is sufficient distance between the warning tape and the utility it marks - it can be helpful.

If you are excavating with a trencher you often have already hit the buried utility before you ever notice the warning tape.

If you are horizontal boring you will never see the tape.

 

[kenman215]

If you are excavating with a backhoe and there is sufficient distance between the warning tape and the utility it marks - it can be helpful.

If you are excavating with a trencher you often have already hit the buried utility before you ever notice the warning tape.

If you are horizontal boring you will never see the tape.

Completely agree with your analysis, but I wonder what we'd come up with if it was broken down into percentages between heavy equip, trencher, or boring usage. Maybe 60, 30, 10? I'd settle for a code requirement that simple which potentially prevent damage half the time...