2020 230.85 Emergency Disconnect

[tdebrum]

Your interpretation please,230.85 says For one and two family dewllings,in your areas is this subjected to residential detached garages that will have there own meter installed.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

IMO, the code says dwelling units so the garage would not need to comply with this section. However, IMO the intent of the section probably would have intended the same for any dwelling & associated buildings buildings

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I would run it by your authority having jurisdiction to be safe

 

[infinity]

My 2 cents, a dwelling is a dwelling. A garage is not a dwelling. A feeder run to a garage doesn't require the emergency disconnect either.

 

[tdebrum]

IMO, the code says dwelling units so the garage would not need to comply with this section. However, IMO the intent of the section probably would have intended the same for any dwelling & associated buildings buildings

I think its a good idea to do it,but wish code would be consistent with wording,elsewhere in code they make note dwellings and garages and other buildings.

 

[tdebrum]

My 2 cents, a dwelling is a dwelling. A garage is not a dwelling. A feeder run to a garage doesn't require the emergency disconnect either.

I Agree.

 

[tdebrum]

I would run it by your authority having jurisdiction to be safe

I Did.He's asking to install.

 

[infinity]

I Did.He's asking to install.

Unless there is a local code it's not required by the NEC for a garage. Are you going to install one anyway?

 

[tdebrum]

Unless there is a local code it's not required by the NEC for a garage. Are you going to install one anyway?

Yes,kinda put the cart ahead of the horse.

 

[infinity]

Yes,kinda put the cart ahead of the horse.

I get it but the inspector should still be told that he's dead wrong.

 

[retirede]

A feeder run to a garage doesn't require the emergency disconnect either.

However, the emergency disconnect for the dwelling also deenergizes the garage in that case.

 

[charlie b]

Might I be allow to suggest that we stop using the word "emergency" as part of the phrase "emergency disconnect"? The required "service disconnecting means" is not intended to serve as an "emergency" method of turning off power. I get that a fire can be classified as an "emergency situation," and that the fire-fighters will want to turn off all power before spraying water. But that will likely be tens of minutes after the fire was detected. Turning off the "service disconnecting means" will therefore not be an "emergency action," but rather part of the first responders' normal course of action in tackling a fire.

When I see the phrase "emergency disconnect," what comes to my mind is, "Oh no! That person is touching a live wire and is getting shocked. I must find a way, and very quickly, to turn off power, in the hopes of saving their life." That, I would say, is not the reason the NEC requires installation of a "service disconnecting means."

I'll step down from the soap box now.

 

[infinity]

The wording Emergency Disconnect is right out of the 2020 NEC, not sure what else to call it.

230.85 Emergency Disconnects.
For one- and two-family dwelling units, all service conductors shall terminate in disconnecting means having a short-circuit current rating equal to or greater than the available fault current, installed in a readily accessible outdoor location. If more than one disconnect is provided, they shall be grouped. Each disconnect shall be one of the following:
(1) Service disconnects marked as follows:
EMERGENCY DISCONNECT,
SERVICE DISCONNECT
(2) Meter disconnects installed per 230.82(3) and marked as follows:
EMERGENCY DISCONNECT,
METER DISCONNECT,
NOT SERVICE EQUIPMENT
(3) Other listed disconnect switches or circuit breakers on the supply side of each service disconnect that are suitable for use as service equipment and marked as follows:
EMERGENCY DISCONNECT,
NOT SERVICE EQUIPMENT
Markings shall comply with 110.21(B).

 

[charlie b]

The wording Emergency Disconnect is right out of the 2020 NEC, not sure what else to call it.

It's not in the 2014, and my copy of the 2017 is "stuck" at my office. The 2020 is not in effect here yet, so I wouldn't consult it for answers (besides, it only arrived two days ago, and I haven't had time to look it over). You could, however, just call it a "service disconnect," as is explained in the (new) article you posted.

 

[infinity]

It's not in the 2014, and my copy of the 2017 is "stuck" at my office. The 2020 is not in effect here yet, so I wouldn't consult it for answers (besides, it only arrived two days ago, and I haven't had time to look it over). You could, however, just call it a "service disconnect," as is explained in the (new) article you posted.

Problem with service disconnect is that that term already has an NEC defined meaning. The emergency disconnect does not have to be the service disconnect. Simple right?

 

[ActionDave]

We really, really need to move to a five year code cycle, even ten, it is increasingly apparent that these people don't have enough actual dangerous things to work on.