800amp building service sitting in water

[Lowly Maintenance Guy]

To preface this, I'm not an electrician. I am however scared of getting fried or having one of the guys get injured or killed out on the floor.

So the building I work in has a 800amp panel that's sitting in an area that is constantly wet. What does the NEC say about main power service sitting in water. Not that it matters but the water fluctuates between an 1/8th of an inch to 1" where it puddles around the cabinet. Bottom of the cabinet is constantly wet and is rusting if that matters (I'm thinking it might)

 

[charlie b]

As long as the live electrical parts are not submerged by one inch of water (and I can't envision that happening), it is not likely to create a shock hazard. However, if an electrician needs to investigate an issue with the panel while it is energized, standing in an inch of water would make that job more dangerous to the worker.

If the bottom of the cabinet is rusting, you do have a maintenance issue. For starters, do you know why there is water in this room? What efforts have been made to prevent water from getting into the room? How old is this panel and, aside from rust forming on the bottom, what is its overall condition? Would the building's owner be willing to consider replacing the panel with one more modern, one that can be mounted on the wall?

 

[Lowly Maintenance Guy]

That entire side of the shop is dedicated to cutting and polishing granite and marble so there are quite a few machines and hand polishers dumping water on the floor which then runs into the drains and is recycled by our water systems. That's the reason for the water on the floor in the first place. There is a barrier in place around the panel but its only about 1.25" tall so when the water systems get backed up or if the guys are using water to clean up then the water will overflow the barrier and add to the standing water inside. The cabinet overall looks to be in good shape other than the rust at the bottom, I'm not sure how old it is but this end of the building was finished around 2005 or so. No hope of getting it replaced unless there is a serious violation that forces the matter. We have electricians coming out to add a run for a new air compressor and I just wanted to make sure that they along with my guys in the shop are safe in that area.

 

[petersonra]

I agree with Charlie. A little water around the base of the cabinet is not especially dangerous. It might add a slight amount of risk to someone working inside the panel while it is live, but safety rules mostly prohibit live work.

It does present a slipping hazard though so you should instruct your employees to stay away from puddles of water.