Considered a seperate service or not?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Y

yankeeman411

Member
Location
nj
Quick question fellas. Im working in a parking garage that is attached to a condo. The feed for the garage comes from the switchgear in the condo. It enters the garage underground an goes to a metered ct cabinet then feeds a mdp which feeds 4 or 5 panels. Is this considered a seperate service and requires its own ground system or am i considered a sub and can i use the grounds coming drom the condo as my ground?

thanks
 
yankeeman411 said:
Quick question fellas. Im working in a parking garage that is attached to a condo. The feed for the garage comes from the switchgear in the condo. It enters the garage underground an goes to a metered ct cabinet then feeds a mdp which feeds 4 or 5 panels. Is this considered a seperate service and requires its own ground system or am i considered a sub and can i use the grounds coming drom the condo as my ground?

thanks
Click to expand...
As long as there is a disconnect with OCPD between those wires and POCO it is not a service.
Does the feed have both a grounded conductor and an EGC? It should.
Unless the garage can be treated as a separate building/structure because it is separated by a firewall from the main condo building AND something about the way it is wired requires that it be considered a second building, it should not need its own GES. You are free to add one or more ground electrodes, but definitely do not bond ground to neutral in the garage panel.
 
The parking garage is probably separately metered for accounting purposes, like a deduct meter for the irrigation system of a large complex or campus.
 
From your description it certainly does not sound like a service, however, you may still need a grounding electrode system if it is defined as a "separate building". The answer might take some research on architectural/engineered drawings and/or building inspection.
 
yankeeman411 said:
The building is seperated by a cinder block wall and the feed is 4 sets of 350s with 3 hots a neutral and a ground per set
Click to expand...

augie47 said:
From your description it certainly does not sound like a service, however, you may still need a grounding electrode system if it is defined as a "separate building". The answer might take some research on architectural/engineered drawings and/or building inspection.
Click to expand...
Likely wouldn't have a ground per set if it is a service. Aside from that, you are correct on how to go about determining whether it is considered a separate building or structure.
 
How are the conductors supplied?

If they are on load side of service disconnect at first structure (assuming we have more then one structure) then it is a feeder supplying a separate building.

If they are tied to supply side of service disconnect - there is likely a violation of 230.40:

Each service drop, set of overhead service conductors, set of underground service conductors, or service lateral shall supply only one set of service-entrance conductors.
Click to expand...

You should need a separate drop/lateral etc. to supply this separate building if supplying it with service conductors, but whatever is on POCO side of the "service point" sort of doesn't apply either.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top