dwelling vs residence

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j9DuBois

j9DuBois

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Is there a difference between a dwelling and a residence? as in, when hooking up a 300 amp service to 10 residences with a common area....

Thanks
 
j9DuBois said:
Is there a difference between a dwelling and a residence? as in, when hooking up a 300 amp service to 10 residences with a common area....

Thanks
Click to expand...
FWIW, the term residence is used only 3 times, in its plural form residences, in the entire 2011 NEC. Each of those 3 times it is in an Informational Note.

In your case, you would have 10 dwelling units, also known as a multi-family dwelling.
 
NEC chooses to use the word "dwelling" and has a definition for what that word means whenever it is used in the rest of the document.

By not choosing to define the word "residence" they have taken care to not use the word in the document to avoid any confusion over what was intended by any section using the word "dwelling"

Even a dictionary definition of dwelling may not be specific enough to intend what the code making panels intend so they choose to create their own definition that applies to the use of that word in the document. Same goes for any other definition published in the document. Art 100 definitions apply to the entire document, any definitions in other sections only apply when the word is used in those sections.
 
Thanks

Thanks

I was asked a question:
As an E.I. you arrive for a final inspection of the 300 amp service. There are 10 'residences' and a common area, what do you look for?

The Q was NOT dwelling unit, guest room, or hotel. but 'residence'.
 
j9DuBois said:
I was asked a question:
As an E.I. you arrive for a final inspection of the 300 amp service. There are 10 'residences' and a common area, what do you look for?

The Q was NOT dwelling unit, guest room, or hotel. but 'residence'.
Click to expand...

There are too many different ways the actual premises could be structured to give a simple answer.
This might be what is called a Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotel. Each "residence" has no private bathroom or cooking facilities.
It could be group home with extra privacy.
It could be a condominium with individually owned dwelling units and common property belonging to the condo association.
It could be an apartment complex with free standing or stacked units and a common access and rec area.
(Some of those seem unlikely given the limits of a 300 amp service, but....)

As stated, there is no answer except that maybe the first thing I would look for is evidence of what it actually is! :)
 
GoldDigger said:
There are too many different ways the actual premises could be structured to give a simple answer.
This might be what is called a Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotel. Each "residence" has no private bathroom or cooking facilities.
It could be group home with extra privacy.
It could be a condominium with individually owned dwelling units and common property belonging to the condo association.
It could be an apartment complex with free standing or stacked units and a common access and rec area.
(Some of those seem unlikely given the limits of a 300 amp service, but....)

As stated, there is no answer except that maybe the first thing I would look for is evidence of what it actually is! :)
Click to expand...

Not following you at all.

To the NEC it is either a dwelling unit, a multi-dwelling unit or a non-dwelling.
 
j9DuBois said:
I was asked a question:
As an E.I. you arrive for a final inspection of the 300 amp service. There are 10 'residences' and a common area, what do you look for?

The Q was NOT dwelling unit, guest room, or hotel. but 'residence'.
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter what you were asked. What matters when applying the NEC is if the definition of dwelling unit is met. Definition of dwelling unit in the NEC does not include whether or not the dwelling is a permanent or transient condition.

Take a large hotel for example. You may have a variety of different types of occupancy in this kind of building depending on the use of each particular area. There is typically "guest rooms" and/or "guest suites" both of which are also defined in art 100. These guest rooms can also meet the definition of dwelling unit in some cases, if they do then anything that applies to other dwelling units applies to these guest rooms also.

In that same building you may also have conference rooms, ball rooms, etc. If the occupancy of said rooms is more than 100 then that area is a "place of assembly". If the hotel has a restaurant, lounge, etc. you also likely have a commercial kitchen. Many such buildings have swimming pools, elevators, which bring in another code chapter for those areas. Put the hotel next to a body of water and you may also have a marina which is covered by yet another code article.
 
j9DuBois said:
I was asked a question:
As an E.I. you arrive for a final inspection of the 300 amp service. There are 10 'residences' and a common area, what do you look for?

The Q was NOT dwelling unit, guest room, or hotel. but 'residence'.
Click to expand...

The problem is the EI's failure to use the proper terminology; start there.
 
j9DuBois said:
I was asked a question:
As an E.I. you arrive for a final inspection of the 300 amp service. There are 10 'residences' and a common area, what do you look for?

The Q was NOT dwelling unit, guest room, or hotel. but 'residence'.
Click to expand...

210.25(B) common area branch cercuits maybe the want you to look for a house panel and seperate metering for it.
Not sure!!!!!!!!!!
 
Gregg Harris said:
240.24 Location in or on Premises.

(B) Occupancy. Each occupant shall have ready access to all overcurrent devices protecting the conductors supplying that occupancy, unless otherwise permitted in 240.24(B)(1) and (B)(2).
Click to expand...

Gregg, I have absolutely no idea what you're driving at here. Maybe I'm a little slow today; help a fella out.
 
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