FIve row houses fed from modular metering

[megavolt]

My client is a neighborhood civic improvement entity. They have a campaign to eliminate overhead power and communications lines in front of five historic buildings. Each building is separately owned. Four buildings have two tenants and the fifth has four tenants. Before I was retained by the civic organization, that organization had a contractor install a twelve-meter modular assembly with a 1200A. fused main installed on an outside wall of the end building. The contractor had purportedly received approval from the AHJ to feed all buildings through the building basements. The inspector would not approve based on 230.3 (2008 NEC in effect in Pennsylvania). I was retained to design underground feeders from the existing modular metering to the basements of the five buildings. I included a splice box immediately inside each basement wall where the direct-buried USE-2 conductors transition to Type SER. The Plan Reviewer has failed my design citing 225-30. I contend that since the buildings are NOT under single management 225-30 does not apply.

 

[kwired]

My client is a neighborhood civic improvement entity. They have a campaign to eliminate overhead power and communications lines in front of five historic buildings. Each building is separately owned. Four buildings have two tenants and the fifth has four tenants. Before I was retained by the civic organization, that organization had a contractor install a twelve-meter modular assembly with a 1200A. fused main installed on an outside wall of the end building. The contractor had purportedly received approval from the AHJ to feed all buildings through the building basements. The inspector would not approve based on 230.3 (2008 NEC in effect in Pennsylvania). I was retained to design underground feeders from the existing modular metering to the basements of the five buildings. I included a splice box immediately inside each basement wall where the direct-buried USE-2 conductors transition to Type SER. The Plan Reviewer has failed my design citing 225-30. I contend that since the buildings are NOT under single management 225-30 does not apply.

I fail to see any language in 225.30 that mentions anything about single or multiple ownership/management. If there is overcurrent protection at the meter(s) then you have feeders to each building. If you can get AHJ to call each tenant space (possibly with proper fire walls) a separate building then you might be able to do it that way if feeders go directly to each tenant space without passing through another space.