Multi unit townhome service and meters

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Sparky5150

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When providing service to say a 4 unit townhome which is esentially 4 houses butted together with rated walls under one roof; do you always provide a meter center or can you locate indivdual meters and services on each of the 4 units?

What about 6 units? 8 units?


Thanks!!!!


Sparky
 
i've seen it done both ways. may be something to discuss w/ the poco. there's a large townhouse complex in an area i work, about 20 units per building. all have their own meter base; some mounted by the back door of each, and some by the front door of each.
 
Depends..... Since it is one roof, probably one foundation, i.e single structure - Grouping is an issue - so they would be all together - prefferably from single set of SE conductors, and single grounding system - then access becomes an issue.... Needs to be someplace of common access if OCP is involved, and general access since the POCO is involved. And metering is one of those things architechs don't seem to think about providing an area for.... As they should...
 
In the OP you called it a townhome. Around here that means each tenent owns the land and everything between the including the common walls. It is also refered to as a zero lot line house. In that instance we are not allowed to run the sub feeds thru one unit to get to another. This means grouping is not an option. Now, if you call it a condo where as association owns the land and the tenants purchase only the air space betweens the common walls you would be okay. I'm sure it vary's greatly from POCO to POCO but the IBC night actually have something to say about running thru your neighbors house as well.
 
glad to see someone else has that "situation". In this area we have/had townhouses, townhomes, town-condos, condos, and of course duplex and multifamily units. Over the years the AHJ and POCO have addressed these in many different ways. It's usually a "shockin" states, but I'd sure suggest talking with your AHJ and POCO before taking any action.
 
Town Houses

Town Houses

If these units are separated by one hour fire wall between each unit in our jurisdiction they are treated as separate buildings. This would also apply to a strip mall with fire separations.Check with Fire Marshall for determination or Building official for a ruling.
 
Depends on the utility. It is an unlucky owner that gets the meter center on their house. I favor doing every set of two with a 2-gang socket straddling half-and-half on each unit if I can. A four unit building would have two, 2-gang sockets in that case.
 
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