Outdoor Switchboard

[JSE Houston]

NEC 230 says you may have up to six service disconnect switches. It also says the service switchboard may be inside or outside the building.

If switchboard is outside the building are you still allowed to have up to six switches?

Is there some maximum distance the switchboard must be from the building to be considered part of the building? I have an electrician's handbook (not NEC) that said the acceptable distance is 50 feet.

 

[raider1]

If switchboard is outside the building are you still allowed to have up to six switches?

Yes.

Is there some maximum distance the switchboard must be from the building to be considered part of the building?

You will find varying opinions as to how far a disconnect can be off of a building and still be part of a building. IMHO the disconnect must be on the building.

I have an electrician's handbook (not NEC) that said the acceptable distance is 50 feet.

I believe that you are reading the definition of "in sight from" from Article 100, that applys to disconnecting means that are required to be within sight from a specific item, such as a motor.

Chris

 

[raider1]

By the way welcome to the forum.

Chris

 

[JSE Houston]

We are working on a building that once had a buss weatherhead about 20 feet from the building and a 1200 amp switchboard in the adjacent mechanical room. Another engineer put a 2000 amp switchboard at the weatherhead location, backfed the old switchboard and added another circuit to feed new things in the building. I am adding an addition to the building and want to add another circuit to the switchboard. The code official says NEC 225.30 only allows one feed to a second building or structure and says the switchboard is the first building or structure!!? It already has two feeds and how can a switchboard be counted as a structure? This seems a very odd interpretation of the code. I am presently looking for some handbook or article that discusses how to interpret this situation.