Tagged Meter

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Buck Parrish

Buck Parrish

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NC & IN
The customers house has not had the power on in three years. They will be renovating.
The city said to the customer. They would have to have an electrician tag the meter.
This was in Indianapolis. I'ts not my area.
I have never heard this term used before.
Has any body else ?
What does it mean ?
 
no way to know w/o calling the ahj;

i could assume it means having an electrician inspect and approve the connection. one of the ahj's i work in requires a tag placed on the meter that says 'approved' before the poco can connect.
 
Thanks,
I think the customer must have phrased it wrong. The city probably told her to hire an electriican first to permit it and check it out for safety.

Then the (ahj) would tag the meter.
So the poco would turn it on.
 
In my area, if power has been off for more than one calendar year, the service & all wiring must be brought up to current Codes. You can't just say, "Ahhh, it looks good" and energize it.
 
480sparky said:
In my area, if power has been off for more than one calendar year, the service & all wiring must be brought up to current Codes. You can't just say, "Ahhh, it looks good" and energize it.
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Wow, that is a strict code.
 
I work under many different power companies, and they all have a similar 1-year rule. If the power's been off for a year or more, an electrician must sign a paper stating that the interior wiring is safe before the power will be turned back on. The local electricians (myself included), seem to feel that the interior wiring is not safe unless it complies with the current NEC, so that's how we work things.
 
1 year is pretty lenient. the jurisdiction i work in mostly requires an inspection for reconnect no matter how long its been off. and it must meet the current code.

i had a guy call once and needed a price for a service upgrade on some duplexes. he had power disconnected on vacant halves and when he got them rented, the inspection dept wouldn't reconnect w/o a service upgrade. i think he said the power had been off for a couple of months.
 
mdshunk said:
I work under many different power companies, and they all have a similar 1-year rule. If the power's been off for a year or more, an electrician must sign a paper stating that the interior wiring is safe before the power will be turned back on. The local electricians (myself included), seem to feel that the interior wiring is not safe unless it complies with the current NEC, so that's how we work things.
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That's how it works here, though the wiring only has to be safe, not brought up to current code. The idea of bringing it up to current code just because the power has been off doesn't sit well with me, even though I fully see the $$$ angle there. If I buy a foreclosed abandoned house that's been sitting for a year I should have the right to decide if I want to modernize the wiring or not.
 
peter d said:
If I buy a foreclosed abandoned house that's been sitting for a year I should have the right to decide if I want to modernize the wiring or not.
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Foreclosed: Meaning.....Free copper, help yourself. :mad:
 
growler said:
Foreclosed: Meaning.....Free copper, help yourself. :mad:
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Yeah, generally speaking that is the case. Obviously in those cases repairs are needed, but not necessarily a complete rewire. Although I have heard that some thieves are tearing walls open to steal wire.
 
peter d said:
Yeah, generally speaking that is the case. Obviously in those cases repairs are needed, but not necessarily a complete rewire. Although I have heard that some thieves are tearing walls open to steal wire.
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One of the things getting much more popular is R-22 refrigerant. The price of a jug of R-22 went from 30 dollars a bottle to 300 dollars a bottle over the last 18 months. I've switched most of my units to tamper proof Schrader caps for that reason. One unit had a "leak" twice in 3 months. :cool:
 
growler said:
Foreclosed: Meaning.....Free copper, help yourself. :mad:
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Foreclosed has no bearing. If the power's been off for more than 365 days, it doesn't matter why. Could be the owner never paid the electric bill. Could be the house was flooded and took a year to rebuild. Could be the HO got sick/injured and had the power turned off. Or the HO died, and the house just sat vacant w/no power. Any number of reasons why it's been turned off. But after a year, it needs to be updated, at least if I'm doing it.
 
city requires inspect after 3 months here - but its an electrical contractor inspect and you dont have to bring anything to any year of code - just say its safe and pay the city and get paid yourself - i assume you would assume liability however
 
nolabama said:
city requires inspect after 3 months here - but its an electrical contractor inspect and you dont have to bring anything to any year of code - just say its safe and pay the city and get paid yourself - i assume you would assume liability however
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Well there it is. Why assume the liability for a property that doesn't meet current code?

Lawyer: Did you inspect the property?
You: yes.
Lawyer: Did you find it to meet safety stanards in place at that time?
You:
 
One could inspect the wiring to the IPMC or the IEBC and be totally fine, liability-wise, I would suspect. We've just got this wink and nod agreement going that it should be checked to the current NEC.
 
buckofdurham said:
The customers house has not had the power on in three years. . . This was in Indianapolis. . . What does it mean?
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I wrote the following and it is from the Goldbook:

This is from the Goldbook text, Section 102, Page 2 and is not all of Section 2.

"Inspections are needed if (see comment below about the service disconnect position):

A The service has been cut off for over 1 year

Service Disconnect Position Requirement for this Section Only​

In all cases where a service has been disconnected, the main disconnect (circuit breaker or fuses) shall be in the open (off) position or the service will not be reconnected."

It is required that the electrician pull a permit from the city and then to sign off that the interior wiring is safe to have the power turned on again. If it is obvious that there is no damage and nothing is really wrong, you sign off and pocket the profit. If power has been off for a year, I am am just guessing that there is a lot of damage and work needs to be done to receive a new connection. Assuming you are licensed in this jurisdiction, just pull the permit and do what is required. Note that the links to the Goldbook are not the same. :smile:
 
i can agree that an inspection after a year is a good idea. you never know what critters have moved in and chewed on stuff. visual on the meter base and panel and meg all circuits. but as far as upgradeing everything, that sounds like a big scam to me. so what your saying is if i built a new house a couple of years ago and had to leave for whatever reason so i turn off the utilities, now i have to upgrade everything to meet the new code cycle. thats a bunch of bs. you guys must not sleep very well knowing that everything you did in the last couple of years is going to burn down because its not up to the '08. dont get me wrong i have seen some scary stuff thats still in use and definately needs to be brought up, but on the other hand i have seen services that were built many years ago that are still in fine working order.
 
I do not believe that the City of Indianapolis requires an upgrade to the 2005 IEC (we have not adopted the 2008 yet). We are interested in someone else taking the responsibility that the wiring is still in good shape. In other words, since it has sat empty for at least a year, has had no heat, has been subject to vermin, has been subject to being a crack house (sorry, same as previous point), has been in freezing weather inside and out, etc. the wiring is suspect. The electrical inspector is not taking the time to pull receptacles and switches that look suspect, megger any circuits, verify that everything is still in tact, etc., that is the electrician's job. :smile:
 
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