Tap conductor raceway - where must it start?

[LarryFine]

From the '02 NEC:

240.21(B)(1)(3) Except at the point of connection to the feeder, the tap conductors are enclosed in a raceway, which shall extend from the tap to the enclosure of an enclosed switchboard, panelboard, or control devices, or to the back of an open switchboard.

Where it says " . . . a raceway, which shall extend from the tap . . . ", does that mean the enclosure needs to start right next to the taps, inside the source enclosure, or merely connected to the source enclosure, like any other raceway would be?

 

[Smart $]

From the '02 NEC:
Where it says " . . . a raceway, which shall extend from the tap . . . ", does that mean the enclosure needs to start right next to the taps, inside the source enclosure, or merely connected to the source enclosure, like any other raceway would be?

I assume it to mean all portions of the tap coductors that ARE NOT [considered] in an enclosure must be in a raceway. In other words, tap conductors cannot be exposed.

An exception to the tap itself being in an enclosure might be tapping an overhead line run in free air. Such installations is why the requirement leaves the tap end rather non-specific.