brycenesbitt
Senior Member
- Location
- United States
I work in an area where many buildings, including apartments, were built to a 3 foot setback. Smaller lots still have a 3 foot setback. Some inspectors are chill with this and willing to approve modifications to existing electrical in those setbacks. Others, not so much.
We had new equipment for this existing wall:
There's roughly 38 inches from the wall to the fence. The existing meters and shutoff equipment stick out 9 to 14 inches along with a ton of other crap from cable TV to fiber and more.
The AHJ would not allow on working space grounds (NEC CEC 110.26).
We looked at NEC 110.26(A)(1)(C) but it could not be invoked because the equipment was new not replaced and would not have helped anyway.
This AHJ does not really know how to read the CEBC (Existing Building Code) favorably.
The AHJ helpfully suggested replacing the entire service and moving it another wall of the building (a six month paperwork process not to mention the cost and that the new location is worse in most other ways). So that was a non-starter.
-----
So we took what may be an unusual approach, but maybe it's done elsewhere for similar situations. Just hogged out the wall a bit:
Moved the wire adding a receptacle inside for the resident. No interior drywall was harmed in the process.
Added insulating foam (there was no insulation before) and framed it in:
Got a small job stucco contractor out and finished it (and a few other needs on the same property at the same time):
That gave us the needed space.
We gained 3.5" for the depth of the wall, minus 1" of new foam for a total gain of just over 2.5" of working space gain.
It made some of the conduit ugly, but was just enough to get the AHJ to approve the installation.
Not quite the historic preservation of the Vautravers Building Move or the 1930 Indiana Bell Move, but the best we could muster on a Tuesday.
The world is a better place, with the impending hazard of inadequate working space fully averted thanks to the quick and decisive action of the AHJ field inspector.
We got our signoff and on to the next job. Happy holldays and best wishes for the upcoming year.
We had new equipment for this existing wall:
There's roughly 38 inches from the wall to the fence. The existing meters and shutoff equipment stick out 9 to 14 inches along with a ton of other crap from cable TV to fiber and more.
The AHJ would not allow on working space grounds (NEC CEC 110.26).
We looked at NEC 110.26(A)(1)(C) but it could not be invoked because the equipment was new not replaced and would not have helped anyway.
This AHJ does not really know how to read the CEBC (Existing Building Code) favorably.
The AHJ helpfully suggested replacing the entire service and moving it another wall of the building (a six month paperwork process not to mention the cost and that the new location is worse in most other ways). So that was a non-starter.
-----
So we took what may be an unusual approach, but maybe it's done elsewhere for similar situations. Just hogged out the wall a bit:
Moved the wire adding a receptacle inside for the resident. No interior drywall was harmed in the process.
Added insulating foam (there was no insulation before) and framed it in:
Got a small job stucco contractor out and finished it (and a few other needs on the same property at the same time):
That gave us the needed space.
We gained 3.5" for the depth of the wall, minus 1" of new foam for a total gain of just over 2.5" of working space gain.
It made some of the conduit ugly, but was just enough to get the AHJ to approve the installation.
Not quite the historic preservation of the Vautravers Building Move or the 1930 Indiana Bell Move, but the best we could muster on a Tuesday.
The world is a better place, with the impending hazard of inadequate working space fully averted thanks to the quick and decisive action of the AHJ field inspector.
We got our signoff and on to the next job. Happy holldays and best wishes for the upcoming year.
