Service Panel in Laundry Room

[Nick Ostrowski]

I looked at a new construction house yesterday where the 200 amp main disconnect was located next to the front entry door and the main panel was located in the 2nd floor laundry room. The room had a washer and dryer, utility tub sink, electric water heater and a floor drain which is how I assume the builder feels they do not need to install an overflow pan beneath the washer. In any event, the outlets installed is this room are all GFIs. Using that same logic, the entire panel should then either be GFI protected (not possible) or located in a different room altogether. The water heater was set in an ovewrflow pan but no discharge line was installed so any water coming from the pan or washing machine would run onto the floor and towards the surface drain which was not all that far away from the panel.

Is this room considered a wet location like a bathroom thereby making it a prohibited location for a service panel/equipment panel/etc.?

[Rollie Meyers]

I looked at a new construction house yesterday where the 200 amp main disconnect was located next to the front entry door and the main panel was located in the 2nd floor laundry room. The room had a washer and dryer, utility tub sink, electric water heater and a floor drain which is how I assume the builder feels they do not need to install an overflow pan beneath the washer. In any event, the outlets installed is this room are all GFIs. Using that same logic, the entire panel should then either be GFI protected (not possible) or located in a different room altogether. The water heater was set in an ovewrflow pan but no discharge line was installed so any water coming from the pan or washing machine would run onto the floor and towards the surface drain which was not all that far away from the panel.

Is this room considered a wet location like a bathroom thereby making it a prohibited location for a service panel/equipment panel/etc.?

Nope.

[Donald Farrell]

I'm curious as to why the main service panelboard is so far from the service entry point.

Was there a variance granted for this home or does the wiring from the service entry point conform to the requirements of the NEC?

[Bill Kriegh]

Why would you to believe this to be considered a wet, or even damp location? There needs to be a malfunction of something for the room to become wet or damp, and these same malfunctions can make any other room in the residence just as wet given a bit of time.

The sink is the only thing triggering a requirement for GFCIs in the room, and even then it's only required for those within 6 feet of the sink.

[Bill Kriegh]

I'm curious as to why the main service panelboard is so far from the service entry point.

Was there a variance granted for this home or does the wiring from the service entry point conform to the requirements of the NEC?

The service disconnect sounds like it is placed near the service entry point. Any panels attached after the disconnect can be installed in any legal location, or be part of it.

[Donald Farrell]

Bill,

I agree and I apologize for not being clear. The conformance I was referring to concerned the panelboard feeder.

If this home was built under 2008 code, then the feeder must be four wire and the ground and Neutral must be isolated from each other.

This panelboard would be treated a a secondary (for want of a better description and with no intention of re-starting the war of words over the nomenclature for this panelboard) panelboard.

[Roger Frazee]

Bill,

I agree and I apologize for not being clear. The conformance I was referring to concerned the panelboard feeder.

If this home was built under 2008 code, then the feeder must be four wire and the ground and Neutral must be isolated from each other.

This panelboard would be treated a a secondary (for want of a better description and with no intention of re-starting the war of words over the nomenclature for this panelboard) panelboard.


Don

The concern is " where is the service equipment located" after that (load side) it's just an interior panel. It would have to be four wire from the service equipment to the interior panel board regardless. 4 wire has been required on all the code cycles to a panelboard located in/on the same dwelling as the service equipment for many many years.

[Nick Ostrowski]

Why would you to believe this to be considered a wet, or even damp location? There needs to be a malfunction of something for the room to become wet or damp, and these same malfunctions can make any other room in the residence just as wet given a bit of time.

The sink is the only thing triggering a requirement for GFCIs in the room, and even then it's only required for those within 6 feet of the sink.

I asked because I wasn't sure Bill.

[John Steinke]

For the answer to these questions, I direct all to Article 90 of the NEC, Namely, the parts that say that the codebook is not a design manual, or an instruction manual, and that a prior understanding of the trade is required in order to apply it.

I also will take a moment to bemoan the absolute, inverted nonsense that passes for logic these days.

When the service disconnect needs to be near the service ... that says nothing about the rest of the installation. There's no requirement for the 'panel' to be anywhere near the service disconnect. It need not even be in the building.

Likewise, GFCI rules apply to 'outlets' or 'receptacles.' They do not apply to anything else. Where the code says 'receptacles,' the requirement does not apply to any other form of outlet, such as a light. Nor is a switch any sort of 'outlet.'

Likewise, when the code says 'bathroom,' it means 'bathroom.' Not any room that sort of resembles a bathroom.

For that matter, even a real bathroom is not a 'wet' location; just select areas might be. It's quite possible to have a bathroom without there being any 'wet' areas.