Panel 11ft above the basement floor

[Sam Morris]

WRONG SAFETY ISSUE: The working plate form is above the steps, but you have to get a ladder to shut the main off because panel is above the basements steps (copied form code book) Overcurrent protection devices shall be readily accessible and shall be installed so that the center of the grip of the operating handle of the switch or circuit breaker, when in its highest position, is not more than (6 ft 7 in.) above the floor or working platform. Never seen this before ( I guess the platform comes into play and its acceptable)

Similar Threads:

• Cracks on basement floor
• Concrete floor slab, above basement.
• basement floor waterproofing?
• Strange Box in Basement Floor
• Basement Floor - sloped

[david shapiro]

Fun one. NEC 110.33 (2020, but not new) says that if equipment over 1kV is on a platform, you need a permanent ladder or stairs. (My underscore.) For ratings under 1 kV, all we have is the parent language of 110.26: "Access and working space shall be provided and maintained about all electrical equipment to provide ready and safe operation and maintenance." The AHJ, that's you in this case unless the authorities are called in, get to decide whether that ladder allows ready enough access.

[Jerry Peck]

Least we forget:

First:
- 240.24 Location in or on Premises.
- - (A) Accessibility. Switches containing fuses and circuit breakers shall be readily accessible and installed such that blah, blah, blah

"Readily accessible" mean no portable ladder is permitted.

Second:
- 110.26(A) Working Space.
- - (minimum working space is 3 feet in front of the equipment by a minimum 30 inches wide)

From the photo, it fails both of those.

Regarding height above the floor of the working space, if ... IF ... that platform meets the requirements for working space, measure from the floor of the platform.

That still leaves the "readily accessible" part though.

[Jerry Peck]

I thought about what I remembered it said and re-read it to make sure.

... panel is above the basements steps ...

Your ladder is set on the stairs to the basement?

What is on the other side of the wall the panel is on?

[david shapiro]

Spot on, Jerry.

Now if by saying "Main," he means not just that it's a MCB but the service switch, we have the question of whether it's as near as possible to the point of entry of the unprotected service conductors. If an outsidfe disconnect was not a reasonable option, this could be a case where the AHJ specified "put it right there." He could even have said "Build a platform, and you can use a ladder, so long as you leave it there except when you go down the stairs." No 90.2(C) letter, of course.

If it is a service panel, in most of the country there would have been a cut-in notice, so the AHJ would have been involved. Hopefully this means the platform would provide clear working space.

I recognize that I'm running wild with speculation.

[Jerry Peck]

Sam,

A couple of finer points for discussion:

WRONG SAFETY ISSUE:

Huh?? "wrong safety issue"? What is a "right safety issue"?

... (copied form code book) Overcurrent protection devices shall be readily accessible and shall be installed so that the center of the grip of the operating handle of the switch or circuit breaker, when in its highest position, is not more than (6 ft 7 in.) above the floor or working platform.

If you are going to copy the code section, you need to also include the code it is from and the code section number if you want someone to believe you and be able to verify that you know what you are talking about, such as: From the (include year of the edition, such as 2014, 2017, 2020) National Electrical Code, Section 240.24(A) (A) Accessibility. Switches containing fuses and circuit breakers shall be readily accessible and installed such that ... (include the entire wording of the section, or, if the code section is quite long or has exceptions, and you don't want to type the entire code section, then state it is as something like this: Section 240.24(A) includes the following requirement "Accessibility. Switches containing fuses and circuit breakers shall be readily accessible ... ", and the definition for "readily accessible" does not allow for the use of portable ladders).

It may seem like it gets complicated, but you said "(copied form code book)", so you need to say what code you copied if from, and, as you can see by what I copied and typed from the code book, the wording is different from your wording ... my wording was copied/typed from the 2017 NEC, which edition was yours from?

I know ... picky ... picky ... picky ... but as soon as you say "(copied form code book)" ... it needs to be copied from code book verbatim.