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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    90

    Default Service wire installation concerns

    I have been told in the past that the electrical service wire cannot be installed under siding or trim, however this installation had the blessing of the local electrical official.
    Is it right or wrong?

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  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    57

    Default Re: Service wire installation concerns

    That is not correct, especially where the entrance cable enters the return and they wrapped aluminum around it. The sharp edges of the aluminum will cut into the cables protective sheathing.

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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Maryland
    Posts
    1,970

    Default Re: Service wire installation concerns

    The length of unfused cable inside the house is to be as short as practical. Under the siding is considered inside the building in my experience. It has nothing to do with any sharp edges. Sharp edges would be a concern wherever the cable was concerned even if fused.

    - - - Updated - - -

    The length of unfused cable inside the house is to be as short as practical. Under the siding is considered inside the building in my experience. It has nothing to do with any sharp edges. Sharp edges would be a concern wherever the cable was concerned even if fused.

    All answers based on unamended National Electrical codes.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Lansdale, PA
    Posts
    876

    Default Re: Service wire installation concerns

    It is wrong, but are you sure the siding and trim were not installed after the cable?

    Also, do not let the fact that a code official may have passed something cloud your judgment.


  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Fletcher, NC
    Posts
    28,032

    Default Re: Service wire installation concerns

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Port View Post
    The length of unfused cable inside the house is to be as short as practical. Under the siding is considered inside the building in my experience. It has nothing to do with any sharp edges. Sharp edges would be a concern wherever the cable was concerned even if fused.
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Reinmiller View Post
    It is wrong, but are you sure the siding and trim were not installed after the cable?

    Also, do not let the fact that a code official may have passed something cloud your judgment.
    Mark and Jim are both correct - the conductors are considered inside the building (are not considered outside the building would be the correct code statement) once the conductors penetrate or are behind any part of the building surface, and it does not matter which was done first ... and just because something was "signed off" does not mean it is correct, or that because someone said it was "signed off" actually means that it was inspected or "signed off" in the condition you now find it.

    Jerry Peck
    Construction/Litigation/Code Consultant - Retired
    www.AskCodeMan.com

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    16

    Default Re: Service wire installation concerns

    Quote Originally Posted by Richard Roshak View Post
    I have been told in the past that the electrical service wire cannot be installed under siding or trim, however this installation had the blessing of the local electrical official.
    Is it right or wrong?
    On a related topic. When I had a telephone I & M crew, we saw quite a few cases where the siding contractors put our service drop under the siding like that. Then when an oversized truck snagged the drop, or a tree branch came down on the drop during a storm, it opened the siding like a zipper.

    Dave


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia, electrical only
    Posts
    444

    Default Re: Service wire installation concerns

    Not to deny what's been said so far, here's an ancillary matter. At the 9/15/2015 meeting of the George Washington Chapter, IAEI, John Cangemi, a UL field rep, Code Making Panel member and and NYC electrical board member noted that when the HO finds SEC unsightly, one acceptable option is to cover it on three sides with vinyl gutter material.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Not to deny what's been said so far, here's an ancillary matter. At the 9/15/2015 meeting of the George Washington Chapter, IAEI, John Cangemi, a UL field rep, Code Making Panel member and and NYC electrical board member noted that when the HO finds SEC unsightly, one acceptable option is to cover it on three sides with vinyl gutter material. This also shields the sheath from deterioration by sunlight without putting it at possible risk as paint could. (No paints have been investigated for compatibility, so far as he knows.)


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