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Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Question:
Hello CQD, can the service entrance cable be concealed after the drip loop, without entering the building (for example: behind siding, inside soffit material, etc.) and re-emerge into the top of the meter? If not, what code section would this violate? Thank you, Andrew Dobbins
A
Answer:
Hello Andrew, and thanks for the great question. This question is one of those that will need guidance from the NEC® and the Building Code.
The Building Code would assist in determining when the conductors have broken the building envelope and are actually considered to have entered the building. The
NEC® does not specifically limit how much Service Entrance Conductor or Cable enters a building, however Section 230.70(A)(1) does specify an indoor Service Disconnect shall be installed nearest to the point of entrance of the service conductors. The intent of this is to limit the length of utility protected service conductor inside the building/structure. The final NEC® Section to take into consideration is Section 230.50(B)(1) which requires Service Entrance Cable to protected where subject to physical damage. Installing Service Entrance Cable behind the siding of a building would likely create a scenario where the Cable is considered subject to physical damage, and one of the protection methods listed in Section 230.50(B)(1), (1)-(6), would need to be implemented.