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Sharing Handhole with Service Conductors

jar546

jar546

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I have a separate building that will have a feeder run to it from the main service. For convenience, there is already a handhole that has service conductors in it and is large enough to handle the additional underground conductors that are going to the separate structure. Am I allowed to run the feeders through the same handhole that is currently used for the service conductors? It sure would be convenient since there is even a spare conduit going to the handhole.
 
Sure, service conductors and feeders can share the same enclosure. NEC 230.7 only prohibits them from sharing the same "raceway or cable". So you'll need a separate conduit going to the handhole, but you indicate you have one.

Cheers, Wayne
 
wwhitney said:
Sure, service conductors and feeders can share the same enclosure. NEC 230.7 only prohibits them from sharing the same "raceway or cable". So you'll need a separate conduit going to the handhole, but you indicate you have one.

Cheers, Wayne
Click to expand...
Yes, you are correct for the 2020 NEC and previous versions. This was changed in the 2023 NEC. Per the new change in the 2023 NFPA 70:

230.7 Other Conductors.
Circuit conductors other than service conductors, shall not be installed in the same raceway, cable, handhole enclosure, or underground box as the service conductors.
Exception No. 1: Grounding electrode conductors or supply side bonding jumpers or conductors shall be permitted within service raceways.
Exception No. 2: Load management control conductors having overcurrent protection shall be permitted within service raceways.

Service conductors typically don't have overcurrent protection at their supply points; instead, they are safeguarded from overloads at their endpoints by service disconnect devices like fuses or circuit breakers. When service conductors share a conduit with feeder or branch-circuit conductors and a fault occurs, the resultant fault current may significantly exceed the carrying capacity of the feeder or branch-circuit conductors.

Regarding the space within a panelboard cabinet or similar electrical equipment enclosures, this area is not classified as a raceway per Article 100 and therefore isn't governed by the stipulations of section 230.7. It's permissible for service conductors, feeder conductors, and branch-circuit conductors to occupy the same gutter space in these enclosures. For instance, a panelboard cabinet gutter might manage a group of service conductors that connect to a 200-ampere main breaker, alongside feeder conductors that power an adjacent panelboard, and multiple branch circuit conductors that enter the cabinet from below to link with the overcurrent protective devices on the panelboard.
 
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