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would you call it a strucure

C

codeworks

Gold Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2011
Messages
579
Location
South Texas
i went to do an inspection at a local construction site the other day. metal box trailer (conex) used for site trailer. sub panel is mounted on exterior of the conex, the neutral and the ground buss are not separated ( no good #1), no ground rod or gec for this trailer (no good #2), conductors pass thru unbushed openings in back of subpanel ( no good #3). then, there are open thw/rhw-2 conductors laying on the surface of the ground to a pallet which has a small panel mounted for " construction power", about 80 feet away. holy cow. would you consider the pallet a structure? i called out that the conductors not permitted to be laid across the surface of the ground, need to be in conduit ( or extra heavy duty hard usage cord). would the panel at the pallet require a ground rod? (it fits the nec definition of structure, 'cause someone built it) i'm inclined to let it go with a 4wire feeder properly installed and grounded back to the main panel on the pole, which was properly installed. the pallet will be moved around the site at different times for depending on what they are doing with form work, etc. what do you think?
 
codeworks,

If they will be regularly moving the pallet around, IMO, it would

seem more prudent for the gec and other conductors to be properly

installed back to the panel, unless you plan on going by the job

site every time they move that pallet. A "Stop Work Order" does

amazing things to bring about quick compliance to unsafe conditions.

.
 
According to the definition of a structure it is my opinion that almost everything detached is a separate structure. This plays havoc when a 4x4 post driven into the ground is a structure. Anyway a Conex with many circuits would make me install a GEC and a separate EGC.
 
cant write a stop work order. all i can do is follow up and make sure they are making progress on getting corrections completed. i'm all over the gec and egc on the trailer. the "portable power panel" i think would be ok with a 4 wire extra hard usage cord, tied up on the fence so nothing gets dropped on it ( like a load of rebar or a bucket from a machine) i'l visit again tomorrow, thanks all
 
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