# 110.26(2) Who Needs it ??



## manchestersparky (Mar 25, 2007)

Contractor told me that having the required 30" width in front of the switch was not necessary ........


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## paulengr (Oct 8, 2017)

It's 42" under NFPA 101 and it's the space required for access by a firefighter with a Scott Air Pack and full turnout gear on.

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## Navyguy (Mar 15, 2010)

Brown, Orange, Yellow - it that typical phase colours?

Ours are Red, Black, Blue.

Edit - I see Red, Black, Blue in the Tranny...hmmm

Cheers
John


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## MotoGP1199 (Aug 11, 2014)

Navyguy said:


> Brown, Orange, Yellow - it that typical phase colours?
> 
> Ours are Red, Black, Blue.
> 
> ...


Yes, Brown, Oranage, Yellow is very common for 460-480V


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## manchestersparky (Mar 25, 2007)

Navyguy said:


> Brown, Orange, Yellow - it that typical phase colours?
> 
> Ours are Red, Black, Blue.
> 
> ...


Brown Orange Yellow - 480 /277 Primary
Black Red Blue 208/120 secondary


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## pudge565 (Dec 8, 2007)

Fail all day long.



paulengr said:


> It's 42" under NFPA 101 and it's the space required for access by a firefighter with a Scott Air Pack and full turnout gear on.
> 
> Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk


Inspector can't enforce NFPA 101, at least not the electrical inspector anyway.

I'm curious where NFPA 101 states that as well.

ETA: NFPA 101 7.4.2 talks about space about electrical equipment and refers you to NFPA 70 110.26(C) which is entrance to and egress from the equipment. I find nothing in 101 about working space of equipment at all.


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## paulengr (Oct 8, 2017)

I just checked. 42" was a local New Jersey Code and enforcement was the fire marshal so it's commercial/industrial. There's a lot of IBC vs, CABO they tended to use too.

Brown Orange Yellow is US convention for above 250 V but it gets used almost universally. Black, red, blue is for 208/230 but just to make it confusing the phasing is opposite the Canadian convention, which uses it for all phasing. I personally like it better because as BOY fades over time or gets dirty it can be extremely hard to tell the colors apart.

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## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

Also, in the US, a 120/240 3Ø 4 wire system is usually black-orange-blue. The high leg is orange as required (mostly.....) by 110.15

Further, the high leg must be B phase as required by 408.3(E)

Notice that you need to look up 2 different code sections in order to hook up a high-leg ∆ system. Isn't our code wonderful.......


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

The longer I go in the trade, the less I care about the NEC.


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## Barjack (Mar 28, 2010)

manchestersparky said:


> Contractor told me that having the required 30" width in front of the switch was not necessary ........


There is a good chance this installation would pass around here.

Does your interpretation of 110.26(A)(2) mean that each piece of equipment requires its own 30" space?

Since the word 'Equipment' is admittedly a loose word as far as the NEC....



> *Equipment.* A general term, including material, fittings,
> devices, appliances, luminaires, apparatus, machinery, and
> the like used as a part of, or in connection with, an electrical
> installation.


....a lot of people (me included) see it as the installation in general, and use that 30" requirement to place equipment with respect to non electrical obstructions.

I realize that your pic is an extreme example, but installing gear of different depths side by side has always been allowed.

I'm not saying I would have installed any of this gear as it is shown. I just know the difficulty in getting a lot of equipment into a small space.


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## cabletie (Feb 12, 2011)

It looks like it could have easily been rearranged and had the proper clearance. I would not expect something like that to pass.


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## flyboy (Jun 13, 2011)

MTW said:


> The longer I go in the trade, the less I care about the NEC.


We all know that when you retire and move to Florida you're going to become an electrical inspector.......for 25,000/yr.


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## flyboy (Jun 13, 2011)

manchestersparky said:


> Contractor told me that having the required 30" width in front of the switch was not necessary ........


The cover leaning on the wall to the left is for the transformer pictured in the center of the picture?

If it is, it looks like the top of it is higher then the transformer. Is the cover sitting on top of something that is on the floor?

The reason I ask is because it makes the clearances look even worse.


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

does that section still mention "while energized" ? (I don't have copy of current code, but it seems to me that a lot of inspectors always seemed to want to ignore the fact that a lot of equipment could be shut off and didn't really require the space requirement)


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## MotoGP1199 (Aug 11, 2014)

If the room was tall enough I would have mounted that transformer up on the wall.


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## manchestersparky (Mar 25, 2007)

flyboy said:


> The cover leaning on the wall to the left is for the transformer pictured in the center of the picture?
> 
> If it is, it looks like the top of it is higher then the transformer. Is the cover sitting on top of something that is on the floor?
> 
> The reason I ask is because it makes the clearances look even worse.


That cover is for the panel on the secondary side of the transformer.

This set up is in a wooden shed. The contractor built the shed too small and now has an issue. This equipment feeds portable classrooms at a school. The school board has hundreds of these sheds and every now and then we come across one that needs to be enlarged.....


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## mitch65 (Mar 26, 2015)

Navyguy said:


> Brown, Orange, Yellow - it that typical phase colours?
> 
> Ours are Red, Black, Blue.
> 
> ...


347/600 Orange brown yellow


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

flyboy said:


> We all know that when you retire and move to Florida you're going to become an electrical inspector.......for 25,000/yr.


:no:


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## nathan.hoggatt (Jan 31, 2018)

Navyguy said:


> Brown, Orange, Yellow - it that typical phase colours?
> 
> Ours are Red, Black, Blue.
> 
> ...


The phase coloring difference shows the diffierence in the supply side versus the lod side of the transformer. Its stepping up or down from 3phase 480 to 3phase 120. Hence the high voltage brown orange yellow mixed with the low voltage black red blue.

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## lighterup (Jun 14, 2013)

flyboy said:


> We all know that when you retire and move to Florida you're going to become an electrical inspector.......for 25,000/yr.


doesn't Florida require some kind of evidence of
license & history of pulling permits and passing 
inspections in order to qualify to apply for this 
type of position?


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