Electrical Code - Garage

[Steve W.]

When I built my shop (detached garage), I was also in the process of re-wiring the house. Moved the meter location from the back of the house to the side (at the driveway), then the electrician installed two disconnects. A 200A disconnect feeds the house by going into the attic, then over to the new breaker panel in the garage, a 100A disconnect feeds into conduit that runs underground to the breaker panel in the shop. Only one service, but has separate disconnects in the same location. Any chance you could do that? Others have suggested a large panel in the garage that feeds the house, this is sort of an in-between measure.

I think the basic idea behind not having two services feed a "single residence" is that there would be two disconnects, in different locations, in the event of an emergency. If emergency personnel cut one, they have no idea whether there is something else that might be cross-feeding inside the building. Yeah, I know you will have a separate building, but you never know how some hack is going to drag wires between them.

.

 

[PCustoms]

So the issue becomes for me, that my garage is no longer considered a single building when it is "connected" by a breezeway to my house. If I'm following everyone correctly, the definition of what is considered connected, is not in the NEC stuff, but is a building code related item - which may be why others have suggested the electrical inspector may be overstepping just a little bit.
What I found interesting is my home insurance considers this a detached garage regardless of the interconnecting breezeway, which was partly the reason why I never had concerns for any "attached" garage requirements in the beginning. .

I don't see the inspector overstepping, he has determined it is a connected building and is applying the correct code. As @manwithtools confirmed, the inspector is part of the State Fire Marshal (same as VT)

You should review the local code to determine what is attached vs. detached. I suspect your insurance is wrong and that may bite you if you ever have a claim.


Also post some pics!

 

[wyliesdiesels]

As far as I am aware, there is no building codes for where I am located. An electrical inspection is all that is required for my location.

how can you have inspections without codes? without codes what are they inspecting? this doesnt make sense

 

[wyliesdiesels]

The electrician didn't run a load Calc, he was fairly confident there wasn't enough wiggle room to make it work

without a load calc he is just making a wild *** guess. try doing a load calc.

 

[TNsevier]

how can you have inspections without codes? without codes what are they inspecting? this doesnt make sense

I guess a better way of putting it is we have no authority over the building code in my area. You can hire a private inspector to come inspect, but there is no county/city/state authority you could call to inspect / approve what you are doing.
There are electrical inspections, and plumbing inspections (for septic), but beyond that, where I live, no authority resides for anything else.

 

[Boatman62]

Build the garage and get your electrical signed off. Then build the breezeway/walkway. Attach it to either the house or the garage on one end and a portico on the other end above the breezeway.

 

[KenC]

In my area, the rural homes are often served by an electrical coop. Being rural there are ofter multiple buildings. The way service is normally provided is by placing the meter and disconnect on a pole located on the property. Then each building gets it's own panel, but they have a common disconnect at the pole for emergency use. Maybe something similar would alleviate your inspector's concern?