2 Questions for The Price of One

[dspencer]

Show me where the NEC 2005 allows the service panel to be used for as a junction (not an extention). Will not allow when we do service changes in central Ohio.

[Greg Fretwell]

Ohio can do anything they want, as AHJ, but they are not backed by the code. If there is room in the SE enclosure you can use it. It is all based on cross sectional fill. In fact, if that conductor is coming into the enclosure to a new "mini" breaker anyway (as suggested) the splice to put it on an existing breaker doesn't add anything to the fill. The same is true if you splice to extend a wire that is too short.

312.8 Enclosures for Switches or Overcurrent Devices.
Enclosures for switches or overcurrent devices shall not be used as junction boxes, auxiliary gutters, or raceways for conductors feeding through or tapping off to other switches or overcurrent devices, unless adequate space for this purpose is provided. The conductors shall not fill the wiring space at any cross section to more than 40 percent of the cross-sectional area of the space, and the conductors, splices, and taps shall not fill the wiring space at any cross section to more than 75 percent of the cross-sectional area of that space.