Meter Clearance?

[Fred Duemig]

Yesterdays insection had the meter pan within inches of the rear exterior door. I was immediately going to call it out as within three feet, however, I can not find any reference for door clearance, only windows. Even code check mentions decks & balconies, windows, but not doors. Am I missing something?

Thanks,
Fred

[brepanshek]

says nothing in the IRC book, I don't have the NEC book. Will get back

[Greg Fretwell]

I don't think the rule is there to find. There are rules about the service drop but not the meter

[brepanshek]

1)If your electric meter will be
under a deck, the deck must be at
least 7 feet high.
2)There must be 36 inches of
unobstructed space in front of
the meter.
3)There must be a 36-inch
wide unobstructed travel path in
front of the meter.
4)There must be at least
2 inches of space on both sides
of the meter.
5)No structure may be built
around the meter, except for
approved meter rooms.
6)Doors or windows cannot be
within one foot of the meter.
7)Meters located inside fenced
areas must have gate access.

[Ian Gills]

Why is it a problem? The door could open on it I suppose or someone could hit it when entering, but why windows? To protect the burglar who's looking for something to get a leg up?

[Speedy Petey]

Brian, do you have a citation for all that? Where did it come from?

[brepanshek]

I was doing a search on building a deck and the requirments for a meter location awhile back and found these statments on the internet. I just copied them to a file for future reference, so I don't remeber exactly where I got this info. I don't have the NEC code book, so I may be wrong???

[Marc D. Shunk]

There is no violation pictured.

[brian winkle]

Originally Posted by brepanshek

1)If your electric meter will be
under a deck, the deck must be at
least 7 feet high.
2)There must be 36 inches of
unobstructed space in front of
the meter.
3)There must be a 36-inch
wide unobstructed travel path in
front of the meter.
4)There must be at least
2 inches of space on both sides
of the meter.
5)No structure may be built
around the meter, except for
approved meter rooms.
6)Doors or windows cannot be
within one foot of the meter.
7)Meters located inside fenced
areas must have gate access.

Those sound like POCO rules

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Agreed.....I don't see a problem with this installation. Atleast from what is seen in the picture.....

P.S. Marc...clean out your PM box...lol...

[Marc D. Shunk]

Originally Posted by pabernathy

Agreed.....I don't see a problem with this installation. Atleast from what is seen in the picture.....

P.S. Marc...clean out your PM box...lol...

Done. Days and days go with no messages, then- BLAM... zillions of messages.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

lol......Again...Welcome to the MADNESS...I mean...NACHI

[brepanshek]

Hey Paul, I just use this as a guide line when doing side work. What restrictions are there when it comes to meter locations, and where may I find this. Thanks

[Marc D. Shunk]

Brian, the code only talks about working space. Your POCO (power company) are the one's who make the more restrictive rules on that. I think your POCO is Metropolitan Edison, so their rules are here: https://www.firstenergycorp.com/Buil....1rev_2006.pdf

Exhibits #3, 4, and 5 in their rules book are 90% of what you'll run into as a home inspector.

If your POCO isn't MetEd, repost with who it is, and I can get a link to their rules book for you, if you're interested.

[David P. Valley]

Doors or windows cannot be within one foot of the meter.

Check out...Guidelines for building decks, fences & additions: at http://www.novec.com/documents/WCApril2004.pdf