§ 15.08.120. Construction requirements
No certificate of inspection shall be issued unless the electric light, heat or power installations are in strict conformity with the provisions set out herein, and unless they are in conformity with the latest method of good engineering practice for safety to life and property, as set forth in the National Electrical Code:
A. All plans for wiring or rewiring of commercial buildings within the city shall be approved by the city electrical inspector and shall bear his or her stamp of approval. No wiring or rewiring shall be done until the approval has been obtained. All new commercial buildings within the city shall be wired in rigid conduit, electrical metallic tubing or MI cable.
B. Flexible metal conduit may be used in commercial buildings to connect fixtures or appliances, but in no case shall more than five feet be used on any one fixture or appliance, and in such case, it shall be bonded.
C. At the meter installation there shall be a main disconnect for each unit metered in the same building, whether commercial or residential.
D. On either commercial or residential buildings the raceway from the main disconnect to the distribution panel shall be metallic tubing or approved raceways. Under no circumstances shall cable be used on the outside of building from main to air conditioners, ranges, etc.
E. The service equipment on all new residential construction shall be not less than one hundred (100) amp capacity. The service equipment on the outside of the building and the raceway extending from the service equipment into the wall cavity area of the outside wall shall not be less than one and one-quarter inch rigid conduit or electrical metallic tubing. On overhead service, the service entrance conductors shall be not less than No. 2 type THHN copper only; except that 4-wire entrance cable may be used between the main disconnect and the inside control panel, but shall be enclosed in conduit from the main disconnect enclosure extending into the cavity area of the outside wall. For underground service the conductor shall be USE approved cable.
F. For rewiring of existing residences the entrance equipment shall not be less than sixty (60) amp capacity.
G. To maintain proper clearance of ten feet on low buildings, the customer shall furnish suitable anchorage for the electrical service. It shall be either a pole located in the proper place to run the service drop to the building or by a two-inch steel conduit mast with approved fittings, including the service conductors. The customer shall install the cable in mast, the electrical department shall run the service to the pole and make pole connection.
H. The electrical department will not be responsible for maintenance of this equipment nor for any damage that may result to the roof or structure from any cause whatsoever.
I. The meter location and point of attachment of the service drop shall be approved by the electrical department prior to the installation of the equipment. The meter shall be located not less than five feet nor more than seven feet above finish grade.
J. Where air conditioning units are installed outside of the building on a slab foundation there shall be a weatherproof disconnect installed either on the building next to the unit or on the unit itself. The unit including the outside housing shall be permanently grounded.
K. Any appliance operating continuously for one hour or more and drawing more than fifty (50) percent of the ampere rating of the circuit to which it is connected shall be connected to a circuit of not less than two hundred (200) volts unless a separate one hundred twenty (120) volt circuit is provided for this appliance only, with no other connected lead thereon.
L. All two hundred forty (240) volt appliances shall be connected by a three-wire cord with a polarized plug receptacle and the frame of the unit shall be solidly bonded to the grounding (green) conductor.
M. All motor-driven appliances shall be connected to the wiring system by a cord with a polarized plug and receptacle. The motor and frame of each appliance shall be bonded to the grounding connection of the attachment plug.
N. All furnaces installed in open areas and fed from ceiling wiring shall be connected by rigid conduit or equal, in the ceiling wiring system to the junction box on the appliance. Where no box exists on the furnace one shall be installed. All furnace motors installed after the passage of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall be protected by a Buss Fustat with grounding-type receptacle or equal. Open, unprotected wiring shall not be used. No wiring (high or low voltage) shall be tapped to the gas piping system.
O. For NM (Roam X) cable, where NM cable is installed across or parallel to heat ducts, a clearance of not less than one-inch shall be provided.
P. The use of any type of Romex wiring is prohibited in any commercially zoned building.
Q. All underground services are to be incased in conduit. The size and type of conduit are to meet the requirements of the 1990 National Code.
R. All services shall have four wire entrances from the point of grounding outside the building to all service boxes located within the building; the neutral conductor shall be treated as a current-carrying conductor and shall not be ground or attached to any metallic boxes or raceways. The grounding conductor can be a bare conductor of not less than a No. 6 copper wire; it shall serve as the grounding conductor in all ground applications within.
(Ord. 9116 § 2, 1991: prior code § 4-211)