Mark P Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 I performed an assessment on a commercial building built in the 50?s and used as a sign shop. It has two subpanels fed with 3 conductors each. One has no separate neutral and the other no separate ground running back to the main panel. I know the IRC states (I?m paraphrasing) a subpanel must have a separate neutral running back to the service disconnect which requires the subpanel to be supplied with 4 conductors: 2 insulated ungrounded conductors, 1 insulated neutral, and a bare ground (or sometime a metal raceway). I also know the IRC does not apply to commercial buildings. So I guess my question is "is this still wrong?" and what standard covers commercial buildings? Would you write it up the same way you would in a residential building? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 If there's no 120 volt loads then a neutral is not needed. Got to have that EGC on both subs. If the feeder is within RGS - rigid galvanized steel - conduit then maybe you don't need an EGC conductor. My state and I don't use the electrical section of the IRC, just the NEC. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark P Posted January 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 If there's no 120 volt loads then a neutral is not needed. Got to have that EGC on both subs. My state and I don't use the electrical section of the IRC, just the NEC. Marc Each panel has 120 v circuits, mostly 20 amp circuits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 If there's no 120 volt loads then a neutral is not needed. Got to have that EGC on both subs. My state and I don't use the electrical section of the IRC, just the NEC. Marc Each panel has 120 v circuits, mostly 20 amp circuits. It has 120 volt loads and there's no neutral? Must be an issue with semantics. Did you mean it has a neutral but no separate EGC? Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 If there's no 120 volt loads then a neutral is not needed. Got to have that EGC on both subs. My state and I don't use the electrical section of the IRC, just the NEC. Marc Each panel has 120 v circuits, mostly 20 amp circuits. OK then they are both 120 volt subpanels? That might not be a problem if the grounding is correct. It sounds like an electrician should check things over regardless. Antique equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 3-phase? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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