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Is this common practice

2K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  Steelhead 
#1 ·
A friend of mine, who was an electrican until about 4 years ago, was moving an aerial service on his brother-in-laws house over to the left of where it used to be about 5 feet. When I showed up to check it out he was just about finished so I asked him when the power company was coming back to turn the power back on and he said he did it live. He had disconnected the conductors from the service point under the weatherhead and after moving the conduit, etc. reconnected everything....live. Is this typically what electricians do when they encounter this type of project?
 
#3 ·
Some will do it live hook up and some will not do the hook up it depending on the area and the sistuation it called for.

However ya keep in your mind the POCO is getting stricter with it and most POCO will useally have requirement that the electrical service have to be inspected and once it inspected then they can able hook it up but there is some specal situation they have to do it rightaway { that useally work together with POCO and electrician and do it in safe manner }

Merci,Marc

P.S. I do either way but normally I let the POCO take care of thier side to safely disengerized it.
 
#4 ·
Are you saying that the POCO will turn the power off so you can do the work and then the POCO would need the work inspected before they turn the power back on or do they disconnect and then reconnect after the work is done?

Does the POCO charge to come out and turn power on/off?
 
#6 ·
So....the inspection......should I be prepared to be without power for possibly a lengthy time while I'm waiting for the inspector? Does the inspector usually show up the same day? Or should I call the inspector and let him know what I'm doing so that he can plan to come out the same day? The latter sounds like my best bet. I'm just wondering how it usually works with the guys who do electrical work for a living.
 
#8 ·
Possibly. Marc summed it up pretty good. There is also the situation where you can build a new service while leaving the old service energized. This way, you have a new meter and panel put in and inspected, but still have power. Then, you can call the POCO to come and move the service conductors over.
 
#7 ·
If it was sheduled shutdown and upgrading it pretty easy to cordatited the inspector and POCO.

This what most electricians do is first thing in the moring is get the power disconencted with POCO and info the inspector about the situation { if you set up the inspection date ahead of the time } and about halfway or 2/3 way thur the day if everything go smooth the inspector will swing by and take a look at your service and give a approved sticker then the POCO can come back and get it final hook up all in the same day unforetally sometime it don't work that way so expected to be hook up next day or late at nite.

Each area have diffrent requirement what the electrician can do and what not and what the inspectors know the situation and know who they are.

So the answer will not be the same all the way thru

Merci,Marc
 
#9 ·
At our office we had additional electric service installed to handle more computers and printers. He also replaced our three subpanels with one big panel. We were without power for a day. He did the work live by pulling the meter from the outside to effectively turn the power off inside the house; but because he was replacing the meter box (but not the actual meter), he had to reattach the leads from overhead that go into the meter box LIVE by hand....

I went to lunch because I wasn't comfortable being on the property/within earshot while he did this. But all went well.

This took place in West Virginia, mind you, so I don't know about the required inspection to restore service. He is a licensed electrician.
 
#10 ·
Once the appropriate electrical permit has been secured (most POCO's require a permit from the local municipality), contact the inspector ahead of time and see if you can set up a time for the inspection. Let him know you don't want the house to be without power all day if possible. That beats doing the work and then calling in hopes they'll come out. Most cities require a day's notice for inspections, but not all. Where I work we'll schedule a time...If you want an inspection at 2:10, that's when we'll be there.

You of course have to coordinate with the POCO to get hooked back up as well.

There's not too many good reasons for working on anything hot, especially line side.
 
#11 ·
Many electricians will not work on anything live period (company rule)!

I frequently see the power company in my area turning off power before working on their lines as well (whenever possible). And not just removing power from the lines, but grounding them out as well. Then they go to work.
 
#12 ·
Here in my area of Ohio.

You pull permit, call POCO and get the power cut, do work, have inspection. If you time it right, you can get inspection same day and POCO to turn power back on.

I have been told though, that the POCO out here doesnt mind if you cut the power (Pull the meter), but you had better have them come out and re-seal it within a couple of days after the inspection.
 
#13 ·
Some areas let the electrician disconnect/reconnect.

My area does not, although I have done it more than a few times in the past.

Working around the inspections (both POCO and city) is my biggest challange. I have been left hanging more than once by the POCO. It can be a good days work and I'm generally not done until 2 or 3PM. I've had them show up at 11 AM expecting me to be done. I've had the say they are not coming back untill tomorrow. I have had them flat out not show up at all.

We tell all of our customers to prepare for the worst case.
 
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