[thawkprime21]

So i am looking to do some home remodeling and addition work but I have a nonconforming electrical panel.The reason being is that i do not have a clear work space around the panel of 30 inches wide and 36 in front. The i front i can half fix by moving a utility sink but the water main for the house is located about a foot out from directly under the panel. There is also a potential height issue to. So i possible need to move my panel over about a foot and down 8 inches. My question is can an electrical panel have a copper water pipe directly behind it. Anyone ever move a panel or have any ideas that i am missing. the panel does run vertical but i think i took the pictures sideways which is why it shows horizontal.

 

[AllanJ]

Does the pipe (conduit) at the lower right of the panel carry the feed (service wires) directly to the meter with no additional or master breaker in between? (There is a maximum length of service cable from where it enters the house to where it reaches the panel. This is subjective by the inspector.)

Can you leave the panel where it is now, unchanged?

Can you verify from city records that the electrical system, specifically the panel as it is now, passed inspection years ago?

As to whether the pipe can run behind the panel, I do not know.

 

[CodeMatters]

Have you been notified by your AHJ that it needs to be moved?
If not, clear the area in front of it and forget it.

 

[thawkprime21]

So to answer the above questions. Yes the conduit from the right goes directly out to the electrical meter. I haven't been told by the inspector that it needs to be moved, but that it will either need to be moved or plumbing that runs below it moved and a stair built as the main breaker is to high.

More so i am trying to determine if its better to move some plumbing and leave the panel. Or move the panel and install possible a larger one to avoide needing a subpanel for when the addition goes in.

 

[thawkprime21]

Also it is unknown if the panel ever passed inspection back in the 70s as the house was originally in a township that didnt inspect well or keep record's. In the early 2000s the home was anexed into the city.

 

[surferdude2]

Just read your last... if by plumbing he means the water line, that's easy. Lowering the panel will be easier than moving it laterally.

 

[joed]

Just to be clear the 30" wide space does not require the panel to be centered. You can start from one edge and go 30". It looks like you have plenty of room on the left if you go 30" from the pipe.

 

[Jim Port]

How high is it to the center of the main breaker handle? Who said it needs to be moved?

 

[thawkprime21]

This water meter is what is causing my problems as it is located in the center of where my panel is and comes up from the floor a foot in front. They are counting this as not having the 30 inch by 36 in box needed. By moving the panel 8 inches to the left it removes it from the work space needed. So option A move the panel, option B redo main water line into the house.

 

[thawkprime21]

the center of the main breaker is 6'10" and i belive my electrician told me it could be no more than 6'8".

 

[Jim Port]

The max breaker is 6'7" or 2 meters.

I would move the plumbing.

 

[joed]

I would also move the plumbing.
One pipe vs 20-30 branch circuit cables and the main feed from the meter.

 

[seharper]

How high is your ceiling there? How about building a 30x36” platform that is 1” higher than the top of the water meter, put a little hatch in the platform so you can see/read the meter (bonus: glass), then you have 1 intermediate step to get up there.

Now you have a dedicated work area nobody’s going to stack stuff in, and your main breaker is at a perfectly reasonable 5’9”.

For this to work you need to have 78” of ceiling *above* the top of this platform, so you’d need about a 91” tall space (7’7”).

 

[dmxtothemax]

Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to move the water pipe,
Rather than move the panel ?

 

[AllanJ]

I am in favor of leaving the panel where it is unless there is current or imminent remodeling or refinishing or upgrading of nearby objects or structure or the panel itself over and above just the bringing up to code.

For more breaker slots you can run a feeder cable to a subpanel elsewhere in the house without upgrading the feeding panel if whole house or subpanel load analysis calculations (samples at the back of the NEC code book) do not call for such an upgrade.