ECN Forum Forums Code Related Discussion NEC & other Code issues A/C Condenser working clearances

Except for the freeze protection, that is how they have built houses here for decades. In places where they only need a few feet to comply they just truck in enough dirt to get up to FEMA. Back in the good times, there were more dump trucks on the road than cars at some times of day.
The neighborhood my wife brought out of the ground had 3 feet of dirt trucked in before they started building and then the house was built on a 5 block stem wall above that.
The W/H and HVAC was on a 5 block platform too.
There was a big debate about whether the pool equipment should be elevated too but they decided in stayed at grade.

Greg,


Around here in the flood zone, with the houses raised up so high, and on columns, etc. It is starting to look like a Polynesian village. Not that there is anything wrong with a Polynesian Village. ( Spoken in my best Jerry Seinfeld imitation)

That is the way it is here too at the beach. Everywhere else, they just have houses on little hills. For a while here, fill dirt was over $10 a yard plus the truck. Now it has settled down to a couple bucks plus the truck ride.
When I put in my pool the dirt guy did all my digging, grading and back fill, just for the left over dirt.

Back to the original point of this post. I hated to work on the HVAC disco when it was behind the CU. I hated it then and I hate it now when I have to inspect it to make sure the OCP is the right size. I know that through our "Rehab Code" it can stay there but I still don't have to like it.