Any Help is greatly appreciated. I am a realtor in South Florida. Home Inspections are a booming business but, it seems like these inspectors all have different ideas of how things are supposed to be. My dilema for TODAY is... my client is closing tomorrow afternoon and there is still one more problem not corrected or justified. On the outside at the main breaker on the load side there are the main wires going into the house sub-panel and the wires leading to the a/c unit's quick disconnect. He is flagging this as a double tap... this and every other house in this development built in 1974 are all this way. My question is... "Is this legal now or was it legal then or was it ever legal?" Again any help is greatly appreciated.
If the lugs for the breaker are not listed or labelled for two conductors of the given size, then it would indeed be a violation. I'm unsure of when this particular code was put into place that requires materials to be installed consistant with the listing and labelling, perhaps as early as '74, but I do not know. It is not unusual for HVAC mechanics, past and present, to have total disregard for the NEC, so many installations may have never passed code at any time! "Home Inspectors" are notorious for "making up" their own code rules, mostly due to ignorance and good intentions. Perhaps you could hire an IAEI certified electrical inspector to give a second opinion?
[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 10-15-2002).]
I'm surprised that
Florida has no HI criterior, given all the bueracracy down there....
Technically, it is illegal. However, this has been common practice around Phila., PA as long as I can remember. Our PoCo shows the practice in their BlueBook as a means to tie in an Off-Peak meter to the line lugs of the main meter. I guess some see it as a tap, but, unless the lugs are designed for 2 conductors they pprobably have a valid point. The simplest solution may be to re-feed the AC switch from a circuit breaker in the main panel.
I believe that as the Home Inspection increases in popularity, there are going to be some agencies that try to "earn their keep" and recommend more than should really be required. And there will be deals busted due to some of the disagreements that follow.