Thanks for the input guys.
The owner of the building has had his architect buddy call on his EE pal to review a fire pump plan. The plan is to come out of the utility transformer to a 400 amp CT cabinet (no disconnect) and then run up and over the rooftop, then down the other side of the building to the fire pump room into the service equipment rated controller with built-in disconnect.
The EE says "The code interprets conduit attached to the building roof as inside the building (as there is not sufficient fire protection)....... A method to alleviate this violation alltogether would be to provide a main disconnect adjacent to the CT cabinet."
I spoke to him by phone and asked for a reference and he said he didn't have it handy, but it was either NEC or NFPA20. I didn't press the issue because I'm under the impression he is advising as a favor. The local inspectors tell me they think he is wrong and they will approve of the service entrance conductors run over the building.
Any opinions, references or suggestions?
