ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Business Related Discussion The RUSH Job

The job has been completed - twice. My original feed was too small, so I got to do it over That's the very first time my conservative approach has not been conservative enough!

I managed to get introduced to another, entirely new (to me) governemnt bureaucracy. Would you believe that a licensed electrical contractor is not considered qualified to so much as change a light bulb in a trailer?

As far as I know, all inspections have been completed. Monday I get to chat with someone at the PoCo, who apparrently came late to this party, and doesn't understand some of the things being done.

This PoCo guy wants me to "secure the service feed at the disconnect end." I'm not quite sure what he means; I'll call him Monday.

The park owner is continuing to "be clever," and the entire city bureaucracy is lined up to stop him. We (meaning I) jumped through all manner of hoops to get hime ONE mobile home placed; that park of his needs LOTS of things done before any more work can be done. The last word I have from the owner is that "the City is sticking its' nose where it doesn't belong." Thankfully, I will be far away when this pissing contest goes into overtime!

For some reason park owners think they are immune form codes and laws.
When my kids wanted to set their mobile I went ahead and got an EC my wife knows to pull the permit and I collected the parts. The park owner was livid. He said he didn't want any inspectors in there. When I got a good look I saw why. They had to rebuild the whole service board the drop fed (4 services when we added ours) because the plywood everything was screwed to was rotted out. The meter bases were really just hanging on the pipe.
We managed to sneak in another piece of wood (that I painted well before putting in) without really breaking anything but the PoCo had to reseal all the meter bases. I ended up eating that bill from the EC but I did a lot of the grunt work myself.
The park owner was still mad at us.
It was good for him that the inspector walked through there with blinders on and didn't look around. The place was a disaster.

Funny you should mention the meter board ....

I suppose, once I get settled, that I ought to dedicate a thread just on the topic of trailer park feeds. One of the things I have never liked about meter boards is the way the plywood always delaminates. While it is surprising just how sound old plywood can be, it sure looks like hell.

For this job, that is the reason I made the meter board out of solid lumber. 2x6 tongue & groove to be exact, well sealed with spar varnish. The lumber gives the lag bolts something to bite into, and the T&G construction will ensure that the entire panel warps as one piece.

Later on, the PoCo linesman was a bit too forthcoming to the park maintenance guy .... next thing I knew, I was being quizzed as to why I had done some things that were not required by code. Well, my goodnesss, I got caught exceeding the barest of minimums! He may fret over a few hundred $$$$ extra he spent, but I can sleep better at night. For example, the lumber I used cost about double what the cost of plywood would have been, and there's no code requiring the board to be painted.

I can also see another business thread coming from this; My job = My rules .... and 'flat rate' means you don't get to question my design.