Hey folks,
I'm upgrading my house (in Los Angeles) to 200A service and I am trying to find out some info on code requirements for the conduit run from the weatherhead to the meter main.
The city requires me to put the new meter on the back of the house. The easiest way to hook up the service drop is a straight 2" GS conduit going up the outside wall but, as this is a 2 story house, I think this will look really ugly (even if I paint it). I would prefer not opening up a wall to run the conduit so I thought that, maybe, we could run the conduit down the side of the house (which is out of sight), use a right angle 2" GS conduit bend to bring it horizontal and then use an LB to go around the corner to the back of the house and run GS into the side of the meter main. The distance from the meter to the corner of the house is about 3' and the distance from the corner to where the vertical conduit would be is about 2-3'. The horizontal run of conduit would be something like 3-4' off the ground.
I know that I need approval from both the city's DWP and the building inspector (in L.A. these are separate agencies) and I'm waiting for a return call from the DWP.
I tried to get hold of a building inspector to ask if this was OK and, after some effort, did manage to speak to one very briefly. He told me that the horizontal run needs to be incased in concrete, then said he had others to help and hung up on me. I don't understand this requirement. I have looked at the city's DWP Electric Service Requirements and it only mentions concrete encasement in underground runs. I'm trying to understand this requirement but have not been able to find anything online. Maybe the inspector thought I would be running the horizontal run underground? Can anyone give me some insight into this? A website or code section cite would be great.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.