Roof water runs right on top of electric meter

[maradcliff]

A local business just built an addition on the rear of their building. I pick up supplies there on a weekly basis. I was there the other day, and I noticed they built the addition right up to the service entrance, and the large roof area will run right on top of the meter box. In fact they had to cut the roof back a few inches over that meter box, and although the rest of the roof has rain gutters, there is none at that place. While this is a box made to be used outdoors, this looks like an accident waiting to happen. Those boxes are made for a normal amount of rain running on them, but not a flood of water coming down what is probably 30 feet of roof. This is really none of my business, but seeing it makes me nervous. I almost want to point it out to them. At least they could put a piece of rain gutter there, even though it would only be about 16 inches long, at least the water would not pour right on the meter.

What do you think about this? (I might take a photo the next time I am over there.)

Mark

[Susan (CobbersMom)]

Don't know about rain but I wouldn't want to leave it like that. A few years ago, a local theater did somewhat of the same thing. Snow meltoff ran down the side of the building and froze - all on the electrical box. Had a pretty good fire. Sue Minocqua, WI Yamaha '00 VStar 650 (old reliable) '04 TW200 (mud = fun) Kawasaki '95 Vulcan 1500 (new friend)

"Do what you want and say what you feel because those that mind, don't matter and those that matter, don't mind". ~Dr. Seuss

[scott_z500]

It will cause a problem eventually if not fixed, that is for sure.

[Pop]

Check with your local code enforecement for reliable answers. It's peobably not to code, and/or the work isn't finished yet. Best to know all the facts.

Pop

[Beachcomber]

By all means point it out to them, preferably in writing. At worst, nothing will happen. At best, you might save somebody's life.

I once worked at a company that had very old (from the 1940) wiring outside at the pole transformer. The wires were so close together you could see and hear brief arcs when the wind blew the wires together.

I reported this to the head maintenance guy at the factory. At first, he was sceptical and didn't want to make waves until I had him come out and see the problem first hand.

The electric utility came out and spent a few days fixing everything up and thanked us for pointing out a dangerous situation. It turned out that the secondary wires from the transformer that came down the pole had no protective grounds and could have caused a major problem for pedestrians if there was a fault. This wasn't the original problem, but somehow it had avoided the utilities inspection routine until they were made aware of the first problem.

Beachcomber