Horse Barns

Originally Posted By: rkulla
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.



Ok I inspected a horse barn for the first time today. 60 amp grounded service to the barn from the home. No outlets were gfci protected, most outlets and switches were very high to be out of reach for horses I guess. Some of the wiring was protected by conduit but some wasn’t. Does anyone know code requirements for horse barns as far as height of outlets or conduit requirements. I told the buyer the outlets should be GFCI protected but conduit requirements I’m not sure of. I told her to have a Sparky check it out that is familiar with barns. (800,000 property) Any help would be appreciated before I do the report.



Rex Kulla


Custom Home Inspections


Maple Grove, MN


(612) 799-3093

Originally Posted By: Greg Fretwell
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.



Yea verily as we turn to article 547 in our hymnal


(A) Wiring Systems. Types UF, NMC, copper SE cables, jacketed Type MC cable, rigid nonmetallic conduit, liquidtight flexible nonmetallic conduit, or other cables or raceways suitable for the location, with approved termination fittings, shall be the wiring methods employed. Article 398 <K&T> and Article 502 <explosion proof> wiring methods shall be permitted for areas described in 547.1(A).


(G) Receptacles. All 125-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere general-purpose receptacles installed in the following locations shall have ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection for personnel


There are also rules about equipotential plains and protection from washdown systems but this is usually a dairy barn.
It must be noted that usually farm buildings are unpermitted and uninspected so sparky looking it over is an excellent idea.


Originally Posted By: rkulla
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.



I talked to a city inspector that said the agricultural applications can be goofy. He told me good questions call the state! I added in my report to have it evaluated by an electrician familiar with barns. Thanks for your feedback.



Rex Kulla


Custom Home Inspections


Maple Grove, MN


(612) 799-3093

Originally Posted By: Greg Fretwell
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.



Dairy cows will stop giving milk if they get a ground shift and they usually have a lot more equipment on the ground along with wash down systems that keep things wet.


Your garden variety horse barn is not as complicated. Usually there is nothing directly on the ground and everything is isolated on wooden posts. Basically you just need to watch out for the same hazards you would have in a garden shed.


The main reason I would want a real electrican to take a look is the wiring was probably done by the handyman and not inspected.


GFCI is probably the biggest safety issue if you don’t see any dead rat violations like mid air splices and zip cord.