III. The inspector shall report as in need of correction:
It doesn’t matter how a measurement is done. What matters is that it is accurate.
Regardless of the method used to measure the elevation of a service drop, the elevation is continually changing.
InterNACHI swimming pool graphic has a different dimension. The 22’ 6’’ over a swimming pool question comes up when you are taking the exam.
Thanks Marcel,
I figured that this was part of the SOP but didn’t want to assume. I think that most of us agree that the measurement needs to be accurate.
Yes, I have to replace that old grapghic.
Thanks
Electrical wires over water features have unique requirements:
But, I do not carry special tools and my inspection is not technically exhaustive.
The dip and dive around this is of course; The ambiguous narrative.
The electrical service drop was visibly low and may not meet the minimum clearance requirements. Recommend evaluation and corrections as needed by a qualified contractor. 
That is all that would be required as far as I am concerned. I never had to measure one myself, because I have never seen one that bothered me to be too low.
And when you do, it will be obvious because we all have an internal gauge and other building features to make a judgement. This will flip out other inspectors, but in my opinion it is enough to make a recommendation.
Exactly, and most of the time I saw too much strain on the mast.
'Course the person to raise the service cables is the local utility. They’ll say it was fine till some dummy built a pool under it!
service-entrance conductors originate at the service head and terminate inside the service equipment… The service lateral (drop) owned by the utility company would not be considered part of the service-entrance conductors.
It is not uncommon to see a utility service drop terminate on a pole in the yard of a home (Typically one with acreage or mobile homes). Often these poles will have a meter with “service” continuing to the home which would be the responsibility of the home owner. Or a jump from the mast to an out building.
These threads can just be ridiculous at times. I would think we could look at a service drop and go hhhhmmmm that looks a little low, could be dangerous. I would hope we could kinda see if a service entrance is coming in at a safe height. Safety for our clients right?
You are correct about the terminology in Marcel’s post. So are saying that measuring the height of the service drop is not part of the inspection SOP?
Utility companies are not subject to local or national codes and are not under the jurisdiction of the local AHJ… so, yeah.
@jburkeson1 I think you are spot on, not part of the SOP. We all should understand where the utility service drop ends and the service entrance conductors begin. With that said, in some cases there will be “private” overhead conductors which will be part of the SOP.
Of course, we can exceed the SOP anytime, especially when a potential hazard is observed.
80% of my inspections were served underground and there was never a time where I considered if the ground cover to the meterpan was at the correct depth either, but no doubt very soon some bright 3rd party malcontent-vendor will be selling a gimmick to doohickey an underground lateral putting the data on their home inspection report.
It’s already out there.
Generally speaking, this occurs at the “Splice” or “Service Point”.
