Gas/Electrical Code Question

[Matt Meiser]

It sounds like there is a good chance the gas main construction project on our street is going to happen which means I'll be converting to natural gas this summer. Since someone will be out with a trencher, that solves my phone problem in the shop because one way or another I'll be running a 1" or so PVC conduit to the shop.

My question though is can a low voltage conduit and plastic ng line be in the same trench?

The HVAC guy I had out said the ng line has to be 18" deep. IIRC, NEC calls for buried electrical to be 24" with an exception for 110V 15A circuits. But this conduit would only hold low voltage cable (computer, phone, security, etc) so I'm not sure what, if anything applies.

[Joe Cowan]

It sounds like there is a good chance the gas main construction project on our street is going to happen which means I'll be converting to natural gas this summer. Since someone will be out with a trencher, that solves my phone problem in the shop because one way or another I'll be running a 1" or so PVC conduit to the shop.

My question though is can a low voltage conduit and plastic ng line be in the same trench?

The HVAC guy I had out said the ng line has to be 18" deep. IIRC, NEC calls for buried electrical to be 24" with an exception for 110V 15A circuits. But this conduit would only hold low voltage cable (computer, phone, security, etc) so I'm not sure what, if anything applies.

I ran additional electrical and new NG to my shop last fall, and they had to be in separate trenches. Not sure about low voltage.

[Dan Friedrichs]

IANANE (I am not a NEC expert), but I think the depth requirement for low voltage wiring is 6" (assuming not under cement or a public road, etc, etc).

I had looked up this same topic some time ago for a similar situation, and found lots of conflicting answers.

[Don Jarvie]

This might be a good one for the building inspection.

Are you going to run a gas line to the shop for heat?

[Matt Meiser]

Don, yes I will be. I have propane out there now, but all the parts to convert the furnace back to ng in a box from when I installed it.

[Rollie Meyers]

It sounds like there is a good chance the gas main construction project on our street is going to happen which means I'll be converting to natural gas this summer. Since someone will be out with a trencher, that solves my phone problem in the shop because one way or another I'll be running a 1" or so PVC conduit to the shop.

My question though is can a low voltage conduit and plastic ng line be in the same trench?

The HVAC guy I had out said the ng line has to be 18" deep. IIRC, NEC calls for buried electrical to be 24" with an exception for 110V 15A circuits. But this conduit would only hold low voltage cable (computer, phone, security, etc) so I'm not sure what, if anything applies.

This gas line going to belong to the gas company or you? That will help determine the regs. you need to comply with.

[Alan Bienlein]

Matt are you sure they are going to dig a trench and not just bore under the ground and pull a line in. I thought the same thing on a house remodel I was doing and thought we were going to lose the use of the one driveway. Turns out when the came out they had a horizontal drilling rig and ran the new main alongside the driveway and under existing trees. The only holes were the one out at the street and the one by the new meter location. That was about a 200' run of 1.25" gas line.

[Matt Meiser]

This will be the gas line from my house to my shop which I'll own. Definitely going to be an open trench.

The one from the house to the street--no idea how they'll do it.

[Rob Russell]

Matt,

The easiest way to get your question(s) answered is to call your Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), aka the building inspector and ask them. You're going to end up with a permit and inspections anyway, so why not just ask them what the requirements are for your area?

That way you won't have to guess about what you need.

If you've had problems before with the AHJ in terms of getting different answers from different people, send them a letter and request a response in writing.

[Matt Meiser]

I'll definitely do that when this becomes a sure thing. But for planning purposes (since I need to get an estimate on trenching) I'm trying to figure out what I'm most likely need the trenching contractor to do.

But if the required depth for low voltage is only 6", I may just run it independently anyway because it would be more convenient to bring it in in a different location anyway and I know we can go 6-12" deep without any issues on other utilities that currently run out there.

[David Gutierrez]

generally line voltage (120v) and gas must be in separate trenches..

[Aaron Wingert]

This isn't line voltage...

I'd contact the AHJ for sure. Since it will be low voltage and on the customer side of the gas meter, I have a hard time imagining that you'll encounter any resistance. If the gas company owned the gas line I assure you they'd fuss about having anything else in the trench simply because of the fact they could hit your lines during future work.

[Dave Wagner]

Our old house, they only dug 3 holes and shot the pipe thru connected to a vibrating bullet/pipe, it was really cool. It slowly inched it way thru the ground to each hole and they re-directed it if needed to the the next hole, with the plastic pipe already connected to the other end. Of course, Our new house, they dug up a trench all the way from the street to the house, about 150 feet!

My electrical to the garage was in a separate trench min. 18" deep, I ran 1.25" for power and 3/4" for cable/telephone and put the wires in the conduit as I put them in the trench and then glued everything up, much easier then trying to pull/push the wires all the way thru.

[Matt Meiser]

Dave, I'm planning to put a pullstring in the conduit as I install it, with enough extra to pull a wire in and then get the string back. Right now I just want 2 cat5 cables (1 phone, 1 ethernet) out there, but who knows what I'll want in the future.

[Rob Russell]

Dave, I'm planning to put a pullstring in the conduit as I install it, with enough extra to pull a wire in and then get the string back. Right now I just want 2 cat5 cables (1 phone, 1 ethernet) out there, but who knows what I'll want in the future.

Cable or Dish TV?