Side-wall service drop at the patio

The answer

The service point of attachment and the drip loop are lower than 10 ft above the patio, the minimum for a 120/240 V dwelling service.

Correct choice: 1. The service attachment and drip loop are less than 10 ft above the patio

For a 120/240 V service on a grounded bare messenger, 230.24(B)(1) requires 10 ft of clearance at the service entrance and at the lowest point of the drip loop, measured from the patio or other accessible surface, and 230.26 never lets the point of attachment go below 10 ft. Using the 80 in sliding door as a ruler, the insulator is about 8.5 ft up and the drip loop sags below the door head to about 6.5 ft, where anyone carrying a ladder or a pole saw on the patio can reach unfused, energized conductors. Those open conductors are also within 3 ft of the door, a second violation under 230.9(A); its above-the-window exception does not cover doors. The utility's drop falls under the NESC, but the installer sets the attachment point and forms the drip loop, so inspectors enforce these clearances under the NEC.

How to fix it

Code references

• NEC 2023 230.24(B)(1) — Clearances: Vertical Clearance for Overhead Service Conductors

  Overhead service conductors not over 1000 V need at least 10 ft of clearance from final grade or other accessible surface at the electrical service entrance to buildings, at the lowest point of the drip loop, and above areas accessible only to pedestrians, where they are supported on and cabled with a grounded bare messenger and do not exceed 150 V to ground.

  Drills citing 230.24(B)(1)

• NEC 2023 230.26 — Point of Attachment

  The point of attachment of overhead service conductors to a building shall provide the clearances in 230.9 and 230.24, and in no case shall it be less than 10 ft above finished grade.

  Drills citing 230.26

• NEC 2023 230.9(A) — Clearances on Buildings: Clearances

  Service conductors installed as open conductors or multiconductor cable without an overall outer jacket shall have at least 3 ft of clearance from windows designed to be opened, doors, porches, balconies, ladders, stairs, fire escapes, or similar locations. An exception permits conductors run above the top level of a window to be closer than 3 ft.

  Drills citing 230.9(A)

• NEC 2023 230.24(B)(2) — Clearances: Vertical Clearance for Overhead Service Conductors

  12 ft over residential property and driveways, and over commercial areas not subject to truck traffic, where the voltage does not exceed 300 V to ground.

  Drills citing 230.24(B)(2)

2026 NEC:same rule and number. No 2026 change to the overhead service clearances in 230.24(B) (or the 10 ft minimum in 230.26) turned up in the 2026 change summaries checked; the Article 230 revisions reported are listing (230.2), disconnect location and marking (230.70), and the deletion of 230.85. Treat the 10 ft drip-loop and attachment clearance as unchanged, pending a check against the 2026 text. Confidence: low

Minnesota

Why the other choices are wrong

• The drip loop must be 12 ft up because this is residential property. 12 ft (230.24(B)(2)) applies to the span over residential property and driveways. At the building entrance and the lowest point of the drip loop the minimum is 10 ft (230.24(B)(1)), which this one still misses.
• A dwelling service drop must land on a roof mast, not the side wall. Side-wall attachment is permitted. A roof mast is only one way to get the 10 ft minimum that 230.26 requires.
• Nothing. This installation is compliant. Using the 80 in patio door as a ruler, the insulator is about 8.5 ft up and the bottom of the drip loop is only about 6.5 ft above the patio, well under the 10 ft minimum.