As it turns out I want to assemble a metal building kit in the space between our power pole and the electric meter. I dont know if they buried the power wire in a straight line or curved. Is there some devise that detects the power wire and how deep it is? The metal building is held down with mobile home anchors. Are there others reasons why placing a structure over the buried wire is a bad idea? Thanks.

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GRZMNKY t1_jeethi3 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 2:27 PM

If you are in the US, call 811 to have them come out and locate the services.

Or look up "utility locating service" in your area and pay someone to come out and locate.

Also look into the code requirements in your area to make sure you can put the shed there

Sometimes_Stutters t1_jegx542 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 10:55 PM

Gopher One Call!

brandonsmash t1_jeeticj wrote on March 31, 2023 at 2:27 PM

You should start by contacting your municipality's utility-locating service. It sounds like you might be in a bit over your head; the consequences of hitting power can easily be fatal.

gonative1 OP t1_jeeupdp wrote on March 31, 2023 at 2:35 PM

I’ll call 811, the ‘call before you dig number’. One obvious pitfall might be that if the service needs to be dug up for repair the building would be in the the way. However if it needed work I would simply dig around the building and replace the entire power wire. It would only be a few extra feet of wire. How expensive is wire these days? The alternative is to place the building a few hundred feet in another location. But it’s a lot more trenching and wire to run power and water to the building. Thanks

Barrrrrrnd t1_jef2ve3 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:29 PM

Call 811, then call your county or city permitting office. Tell them what you are doing and see what the code is. They are almost always super helpful a can answer your questions to make sure you aren’t going to have to tear the building down once they resurvey your grid with a satellite and discover it.

lurkandpounce t1_jef80gz wrote on March 31, 2023 at 4:02 PM

>How expensive is wire these days?

Way more expensive in recent years due to short supplies of copper, but the cost of the wire is outstripped (yeah, I did that) by the cost of the trenching too.

bigdisplay442 t1_jef0825 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:12 PM

And this service is free

Adios-Bitchacho t1_jeh2db7 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 11:35 PM

It's a free service...call before you dig...your local utility locating services 811