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Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Question:

My husband is installing landscape lighting in our front yard and he is trying to determine how deep to bury the underground wires. Any guidelines would be so appreciated.

Mary Christianson 

A

Answer:

Hi Mary,

Your question hardly ever gets asked, but we all know that many, many low voltage landscape lighting systems have been and are being installed. The Answer is found in the National Electrical Code Section 300.5 and Table 300.5 Column 5 along with Table Note superscript a. The minimum depth required is 6 inches. The superscript note “a” indicates that if the installation instructions for the listed landscape lighting system provide a different depth, that is what can be used to achieve compliance with the NEC. Most often these installations do not require a permit from the building department, but they can often provide guidance for questions such as this. 

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