I need to get a permit to wire my hot tub. I will be installing a new 50 amp circuit from my panel, to a breaker shutoff, and then on to the hot tub. Will a branch circuit permit cover everything here, or do I need to ask for anything else? Our permit office in Bend, Oregon is not very helpful in this area, they expect you to know exactly what permits to ask for to cover the entire job. :mad:
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I would say that branch circuit permit would be what you would want. What the permit office really wants is you money.

While homeowners are allowed by state law to do their own electrical work in single family homes, inspectors can be somewhat cold to the concept. They are not trainers or designers, as often homeowners need advice on how to do things properly.

The inspector will be very critical of the installation, following the code to the letter. And when a hot tub is involved, rightfully so.

HK is correct, the hot tub is a branch circuit.

JHUB65, you described exactly a problem I had with the local building department. I went there with plans for an addition and asked what I needed. But every time I went back and supplied what they told me to do, they came up with another item I needed. It wasted a lot of my time because that they just wouldn't tell me what I needed up front, but kept me coming back on their whim. I suspect that it wasn't so much that they didn't want homeowners doing work, it's that they just really don't understand anything but collecting permit fees.

Our permit office in Bend, Oregon is not very helpful in this area, they expect you to know exactly what permits to ask for to cover the entire job. :mad:
Why does it make you mad that you have to know what you are doing and follow the proper procedure?

The job you are doing is a prefect example of one where you should know what you are doing before you do it.

I am confidant I can do the work, I just don't know all of the codes because I don't do this for a living. It would be nice to have them grouped together for common projects and simply have them available online or hand them out on paper at the office.
I will say that when I later spoke directly to the electrical inspector he went over all of the codes with me and I appreciated it greatly. A Branch Circuit permit is all that I needed.

It seems that if they had a handout with all of the same information, they could save themselves a lot of time by not having to answer the questions directly.

I think Missouri Bound is correct in that the people at the counter may know SOME things in regards to what you are doing, but they are not usually the experts/inspectors.

I also agree with Stanfortyman in that you should know what you are doing before starting your project. Obtaining the appropriate codes is the way that I ensure I am going to do the project correctly/safely.

There are however a ton of do-it-yourselfer's in the world and wanting an easier way of obtaining the codes that cover the project at hand is not particularly unreasonable. I think it would be great public relations for a city or county to make some of the more common home project codes available. Anyway, just one mans thoughts amongst many.
:)

Here is the electrical permit for Bend OR.

http://www.ci.bend.or.us/depts/community_development/building_division_2/docs/City_of_Bend_Electrical_Permit_Application_7_09.pd f

I must say, they are not shy about the fees. Your fee should have been the $98.90, plus the 12% State surcharge, to run ONE branch circuit.

LOL, must be a liberal state. A tax on a ridiculous permit fee is what I see.

This is why DIY'ers don't want contractors , or want to take out permits for themselves.

The town does refer to the 2008 NEC edition.

Welcome to the City of Bend Oregon Website - Electrical (http://www.ci.bend.or.us/depts/community_development/building_division_2/electrical.html)

So what your asking for is a code Light, so to speak? The NEC is as generic as possible, to cover all of the thousands of variables found at all the locations work can be done.

Even us electricians would like something like a quick list. But don't see it happening anytime soon.

On a different topic, I did find something to help explain something about feeder sizes, I have been trying to get corrected advice out on:

http://www.ci.bend.or.us/depts/community_development/building_division_2/docs/2ndLuke_4_0_alum_200_amp.pdf