Amid all the attention paid to NFPA 70B, most people in the electrical service and maintenance business might be surprised to learn that it has been around for more than 50 years.

For much of that time, 70B was merely a lesser-known National Fire Protection Association publication offering by-the-book recommendations for maintaining electrical equipment, mostly for commercial and industrial facilities. In January 2023, everything changed when NFPA 70B was elevated from a recommendation to a standard. 

In the modern world

Today, there is an even newer version of NFPA 70B, with significant modifications and enhancements to the 2023 edition.

In 2022, when NFPA 70B was on the verge of becoming a standard, we met with Kiley Taylor, who heads Megawatt Training and Consulting, Littleton, Colo., as the lead instructor. For many years, Taylor has sat on the technical committee for NFPA 70B.

When we first put our heads together with you on this subject, NFPA 70B was on its way to becoming a brand-new standard. Now, with a 2026 edition, it’s new all over again.

Our NFPA 70B committees perennially maintain a three-year renewal cycle. That allows us to revise content, incorporate suggestions from public comments and enhance the coverage that NFPA 70B was designed to ensure with additions both large and small. For example, in the 2026 edition, we have introduced a major change addressing the potential for cyberattacks against the operational technology (OT) in electrical systems. Meanwhile, we have inserted new definitions for the condition of equipment as either serviceable, limited service or nonserviceable. In fact, we’ve even got a new definition for “equipment,” which now includes fittings, devices, appliances and luminaires, in addition to apparatus and machinery.

On the cover of the current editions of NFPA 70, NFPA 70E and NFPA 70B, there’s a new subtitle that reads, “International Electrical Codes Series.” 

All three must intertwine. For example, Chapter 2 in NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, and its Informational Annex S are all about understanding the need for performing maintenance and how that impacts the risk of electrical hazards if systems and equipment are not maintained. Conversely, NFPA 70B states that personnel performing maintenance type activities must be qualified and follow the proper electrical safety program.

In your observation, which of the requirements in NFPA 70B are going to mean the most to service contractors? 

A lot of equipment owners have no idea of their obligations under NFPA 70B, or even where to begin with maintenance of their systems. An electrical service contractor can benefit greatly from gaining a good understanding of the requirements in NFPA 70, 70B and 70E to help their clientele be compliant with the codes and standards, and even OSHA. While it is the facility owner’s responsibility to establish and maintain an EMP (electrical maintenance program), a “qualified” electrical service and maintenance contractor can do the heavy lifting to put that program in place and keep it moving forward.

The 2026 NFPA 70B standard states that organizations must conduct a cybersecurity risk assessment of OT and associated control and monitoring systems where those systems are network-connected or remotely accessible. That’s not optional!

You’re correct: that’s not optional. Regardless of what your company does, or who it provides goods and services to, if it is connected to the internet, there are risks. It must be part of the mandates to evaluate systems and equipment under the EMP. Here again is where a qualified electrical service and maintenance contractor can facilitate a solution, which may include a joint venture with a tech-savvy partnering company.

You coach electrical service contractors across the United States on how to help facility owners comply with NFPA 70B. What is your best advice to them today?

My advice is to invest in the preparation to assist their customers and get up to speed on both 70E and 70B. The sooner they get started, the sooner they will be able to provide their clients with an understanding of how they must step up to today’s requirements in both electrical safety and electrical maintenance. Contractors can start small and learn how to evaluate their customers’ preparedness to comply with the interlocking requirements of the National Electrical Code, NFPA 70E and NFPA 70B. From there they can provide solutions to them across the board. Remember, these three documents are intended to be used together, as symbolized by the NFPA’s “Electrical Cycle of Safety.”

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