Jim Dollard has an extensive background in codes and standards. If you have a query about the National Electrical Code (NEC) , Jim will help you solve it. Send questions to codefaqs@gmail.com. Answers are based on the 2020...
A few years ago, I received two phone calls regarding voltage gradients in swimming pools at existing homes in North Carolina. The pools had supposedly been installed using 680.26(A) and (B). This section of the Code was...
The standards development system for the National Electrical Code is a public, consensus-driven process. The NEC receives thousands of public inputs and comments every cycle. But how can a book be consistent if it has...
The 2020 edition of the National Electrical Code, issued Aug. 5, 2019, became effective Aug. 25, 2019, and superseded all 54 previous editions beginning in 1897. There were a total of 3,730 public inputs with 1,400 first...
The National Electrical Code is designed for the practical safeguarding of people and property from hazards arising from the use of electricity. The two major hazards are shock and fire, but the third, arc flash, is starting...
Jim Dollard has an extensive background in codes and standards. If you have a query about the National Electrical Code (NEC) , Jim will help you solve it. Send questions to codefaqs@gmail.com. Answers are based on the 2017...
Let’s be honest here. Most Code change seminars start at the beginning of the National Electrical Code (NEC), and by the time the class is over, we’re lucky if we get as far as Article 700. It is important that electrical...
Jim Dollard has an extensive background in codes and standards. If you have a query about the National Electrical Code (NEC), Jim will help you solve it. Send questions to codefaqs@gmail.com. Answers are based on the 2017 NEC...
Jim Dollard has an extensive background in codes and standards. If you have a query about the National Electrical Code (NEC), Jim will help you solve it. Send questions to codefaqs@gmail.com. Answers are based on the 2017 NEC...
Grounding an electrical system means one system conductor is connected to ground (earth by definition) and a reference to ground from the system is established. Installing and operating an ungrounded system means no reference...
Jim Dollard has an extensive background in codes and standards. If you have a query about the National Electrical Code (NEC) , Jim will help you solve it. Send questions to codefaqs@gmail.com. Answers are based on the 2017...
With the advent of power over ethernet in the 2017 National Electrical Code (NEC) , in Article 393 of the 2014 NEC covering low-voltage ceiling grid power, and other applications dealing with power-limited circuits, there...
This column completes last month’s discussion on the history of working space requirements in the National Electrical Code (NEC) . Now, it is time to look to the more recent past and even into the future. 2002 Code Section...
Around 2007, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) introduced a concept known as prevention through design (PtD), which addresses preventing and controlling occupational injuries, illnesses and...
Let’s assume a 120/208-volt (V), three-phase service was installed on a building a few years ago and the new owner of the building needs a standby generator for use during power outages. The electrical contractor installs a...
“Installation approved!” It’s what those involved in construction strive for as they build their projects. Obtaining approvals involves multiple steps, many of which are related to the communication and relation with...
Jim Dollard has an extensive background in codes and standards. If you have a query about the National Electrical Code (NEC) , Jim will help you solve it. Send questions to codefaqs@gmail.com. Answers are based on the 2017...
National Electrical Code (NEC) Panel 3 established the new Article 728 in the 2014 NEC. It deals with fire-resistive cabling systems, and it was marginally revised for the 2017 NEC. The article covers the installation of fire...
Ground-fault protection of equipment (GFPE) protects large equipment from devastating arcing events and destructive burn-downs. GFPE requirements are provided in sections 210.13, 215.10, 230.95, 240.13 and 517.17, to name a...
Jim Dollard has an extensive background in codes and standards. If you have a query about the National Electrical Code (NEC) , Jim will help you solve it. Send questions to codefaqs@gmail.com. Answers are based on the 2017...