Electrical Installation Code United States of America

1
Electrical Installation Code United States of
America

• National Electrical Code
• Date of the latest version-2002
• Next edition-2005 (Sept. 2004)

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Electrical Installation Code United States of
America

• Organization responsible for maintaining the
  Code-National Fire Protection Association-Committe
  e on the National Electrical Code
• Key contact person
• Mark W. Earley
• Telephone [phone]
• Email mwearley_at_nfpa.org

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Origin of the National Electrical Code

• First meeting held on March 18-19, 1896 in New
  York City
• 23 persons in attendance
• American Society of Electrical Engineers
• American Institute of Architects
• National Street Railway Association
• The International Association of Fire Engineers
• Underwriters Laboratories
• Factory Mutual
• ATT
• General Electric

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Origin of the National Electrical Code-Perspective

• Edison had introduced the incandescent lamp 17
  years earlier
• Alexander Graham Bell had invented his telephone
  only 20 years earlier
• Wright Brothers would fly 7 years later.
• Henry Ford worked for Detroit Edison

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Electrical Codes in Use

• There were 5 electrical codes in use in the USA
  in 1896
• Manufacturers were unable to standardize products
  where there could be 5 variations of the product.

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Development Approach

• Take the best requirements from
• The five electrical codes
• The Electrical Code of Germany
• The Rules of the British Board of Trade
• The Phoenix Rules
• The rules had to be safe as well as practical
• The document was developed and circulated around
  the USA and Europe to 1200 experts

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The First Edition

• Issued in 1897 by the National Conference on
  Standard Electrical Rules

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National Fire Protection Association

• Assumed sponsorship in 1910
• Published annual and biennial editions until 1959
• Has published triennial editions since 1959
• Published 41 of the 49 editions

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Guiding Principles

• No one individual or industry segment possessed
  all of the answers.
• Broad consensus of all affected industry segments
  necessary

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NFPA Codes and Standards Process Contd

• Categories of Interest
• Users
• Manufacturers
• Enforcers
• Testing/Research
• Special Experts
• Insurance
• Installer/Maintainer
• Consumer
• Labor
• Utility

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The National Electrical Code Committee

• Technical Correlating Committee-an oversight
  committee that has overall responsibility to
  correlate the reports of the various committees
  reporting to it.
• Code-Making Panels-Technical committees that have
  responsibilities for specific technical subject
  areas of the code

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Organization of the National Electrical Code
Project
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WHAT IS NFPA?

• National Fire Protection Association
• Founded in 1896
• Private, Non-Profit, Voluntary Codes and
  Standards Developer
• ANSI Accredited Audited Designator Organization
• Membership Organization - 75,000
• Members in U.S. and 97 Nations

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WHAT IS NFPA? Contd

• Codes and Standards
• Public Education
• Research
• Mission - ...To Reduce the Burden of Fire on the
  Quality of Life...
• Focus - Fire Safety, Electrical Safety, and
  Related Hazards

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NFPA Codes and Standards

• Subject Areas
• Electrical Installation
• Building Fire Protection and Life Safety
• Fire Protection Systems and Equipment
• Special Occupancies and Equipment
• Chemicals and Hazardous Materials
• Fire Service Equipment, Safety and Health
• Participate in Other Codes and Standards
  Activity ANSI, IEC, ISO, ASTM, ASME, CEC, Model
  Building Codes, etc.

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NFPA Codes and Standards Process

• Open Consensus Process - Encourages Innovation,
  Accessible to All
• Broad Based Committee Membership
• International Participation in Process
• Technically Skilled Staff Oversee Process and
  Support Users with Handbooks, Training, and
  Advice

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NFPA Codes and Standards Process

• Member of ANSI - American National Standards
  Institute
• Accredited Consensus Process
• 5400 Committee Members
• 210 Committees
• 290 Documents
• 1/3 Balance by Interest Category
• 2/3 Consensus to Change Document

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NFPA Codes and Standards Process Contd

• Staff Liaison
• Technical Expert
• Administrator
• Steps in Process
• Enter Revision Cycle
• Call for Proposals
• Committee Acts on Proposals
• Publish Report on Proposals - ROP
• Call for Comments
• Committee Acts on Comments
• Publish Report on Comments - ROC

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NFPA Codes and Standards Process Contd

• Adopted at NFPA Meetings
• Two Per Year
• Floor Debate
• Voted on By Membership
• Released by Standards Council
• Cycle Time - 22 Months
• Disputes
• Standards Council

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Why Voluntary Private Sector Codes and Standards?

• Cost Effective - Little or No Cost to Public
• Revised Periodically - State-of-the-Art
• Process Accessible to All
• Process Attracts Participation of All Interests -
  Public and Private
• Focused on Participants Technical Interests

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Electronic Access to NFPA

• NFPAs Homepage www.NFPA.org
• Contains
• News, press releases, product information, fire
  investigation reports, calendar of events, staff
  directory and E-mail addresses, ROPs and ROCs,
  membership information, hot links to other
  organizations
• NEC Web site www.necdigest.org
• Accessible to all
• Member only area includes online access to code
  as well as archive versions of 2 previous
  editions.
• ROPs and ROCs Browseable via Adobe Acrobat
• Proposals and Comments can be Viewed and
  Submitted Electronically

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National Electrical Code-Ancillary activities

• NEC Digest
• NEC Handbook
• NEC Expert Series
• NEC Pocket Guides
• NEC Inspection Manual

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NEC Vs. IEC 60364

• IEC 60364 is a collection of over 30 documents.
  It does not include hazardous locations, that is
  handled by another series of documents.
• IEC 60364 is not an installation Code. It is a
  statement of principles and a framework. It
  requires an installation code to be built around
  it.
• NEC complies with the philosophy of 60364
• NEC is written for practical installation

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U.S. Codes and Standards System

• Driven by Private Sector Voluntary Codes and
  Standards Organizations
• Adoption and Enforcement of Codes and Standards
  at three levels (Dick Owen)
• Federal
• State
• Local - City, County, Town
• Adopted in all 50 states.

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National Electrical Code Enforcement United
States of America

• Evidence of compliance -- certificate of
  compliance/occupancy issued
• Dispute settlement is usually handled through an
  electrical board
• Penalty for non-compliance
• No certificate issued
• Fines

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National Electrical Code Applicability United
States of America

• The code is used by construction contractors on a
  national and international basis?
• Some amendments on the local level
• Compliance with the code is required for
  industrial, commercial, residential, public, and
  private.
• The code is used for new construction as well as
  renovation.
• NFPA 70E is a recommended practice that covers
  electrical equipment maintenance

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NEC The International Electrical Code Series