National Electrical Code – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The National Electrical Code (NEC), or NFPA 70, is a regionally adoptable standard for the safe installation of electrical wiring and equipment in the United States. The NEC, while having no legally binding regulation as written, can be and often is adopted by states, municipalities and cities in an effort to standardize their enforcement of safe electrical practices within their respective jurisdiction. In some cases, the NEC is amended, altered and may even be rejected in lieu of regional regulations as voted on by the governing bodies of any given locale.

The NEC codifies the requirements for safe electrical installations into a single, standardized source. It is part of the National Fire Codes series published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and while not itself a U.S. law, NEC use is commonly mandated by state or local law.[1]

The "authority having jurisdiction" inspects for compliance with these minimum standards.[2][3]

("National Electrical Code" and "NEC" are registered trademarks of the NFPA.)

The NEC is developed by NFPA's Committee on the National Electrical Code, which consists of 19 [20 in 2008] code-making panels and a technical correlating committee. Work on the NEC is sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association. The NEC is approved as an American national standard by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). It is formally identified as ANSI/NFPA 70.

First published in 1897, the NEC is updated and published every three years. The 2011 NEC is the current edition (effective date August 25, 2010). Most states adopt the most recent edition within a couple of years of its publication. As with any "uniform" code, a few jurisdictions regularly omit or modify some sections, or add their own requirements (sometimes based upon earlier versions of the NEC, or locally accepted practices). However, the NEC is the least amended model code, even with it setting minimum standards. No court has faulted anyone for using the latest version of the NEC, even when the local code was not updated.

In the U.S., anyone, including the city issuing building permits, may face a civil liability lawsuit (be sued) for negligently creating a situation that results in loss of life or property. Those who fail to adhere to well known best practices for safety have been held negligent. This means that the city should adopt and enforce building codes that specify standards and practices for electrical systems (as well as other departments such as water and fuel-gas systems). This creates a system whereby a city can best avoid lawsuits by adopting a single, standard set of building code laws. This has led to the NEC becoming the de facto standard set of electrical requirements. A licensed electrician will have spent years of apprenticeship studying and practicing the NEC requirements prior to obtaining his or her license.

The NEC also contains information about the official definition of HAZLOC and the related standards given by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and dealing with hazardous locations such as explosive atmospheres.

The NEC is available as a bound book containing approximately 1000 pages. It has been available in electronic form since the 1993 edition. Although the code is updated every three years, some jurisdictions do not immediately adopt the new edition.

The NEC is also available as a restricted, digitized coding model that can be read online but not saved, copied and pasted, or printed, free of charge on certain computing platforms that support the restricted viewer software.

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National Electrical Code - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia