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The designations "National Electrical Code” and “NEC” refer to the National Electrical Code®, which is a registered trademark of the National Fire Protection Association.

Top 2005 Code Changes
110.12 -- Mechanical Execution of Work
By Mike Holt
This section requires electrical equipment to be installed in a "neat and workmanlike manner," but the Code doesn't provide details on what that means. A new FPN gives the Code user a reference to an ANSI standard on the subject of installation workmanship.

What the Code says: Electrical equipment must be installed in a neat and workmanlike manner.
FPN: Accepted industry practices are described in ANSI/NECA 1-2000 Standard Practices for Good Workmanship in Electrical Contracting, and other ANSI installation standards.
(Modified Code wording is underlined.)

Behind the change: NECA has created a series of National Electrical Installation Standards (NEIS) that establish the industry's first quality guidelines for electrical installations. These standards define a benchmark or baseline for quality and workmanship for installing electrical products and systems. They explain what installing electrical products and systems in a "neat and workmanlike manner" means.

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Nightmare Installations
The Customer Isn't Always Right
Last issue we asked you for your scariest or funniest holiday lighting stories. Although not technically an installation, the following submission was our favorite.

While working for Home Depot in the electrical department for two Christmas seasons I encountered a handful of customers with a specific problem: They were perplexed that they could not find an adapter with male plugs on both ends that they could use to connect strings of Christmas lights. I explained that the item they were looking for was not even made. I even had one customer who wanted to know how they could get one made and market this item to the store. After I explained the electrical hazard that this would create some would assure me that they would tape up the exposed prongs on the end of the cord at the top of the tree or at the end of the string attached to the house. I had to point out that the best -- and safest -- solution was to remove the lights and reinstall them female to male and so on.
Mick Bowlin
Vallejo, Calif.

Send your 200-word story to us and it may appear in a future issue of CodeWatch. Authors of stories chosen will receive $25.

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Code Challenge

What's Wrong Here?
By Joe Tedesco
How does this installation violate the NEC?

Hint: In case you're wondering, this equipment is energized.

Code Q&A
By Mike Holt
Q. I heard that the Code only permits one equipment grounding (bonding) conductor to terminate on a grounding block screw terminal. Is this true?
See the answer.

Code Quiz
By Steven Owen
According to the 2005 NEC, GFCI protection for personnel is required for 15A or 20A receptacles in all but which of the following circumstances?

Outdoors in public spaces, at receptacles employees use to plug in things like their engine block heaters in the winter months or for other purposes any time

For the power source of non-power-limited or power-limited fire alarm circuits (excluding a dwelling unit unfinished basement)

Near laundry, utility, and wet bar sinks in a dwelling unit

For a boat hoist in a dwelling unit location

Visit EC&M's Web site for the answer and explanation.

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Faces of the Code
Bruce McClung
Member, Code-Making Panel 6
A list of electrical industry "giants" contributed to Bruce McClung's career as an electrical engineer, and he's proud to name them. He speaks with reverence of the men who taught him to respect but not fear electricity, and he readily admits that their tutelage inspired him to work to improve electrical safety throughout the industry. "Without them, I would have remained somewhere in the middle section of the engineering ranks," he says.

It was Francis Fox, an engineer at General Electric in the '60s, who introduced McClung to the concept of using high-resistance grounding to maintain safety in the industrial production environment at Union Carbide Corp. (UCC) where he worked for more than 40 years until 2001. And although his superiors were skeptical of the concept, they eventually relented and implemented it at all of their facilities once McClung demonstrated its merits. That pioneering spirit with regards to electrical safety is what ultimately helped him reach the title of "corporate fellow," something no other electrical engineer at UCC had ever accomplished.

And it was Bernard Whittington, a fellow engineer at UCC, who showed McClung the importance of participating in standards-making committees by taking him on as his assistant while helping to establish OSHA regulations. That experience cultivated a desire to join electrical safety committees throughout his career, including several IEEE standards-writing bodies and Code-Making Panel 6, which he's served on since the 1978 cycle. "The willingness of mid-level managers to support engineers who were involved in developing the standards and regulations by which they were to be monitored and measured relative to safety and productivity influenced my tenure at UCC," he says.

Now, at the age of 67, McClung is the co-owner of two electrical consulting service companies -- Electrical Safety Consulting Services and Mc Squared Electrical Consulting -- where he's taking those lessons and applying them to solve hazards he might not have imagined when he was still learning from Fox, Whittington, and others. With arc flash now a chief concern in industrial environments, he's still committed to improving electrical safety, which is why he's still working when many would be enjoying retirement. "Electrical safety is still in its infancy, ready to become a teenager," he says. "And I'll continue to do this work until it comes of age and matures to be a part of everyone's cultural heritage.

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Speak Out
Lights Out, Part 2
CodeWatch readers are evenly divided over whether homeowners should be held to the 90-day limit on holiday lights mandated by 590.3(B) of the NEC.

The question, then, is how to enforce this rule. Chances are good that most homeowners aren't aware of it, so what should be done to make sure they adhere to it? Should electrical inspectors be expected to monitor holiday lights in their areas and issue warnings or citations as needed? Visit EC&M's Web site to tell us.

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Technical Committee News
Call for Members
NFPA is looking for a few good men and women for openings on three technical committees. NFPA members interested in joining the Committees on Electrical System Maintenance, Health-Care Facilities - Electrical Equipment, and Health-Care Facilities - Electrical Systems should download the membership application and submit it to NFPA. For more information on becoming a technical committee member, visit the NFPA's Web site.

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Books, Code Quiz, DVDs, Graphics for PowerPoint, Newsletter, Online Training, Posters, Simulated Exams, Software, Video clips, and Videos
Visit www.NECcode.com and stay current with important industry issues.

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