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2005 National Electric Code Technical Committee (Update)
Meeting January 12-18, 2003

APPA has been a voting member of the National Electric Code since 1999. APPA's membership would like to thank Rich Robben, Director of Plant, at the University of Michigan for support provided by his staff and the university.

These notes describe the current disposition of Code Panel #1 on a broad range of issues that should be of interest to electrical people in higher education facilities construction, operation and maintenance. The panel of 10 voting members discussed 242 proposals for changes to the NEC. These notes have been prepared by Michael A. Anthony (University of Michigan) -- APPA's representative on Panel #1 - to provide an overview of the proposals that affect our industry directly.

Policy Proposals

1. Rejected proposals to disqualify anyone but union workers from performing electrical construction or maintenance.
2. Rejected proposal to mandate temperatures of substation rooms.
3. Rejected proposal to mandate "proper" maintenance of equipment.
4. Rejected proposal to relocate Article 80, the optional administrative article, to another location in the 2005 NEC. Article 80 governs "grandfather" installations, inspector qualifications, and other legal hot buttons. It will remain in the front of the NEC, and not in the back as an Annex. Its placement is logical when it is adopted, illogical if not adopted.
5. Panel cannot agree on definition of power or communication utility and so the NEC rules governing the installations owned by power and telecommunication utilities will be applied on a case-by-case by the authority having jurisdiction. Leave the issue to state electrical inspectors who have closer ties to regulatory agencies.
6. There will be no definition of dormitory until the word appears in one other article. We must wait until Panel #2 meets next week to see if the companion proposal will result in a second appearance of the word dormitory. APPA has a proposal under review by that committee to clarify whether a dormitory is a "dwelling unit". If a dormitory is a dwelling unit then we must install arc fault protection.
7. A receptacle assigned for use by a microwave oven does not constitute permanent cooking facilities and thus occupancies with microwaves are exempt from more rigorous design requirements.
8. The panel approved more enforceable language for documented safety training in NFPA-70E
9. The panel came up with more descriptive language for panelboard marking. All panelboards shall have arc-flash calorie/sq.cm. data inscribed on the OUTSIDE of panel. This means that panels installed in hallways will have to have some kind of hazard sign engraved on them. The APPA representative Abstained from voting on this topic; pending further review by APPA members.
10. The rules governing access to manholes that now appear in Chapter 3 will be moved to Chapter 1.

1. Rejected use of term "earthed" in place of "grounded"
2. Future expansion provisions in 90.8 will be expanded to include provisions for future telecommunication wiring/cabling.
3. Arc-fault circuit interrupter shall be defined.
4. The term equipment grounding conductor will be changed to equipment bonding conductor. All of Article 250 will be changed, including the title of Table 250-122.
5. Will not permit reversal of trend toward metrification. Clearances will remain in "even" feet and inches, however.
6. Abandoned cable will be defined.
7. Accepted a new definition of selective (overcurrent) coordination.
8. Rejected proposal to mandate AIC engraving on all breakers. The APPA representative voted against the panel majority on this proposal
9. Rejected proposal to include language permitting paralleling of switchgear even though AIC ratings are exceeded.
10. Rejected proposal for boxes installed in wet locations to have weep holes. The APPA representative voted against the panel majority on this proposal
11. Rejected proposal to mandate oxidation inhibitor on aluminum terminations
12. Accepted the removal of references to Design E motors; a standard rescinded by NEMA in Feb. 2000
13. Rejected proposal to mandate unique marking of disconnects. The APPA representative voted against the panel majority on this proposal
14. Rejected proposal to mandate more articulate marking of series-rated equipment.
15. Rejected proposal for emergency lighting in electric service panel. The APPA representative voted against the panel majority on this proposal.

It should be understood that these proposals are only the proposals that were presented to Panel #1 -- the only panel on which APPA has a vote. There are 19 other panels, each with several hundred proposals of their own under consideration. For an unedited look at the work of the other committees refer to the 2003 ROP website

What happens when the proposal passes?
A proposal becomes written into the 2005 National Electric Code only after it succeeds in passing three different stages of public scrutiny. The first stage, called the Proposal stage within which we are now working, is the initial adoption of a new NEC requirement. We have until February 18th to formally vote on these proposals. These proposals are integrated into a first draft of the 2005 NEC which is then circulated internationally for public comment until October 31, 2003.

The second stage, called the Comment stage, requires a second meeting of the technical committees in December 2003. Public comments and/or challenges to the first draft of the NEC are reviewed, adopted, or discarded as the technical committee sees fit. (APPA members will be informed of these proceedings on this web site during November 2003 ). We will have until mid-January 2004 to formally vote on the final draft of the 2005 NEC.

In June 2004, the NFPA Standards Council, the governing body that oversees all of the other NFPA standards, allows the general public one last chance to challenge the final draft of the NEC at its annual meeting. Typically these challenges are few and are settled immediately (or deferred to the next code cycle). Finally, the NFPA Standards Council releases the 2005 National Electric Code for publication.