NEC-2008 State-by-State Adoption Process raises the Bar
from IAEI Magazine
The 2008 National Electrical Code (NEC) revision cycle and the adoption process throughout the United States is exceeding expectations and elevating the importance of electrical safety to new heights. This code cycle has moved beyond the simple adoption of the latest version of the NEC and has taken a step forward in raising the awareness of electrical safety to more people than ever before. More

North Carolina Will Require Electronic Breakers All Through Houses
from The News & Observer
New homes in North Carolina will have to be built with an electronic switch designed to prevent electrical fires after a state agency halted an effort to scale back use of the devices. For nearly a year, the Building Code Council, which sets minimum building standards, had moved toward rescinding a requirement that arc fault circuit interrupters be installed for all living areas in new homes. The breakers were already required for bedrooms. More

IAEI Announces National Electrical Code Continuing Education in Tulsa, Okla., Oct. 11-14
from Newswire Today
Tulsa, Okla., is pleased to be selected to host the 81st Annual IAEI Southern Section Meeting and Code Conference. The conference will be held Oct. 11-14, 2009 at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center. IAEI educational sessions are the very best available, interactive classrooms with industry experts and NEC code panelists. The classes include: Short-Circuit Current & the NEC; Emergency Power System Protection; Where Utility Supply & Premises Wiring Meet; Code Panel Discussions. The Code Panel Discussions are on a variety of NEC topics. Attendees will also have an opportunity to submit questions from the floor. More

GFCI Protection for Temporary Power Sources in 2011
from Electrical Contractor Magazine
The purpose of ground-fault protection on temporary wiring installations during construction, remodeling, maintenance, repair or demolition of buildings, structures or equipment is to ensure personnel protection. Section 590.6 re-quires ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) protection for any temporary power source supplying electrical equipment on the job site. However, questions have been raised within the past few National Electrical Code (NEC) cycles whether GFCI protection was required for all sources of power on a job site or only utility-supplied power. Do generators used on job sites also require GFCI protection for circuits used by personnel, or are generators exempt from the requirement? More

Surge Suppression Devices
from EC&M
In just milliseconds, a voltage surge can destroy valuable equipment or even bring an entire facility down; thus, protection against transient voltage spikes is important. Hard-wired transient protection devices are covered by either Art. 280 (above 1kV) or Art. 285 (1kV or less). Art. 280 refers to them as surge arresters, while Art. 285 refers to them as surge-protective devices (SPDs). More

Should Data Centers Comply with Article 645 of the National Electrical Code?
from Search Data Center
A major consideration in the design of a data center is whether the Information Technology Equipment (ITE) space will comply with Article 645 of the National Electrical Code (NEC). Article 645 covers equipment, power supply wiring, equipment interconnecting wiring, and grounding of information technology equipment and systems. Chapters 1 through 4 of the NEC establish the mandatory minimum requirements for electrical installations in typical facilities. If we comply with Article 645, we can ignore some of the most burdensome of the mandatory requirements in Chapters 1 through 4. More

Plugged-In Age Feeds a Hunger for Electricity
from The New York Times
Electricity use from power-hungry gadgets is rising fast all over the world. The fancy new flat-panel televisions everyone has been buying in recent years have turned out to be bigger power hogs than some refrigerators. The proliferation of personal computers, iPods, cellphones, game consoles and all the rest amounts to the fastest-growing source of power demand in the world. Worldwide, consumer electronics now represent 15 percent of household power demand, and that is expected to triple over the next two decades. More