The National Electrical Code

All across this country on a daily basis construction jobs of varying size and types are built to varying specifications. Each specification is bound by clearly illustrated performance and workmanship standards within the national codes that are separated by division such as mechanical and electrical. If a buildings electrical system is installed to just a minimum standard it will be putting allot of people in harm’s way. Electricity is dangerous and explosions from things like an arc flash is something no one wants to see happen; but the fact is they do.. How can you be assured that the installation of a system in a given building or home is safe? The Code. The national electrical code gives the inspectors, contractors and the project crew
a set of installation guide lines to follow. Now everyone, especially the owner can rest assured that if the job is up to code, then it is considered safe.
Seventeen years after the invention of the deaconess lightbulb, back on March 18th, 1896 a group of 23 people representing a wide variety of organizations met at the headquarters of the American Society of mechanical engineers in New York City. The purpose was to develop a national electric code of rules for electrical construction and operation. Other meetings had been held in the previous years to establish consistent rules for electrical installations, but this was the first national effort. The number of electrical fires was increasing and the need for standardization was becoming urgent. By 1881, one insurer had reported electrical fires in 23 of the 65 insured textile mills in New England. The major problem was the lack of a nationwide electrical installation standard as the workmen frequently created the standards as they worked.
By 1895, five electrical insulation codes had come into use in the United States which caused considerable controversy and confusion.
It was difficult for the manufactured products to meet the requirements from all five codes, so something had to be done to develop a single national electric code. The committee that met in 1896 recognizing that the five existing codes should be used collectively as the basis for the new code. The first known instance international harmonization the group also referred to the German code, the code of the British Board of Trade and the Phoenix rules in England. The importance of industry consensus was immediately recognized. Before the committee met again in 1897 the new code was reviewed by 1200 individuals in the United States and Europe. Shortly thereafter the first US electrical standardized code was
published.
The National electrical code has become the most widely adopted code in the United States. The installation code is now used in all 50 states in all US territories, moreover it has grown well beyond the borders of the United States and is now used in numerous other countries. Since the code is a living document it is constantly changing to reflect changes in technology and its future continues to grow. Some things have not changed, the National Electric Code continues to offer and open consensus process where the consumer has to submit a proposal for change for public comment and all proposals and comments are subject to a rigorous public review process. The National electrical code still provides the best technical information ensuring the safe guarding of persons and property from the hazards arising from the use of electricity.
The national electric code is an open consensus document that has been developed by many industry professionals from all different areas of expertise and classification, but at the end of the day it is only a minimum safety requirement.
These minimum requirements have been extended in the NEiS (National Electrical Installation Standards) and taken a step further to include standards that are voluntary, but they address quality and performance issues in the electrical industry that are important to specifiers like architects, engineers and those involved in developing or specifying electrical installations on their properties which sometimes exceeds minimum
requirements.
Up until the early nineties neither owners nor General Contractors had anything concrete to go off of when judging good workmanship as they simply referred to the plans and the specifications. If it passed the eyeball test then that was good enough, but not all installations are equal when comparing craftsmanship or quality so the National Electrical Contractors Association on behalf of its more than 4,000 members seized the opportunity to be better and to offer more to their customers to further ensure safety and quality on the projects they built. The dirty work of elevating the code began and to this day the national electrical installation standards (NEiS) is the only ANSI approved installation and maintenance best practices for electrical systems and equipment; as they conform to the highest level of criteria.
NEiS grew from one flagship document that addresses the good workmanship and electrical construction from a general perspective to approximately 45 ANSI accredited standards that addresses all aspects of the electrical industry. Once developed and accredited these provide and additional service to architects and designers beyond that of just improving installation quality. Rather than telling the industry and their specifications how they want the fire alarm system installed they can refer to list 305 and it’s all written for them. In addition they provide installation instructions for transformers, panelboards conduit and wire. A list which now includes a brand new standard for smart grid application and energy management.