The 2020 National Electrical Code (NEC) has ushered in a brand-new method for determining the number of receptacle outlets required to serve island countertops; peninsular countertops; and work surfaces located in kitchens, pantries, breakfast rooms, dining rooms, and similar areas of a dwelling unit.
If you are an electrical contractor that has ever wired a room addition, you will likely be familiar with this process.
Before ever attempting to provide an estimate, you must first determine how to get power from the home’s existing breaker panel to the new lighting and receptacle outlets in the addition. Bidding the individual outlets for the new addition is relatively easy, but bidding power to feed them can take some investigation and imagination.
The 2020 Code Making Panel (CMP) has revised the 2017 NEC rules regarding receptacles serving dwelling unit balconies, decks, and porches – specifically, the requirement that an accessible outdoor receptacle must be installed to serve attached balconies, decks, and porches. The revised Code now requires that a receptacle be installed to serve the balcony, deck, or porch when the balcony, deck, or porch is within 4 inches of the dwelling unit. If the balcony, deck, or porch is within 4 inches of the dwelling, the 2020 NEC considers that close enough so that it now requires a general use 120-volt receptacle.
We are all familiar with the NEC requirement to place receptacles within the first 24 inches of a kitchen countertop edge, and then locate them every 48 inches thereafter. But did you know that fixed countertops in rooms such as dens, libraries, living rooms, bedrooms and the like now have receptacle requirements, and they are different from the requirements found in 210.52(C) that apply to kitchens?
If you ask a seasoned electrician how many No. 12 AWG conductors will fit into a 3/4″ EMT conduit system, you may get a response such as “one more!” While this is amusing (and typically true), there are precautions that must be taken according to the NEC whenever conductors are bundled together in a raceway, cable, or even in a ditch in the earth.
In this 2020 Code cycle a new Informational Note now accompanies the term Grounded Conductor where it is defined in Article 100. The Note has been added to help electricians identify functional differences between Grounded and Grounding Conductors.
In defense of all who have struggled with these terms in the past, both grounded conductors and grounding conductors are in fact grounded. They just have different jobs.
Section 408.6: A Brand-New Addition to the 2020 NEC
NEC section 408.6 states: Switchboards, Switchgear, and Panelboards shall have a short-circuit current rating (SCCR) not less than the available fault current. In other than one- and two-family dwelling units, the available fault current and the date the calculation was performed shall be field marked on the enclosure at the point of supply. The marking shall comply with 110.21(B)(3).
Making NEC 408.6 Simple
This new Code Section simply means that electrical panels including main-breaker and main-lug type panels and switchboards & switchgear equipment must be rated (in amps) to withstand the high levels of current that will flow should a short-to-ground or other fault occur at the equipment. In ALL locations other than dwelling units, that anticipated fault current must be marked on the equipment enclosure near where the supply conductors enter in, along with the date that the calculation producing that number was performed. The new Code Section also says the markings on the equipment must comply with 110.21(B)(3). Section 110.21(B)(3) tells us that markings must be sufficiently durable to withstand the environment.
The 2020 NEC now recognizes that GFCI protection for mobile and manufactured homes must be equal to that of stick-built and modular type dwellings. Construction Codes, in general, have always been less restrictive for mobile-type dwellings. This may be because mobile homes are often titled with the Motor Vehicle Department, and this type of housing is built, inspected, tested, and listed off-site at a manufacturing plant.
The renewal deadline for CE hours is approaching fast! All New Hampshire licensed master and journeyman electricians have to complete an approved 15 hour course on the 2020 NEC by the December 31, 2020 renewal deadline. All master and journeyman licenses without verification of the 2020 NEC by January 1, 2021, […]
The 2020 Code Making Panel has introduced a new and unprecedented Code section for this 2020 Code cycle that may prove controversial once time allows this directive to play out.
This new requirement found in Section 680.4 of the 2020 NEC allows the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) to return to a home or business for follow-up inspection(s) even after the swimming pool, fountain, or similar has passed final inspection, and the job is complete.
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