NEC Section 230.71. Six Switches or Circuit Breakers in One Enclosure
Since the 1937 edition of the NEC, the service disconnecting means used to isolate a building’s premises wiring from the utility provider’s conductors has been allowed to consist of as few as one, but as many as six switches or sets of circuit breakers.
A veteran electrician would tell you that requirement (or permission, depending on your perspective) means six throws of the hand can be used to control all power on the property. Our veteran electrician is correct – if there is one electrical service on the property.
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 electrical service change is a very common electrical service job. Your standard residential service electrician could complete one on any given day, and it would be an easy task for him. For the rest of the electricians out there, a quick refresher may be needed before diving into an electrical service change. Let’s review some typical service change details and procedures using the 2017 National Electrical Code (NEC).
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?
JADE Learning is offering an 11-Hour Renewal Package for Florida Electrical Contractors. The courses are online and meet the requirements for the August 31st, 2020 renewal deadline. All licensed electrical contractors in Florida are required to complete 11 hours of continuing education to renew a Florida electrical contractor license.
Every electrician must have a good electrical resume on hand and be ready to share it when the next opportunity presents itself. Your resume must be able to stand out against many others in the usual quick review. As an electrician and as an employer, I can tell you the following layout is very informative and very successful.
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.
Don't wait to let the Electrical Inspector teach you the new 2020 NEC. Save time, save money,
and pass inspections the first time with the NEC Challenge.
Learn 156 of the most important 2020 NEC changes by having Code-based Q&A delivered by text or email three times a week.