NFPA 70 or the National Electric Code (NEC) has been around ever since 1987 and has been updated and modified to ensure that people that work on electrical systems and controls, as well as those who use said systems and controls, are kept safe. In keeping with the maintenance of the NEC, the 2020 version of it has also had new provisions and procedures put in place - so it’s important for electricians to familiarize themselves with those changes. In this article, we’re going to give you the CliffsNotes version of what has been changed so you can quickly scan through them and put them to memory.

Reorganization of Codes

One important thing of note is that the NEC book itself is being revised to increase user readability. In this case, the book’s revision is geared toward making sure that all readers know where they can find the requirements located within.

Chapter 3 had to be restructured at one point so that it was easier to read through.  At one point, chapter 8 had to have multiple requirements that had been duplicated moved into a newly created Article 800. The previous Article 800 that had already existed was then made into Article 805.

GFCI Protection

This is a topic that always gets brought up during every revision. In the 2020 book, GFCI or ground fault circuit interrupter protection has now been required to accommodate 125 and 250-volt receptacles that are supplied by a single-phase circuit at 150-volts or less.

It has now been changed so that all of the basement (regardless of whether the building or renovations on it have been completed) are to have GFCI protection as well. GFCI outlets will be required for appliances such as dryers and ranges if the range receptacle is within 6 feet of the sink and three feet from showers, as well.

Emergency Power Disconnects for Homes

This newly added section of the NEC, states that there must be an emergency power disconnect placed in a location that’s easy to reach outside of the home (which was made so that emergency responders at one and two-family homes can better and more quickly assist). There are some places in the US that already do this and have been doing it for years, so, for them, it isn’t a huge change. All that needs to be added in these instances is to have it prominently marked as the emergency power shut off.

For the locations within the US that have the emergency power disconnect placed inside of the home, there are three options to fulfill the requirement:

●  install the emergency disconnect outside and mark it as required
●  provide a sufficiently rated meter disconnect that is actually marked either; “emergency disconnect”, “not service equipment” or “meter disconnect”
●  have any other disconnect switch that can be used as service equipment marked as “emergency disconnect, not service equipment”
There is also a requirement that states that any service disconnect has to be comprised of two to six switches or service breakers. This will allow most of the service disconnected to be either a circuit breaker or a single switch. It also means that it can meet specific provisions that let you have more than just one.

This lets anyone that’s installing or maintaining the system to de-energize all conductors and circuit parts with a single disconnect with the exclusion of the line side of the disconnector. The goal of this new provision is to limit the possibility of potential harm caused by energized conductors.

Reorganization of Overvoltage Protection

Overvoltage protection - more commonly known as surge protection - has also received some reorganization. While there have long been articles about installing surge protection devices (Article 208 and Article 285), there’s never really been an article specifically dedicated to overvoltage protection itself. You can now find information on overvoltage protection within the NEC next to the article on overcurrent protection.

And there you have it. Listed here are some of the most important changes that you‘ll find within the NEC after the 2020 revision period. Of course, this is just a quick rundown of what you can expect to see in the newly revamped NEC. Although this was created to make absorbing the information easier, you may at some point want to go over the entire book itself. If this article was helpful to you, then let us know in the comments below!

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