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Monday, March 26, 2018
Question:
Re: CQD answer published Tuesday, March 13, 2018 - NEC Language
1) Charlie: You perform a great service for the electrical industry, thank you! As a former member of Code Making Panel 10 (now called Technical Committees), I assure you that we always tried to keep it simple. However, in addition to Charlie’s great answer, the words have to be succinct enough to stand up in court. The placement of a comma, semicolon, etc. really mattered and we never took it lightly when crafting a sentence. We have had several proposals (now called Public Input) to insert, remove, or move just a single comma. The panel members today (OK, Committee Members) have the same task before them to make the words as plain as possible while making the Code suitable for adoption and for standing up in legal proceedings. Take Care, Charlie Eldridge | Consultant
2) I have to respond to Code Question of the Day March 12, 2018 response from Bill. I have been an electrician since 1976 working my way through the channels to being licensed as an Electrical Contractor. Bill makes a comment that most electricians are just trying to do a good job and the planner understands the NEC. That sounds way off, to carry the title of "electrician" means you do follow and understand the NEC. That is why we start as apprentices and work up to journeyman and higher if desired. Engineers and planners do lay out a job (in some cases) but as "electricians" we have to be sure it is installed properly. What do we do when we go to install electrical wiring in a building that is a small job and the "electrician has to lay it out? I agree you have to really read the NEC sometimes to get the intent, but each Article at .1 has the scope of what that section pertains to. Keep up the good work, Randy Anderson
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Answer:
Hey Charlie and Randy thanks for your comments and the compliments. You are both correct, there is a lot of work done to improve the NEC every three years and it takes a lot of work to follow and understand all of the applicable changes. Sometimes it takes more than one NEC cycle to get the words clear enough. It is also interesting that even though the NEC is adopted and used in legal matters the attorneys generally rely on "experts" to support their case. Many of those experts are individuals that have considerable experience and knowledge of the NEC but not necessarily a college or university degree.