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Monday, January 28, 2019

Question:

Re: CQD answer published January 16, 2019 - Holiday Decorative Lighting

Regarding CQD of 01/16/19: I would like to offer a different viewpoint on the topic of holiday lighting installations. I can take an unopened box of holiday lights, toss it onto the roof, leave it there for years, and I will not have created an “electrical installation.”  Hanging the lights on the gutter also does not comprise an “electrical installation.” It is only when I run an extension cord or employ some other method to temporarily bring power to the lights that an “electrical installation” will have been created. It is like saying that I need and electrician and a permit in order to get receptacles installed in a new room, but I don’t need one in order to plug a lamp into one of the receptacles.  Utilization equipment is not part of the premises wiring system; decorative lights are not electrical installations.

Charlie Beck

A

Answer:

Hey Charlie thanks for your comments. You make some good points, electric products are not included in the definition of Premises Wiring, as it is defined in Article 100, because it ends at the outlets. But notice that the NEC Purpose in 90.1 and Scope in 90.2 do not limit the NEC application to Premises Wiring. Many rules such as in Article 422 for appliances apply to electric products that are connected to outlets. The definition of Utilization Equipment in Article 100 includes lighting and also is not limited to premises wiring.

Most would agree that electrical products on a shelf, or those being stored are not part of the electrical installation - at that time, yet the NEC has several rules for removing disconnected or abandoned wiring. The words are not in the NEC or in the "guide information" for Seasonal and Holiday Decorative Products but I seem to recall it being said that they were intended to be stored so they were not exposed to the weather, or maybe I dreamed that.

Possibly someone from UL will send in their thoughts about removal and storage of these products based on the product standards.

ABOUT CQD: The Code Question of the Day (CQD) is NECA and ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR Magazine’s flagship National Electrical Code (NEC®) public forum for the industry, sponsored by EATON. The daily distribution of Q&A generates a lively dialogue and shares relative Code-based practical responses.

SUBMIT YOUR CODE QUESTION: Click here to submit a question to for inclusion in an upcoming edition of the Code Question of the Day, or email codequestion@necanet.org. 

CHARLIE TROUT: Charles M. Trout, better known as Charlie, was a nationally known NEC® expert and author. He served on several NEC® technical committees and is past chairman of CMP-12. In 2006 Charlie was awarded the prestigious Coggeshall Award for outstanding contributions to the electrical contracting industry, codes and standards development, and technical training. Even though Charlie passed away in October of 2015, his work continues in spirit. NECA continues to maintain this question forum for its many subscribers in memory and recognition of all his significant contributions to making the NEC what it is today.

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