ECN Forum Forums Code Related Discussion NEC & other Code issues This should start some fights AFCIs on retros

Massachusetts:
We have 1(one) code,I and others like that. NEC with amendments,some good,some not, but.... I can travel 3 hrs either direction and know what I need to do. I like that.

Now... Licensed in several states..all with in 1 hour travel...That can be tough.

Bill,I once worked in Rochester,early 90's (unauthorized-unlicensed)Sent my Brother out for staples.. Insulated was a special order!!! Standard here, and code.

Little things like that should be accepted.

Lee,

I get dizzy thinking about it, but at one point I think we had to follow 3 different code years in different areas for different types of work (Resi or Commercial), but in reality the NY State Code was supposed to be followed by all (unless special permission was given by state).

Here in NJ you are suppose to go from High Point to Cape May and we are suppose to follow the '08 NEC. Yet when you have several different AHJ's you will have several different interpretations of the code. As I have stated in other posts, some AHJ's want any wire running through a bedroom AFCI protected. Which is not what the code states.

Was told by a inspector electricial contractors were the scape goats when these afcis came out.Why do you thank when they first came out had to use them in bedrooms only had to work the bugs out at the contractors expense. Dont do much house work but have read different problems they have had with them ceiling fans make them trip vacuums trip the ckt. And what do you know 2008 you have to put just about the hole house on arc fault

Regardless as to how anyone "feels" about AFCI’s, my own experience with these since their initial inception is that they are still not perfected, which leads me to wonder how the NEC could even consider expanding the scope of AFCI’s to SABC’s and feeders, etc.
Even with the current C/AFCI technology, this is sure to cause more problems than it solves.
Further expanding AFCI use could possibly result in a backlash from many jurisdictions finally wising up and at the very least, reducing the requirements for AFCI protection in areas that we all know through actual field experience, but some may refuse to admit... are prone to nuisance tripping, even when all circuit wiring is properly installed and tested prior to energizing.

I am sure I asked this question in a post somewhere. ( I can't remember which post) However I am not sure what the definition of Sec. 210.12 (B) "...closets, hallways, or similar rooms or areas." Does this mean you need AFCI protection for dining room lights but not for kitchen lights? What about basement lights?

Our chief inspector of the state of vermont required afci's for any service upgrade back in '99 (we were a code cycle ahead of the nation on them)

it was complete and total confusion.....

~S~