Hope this post is in proper taste
I do not have too much difficulty when it comes to interpreting a certain article in the NEC, primarily due to being
exposed to so many Manuals written in a Technical Standard method.
Early on, I found the difficult part was more of the navigation methods, rather than the article themselves. It would
make more sense to me if the NEC had less articles referenced by other articles, and in place snip a small quote of
the referred article. Where multiple references are needed, this could cut down page thumb nailing quite a bit!
This would, of course, add more pages to the code book, requiring it to be larger and include more labor.
This would be my only feasible request, but it's more like the way I would conceive it written (like more towards the
"hard-core" Technical Standards Protocol), and is definitely not the way someone else would like it written!
As to the articles themselves, I have been able to figure out most of the stuff without difficulty. Have mis-interpreted
some here and there, but fortunately did not make too big of an a@# of of myself!
Although, in the past I have not formally instructed persons on NEC interpretations, I have many times helped
co-workers and others to interpret a certain article's intent. In the near future, I will be responsible for training
personnel for all aspects of installations, and this will include NEC (and CEC) knowledge also.
The most common situation I have found when someone asks assistance with NEC article interpretation is the
wordage (Tech. Standards), next is navigation. I can help them catch the navigation methods much easier than article
interpretation. When I explain the protocol of the writing, it makes them even more confused! So far have found to
give them a simple and brief example of a certain article, then try mentioning the "Limits" type terms as being just that
- a minimum or maximum.
Really would like to have more accurate and helpful methods of training for NEC articles.
BTW, a very difficult thing and cause of overall confusion when discussing an article's interpretation (in hind-sight
most of the time), is when an Inspector mistakenly misinterprets an article and issues a non-compliance / correction
notice on something. Not that this occurs a lot, but it does occur.
Sometimes an Electrician will not realize when the CEC, or a local code is used, which brings up a whole bunch of
confusion! This happens more than the Inspector misquotes!
To sum this up, I will be posting a new topic in regards to color coding the GEC in a panel. Looking for any and all
suggested methods.
Scott35 S.E.T.