Wheres the best priceing on this book>>
They run from $120.00 To over $200 from what I see.

NFPA prices are ridiculous on all of their products

I got a flyer in the mail a few days ago from the NFPA for the 2009 70E. If you're a member the price is $109.35 for the 70E Handbook or $121.50 for non-members.
You can also get both the regular 70E book and the 70E Handbook as a set for $128.93 for members or $143.25 for non-members. The shipping charge is the same $8.95 for either. Also, the flyer says that these prices are valid through 06/30/09.

Check the ECN store ... we have several 70-E related publications, including at least four from the NFPA.

At least NFPA has all their documents free for viewing online now, that's at least nice. I wish ICC and IEEE would do the same. Guess it shows where "public safety" falls in with "profits". Aren't they all non-profit organizations? How can it possibly cost that much to upddate and publish these code books?

'Non-profit' doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means.
It just means that at the end of the fiscal year everything is spent (or planned to be spent).

I remember 1 non-profit quasi-goverment agency that took in SCADS of money. They had the absolute nicest offices in the most gorgeous building...and had a great blowout of a holiday party right before the fiscal year closed out.
So long as they ended up broke on the last day of the fiscal year...all was well.

BTW, I agree that the books should be A LOT cheaper, especially now that publishing is done on PCs and printing is no longer the nightmare that it used to be.

I have said many times NFPA is committed to code churn and the sale of books a lot more than safety.
A whole industry has come up around making sure the codes are as confusing as possible and that constant education and book replacement is required of as many people as possible.

In another thread it was asked, how much less safe would we be if the 1940 code was actually enforced.

Sorry I don't feel that way. I;ve been a licensed inspector over 30 yrs, instructor off & on over 15 or so years & licensed in several states& in the trade almost 45 years. I;ve seen work done by unqualifed people with a limited info . I think the codes & required update classes ect give the customers a much better quality of work & installation., with up to date products. I didn't see VFD drives in my 1940 NEC did you??
By thw way the purchased the 70-E handbook & reg .book for $128.93 & $8.95 shipping thur NFPA .

better that than the enforcement disparity we all are living in now

then again, i was told i was the ambassador of the code when i was licensed here

trust me, if you run a biz where enforcement is lopsided, it's more like the captain of the titanic ....

~S~

Sparky:
Please explain "where enforcement is lopsided". How do you mean that? Some areas with no inspections? Unfair enforcement? 'Hacks' getting away with work? or???

well HotOne, i can think of a few enforcement disparites that are common, probably the one most would relate to would be living on a state border where there is enforcement on one side, and not the other.

or where commercial/industrial work gets inspected , and residential does not

or where the 'maintenence man' loophole allows for industry to exploit hacks

or what is imho the worst, where the law exists, but there is no one to enforce it

In light of having to deal with these since the day i walked into this trade, i'd glady conceed to any consistency

oh, to add here, years ago i took it upon myself to obtain 70E, and study up.

few of my counterparts here know that it even exists....

~S~

Sparky:
The border area here is pretty well protected; most Jersey guys stay on this side of the Hudson river. As to the Delaware river side....some of Pa is wide open, major metro areas are protected.

Here in NJ, all work (resi/comm/ind) requires permits & inspections; 'perfect world scenario' (I'm a dreamer)

Maint. men...we have them too.

Enforcement....most areas are 'covered' here....but I don't work 'in the country' areas.

edit: removed 'off thread topic' to keep this going. Basically 70E & what Sparky & I are commenting on.

well Hotone, the only sorts i found up here that i could talk to about 70E were poco linesmen. In fact i ran into an older poco liney who actually participated in it's creation.

imho, i think it's something of a crime that i, as well as so many of us, are brought into this trade without a shred of safety training, or even serve their entite carear without being introduced to it....


i can recall being on bigger HH jobs where the 'white hat' was rotated from worker to worker, yet these appointees having little to add other than a sign off list

and then add that there has to be a fatality for osha to show up. if i sound resentful of this scenario, it's because it just seems i've seen too many fall through the cracks, and leave this existence badly with my emt hat on

one tends to view the beauracracy as self serving when it doesn't serve the little guy out in the trenches

and i'm one of those little guys....

~S~

s:
Following the drift of this thread, are we talking about
NFPA 70-E (NEC) 2008, or something else?

yes HotOne, 70E, and it's history of proliferation

i have not run into any of the apprenticeship people here for a while, but if i did i'd ask if it is now considered as a must have first year manual

i believe it should be.

~S~

S:
100% agree with that; as the 'hard times' are upon us, a few of the young guys in my NEC class have $$$ issues with having text books (their own)

heh, i'm with you, and i would think we all are HotOne. yanno i used to have an ongoing debate with a one Oshadoc, a very well spoken carear Osha man.

we both wanted the same thing, but sort of came at it from different perspectives.

my stance was that you can't hammer the workforce into compliance with some ivory tower doctrine that may not ever reach those workers in the trenches

i mean, how many contractors consider safety a pita, or those who enforce it predatory because of the costs and/or potential fines?

the entire gestalt should be restructured to safety being condusive to doing business, instead of this necessary evil aura it has now

and i don't like the idea that safety, and safety related practice or education is becomming less and less economically obtainable

the insurance cabal should grant WC and liability breaks where those of us actually do seek compliance

the issuance of an apprenticeship green card should come along with a 70E copy in the mail(which the book, not the handbook cost me a paltry $35)

apprenticeship courses could squander a night explaining it as well

imho, inasmuch as there is a cost to safety, the rest of the world must acknowledge it via putting it's revenue where it's collection mouth is