Steve ... at the risk of getting this thread to drift way off course .... I disagree as to the merits of a 'national' code. I oppose the idea on two points:
First, it is for the model codes - and the NEC is but another private-party model code - to justify themselves to the AHJ's.
Secondly, we have, from the very start of this country, seen building codes as a local issue. We're not supposed to have very much that's "national" at all!
Let's look at one of "Chicago's Strange Quirks:" their refusal to allow the use of Romex (NM). One might say that they're tilting at windmills, since NM has been around since the Depression - and recent code cycles have allowed it to be used in additional areas. Surely the stuff must have been proven safe by now!
But - Hold on, wait a moment ..... isn't this the same code that has, for the past decade, been foisting AFCI's on us, because of the errant staple? Now, there's a risk you don't have with other wiring methods. Maybe Chicago has been right all along?
As confusing and complicated as the current arrangement may be, I prefer it to the "one world" nonsense some espouse.
