ECN Forum Forums Code Related Discussion NEC & other Code issues Future less restrictive code trumps present code?

There is also the doctrine of 'de minimus.' This is the legal doctrine that is referred to when courts refuse to consider cases involving trivial violations; a classic example might be the proverbial ticket for going 1mph over the limit, or suing for $1 worth of damages.

Anyone who has been involved in real criminal prosecutions can tell you of instaqnces where clear violations were not prosecuted because 'they're no way to win.'

Now, put yourself in front of the voters, or the jury, and try to argue: Mr. Smith would have been in compliance last week, will be in compliance next week, but THIS week he's in violation and ought to be punished." Lots of luck with that one.

I take that back. I completely missed the wording "excluding 334.80" in the article that Hotline posted previously and also just read about this in the 2011 changes book, so it looks like SE used for interior installations will again be able to be used at 75-degree C, as long as it’s not embedded in thermal insulation.

I wrote a proposal a couple of cycles ago suggestion they could lift the 60c restriction on all of the 90c cables and they said no, without really saying why.

Energy efficiency is compromised by undersizing wire.

In my commercial contracts, based upon the ultimate economics, it is routine for the specs to demand upsized conductors.

Whereas the CODE is fire safety oriented officialdom is realizing that such a thrust is a wrong.

That in the public-economic interest best practices should become mandates. And that just because you can load a conductor below burning down the dielectric does NOT mean that it is wise for anyone.

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I expect ever more Title 24 authority to extend and extend until we are mandated to install ONLY best practices - whatever that may be at such time.

As long as you can use THHN at the 75c ampacity and not a cable makes it clear efficiency and voltage drop is not the issue. NFPA seems unclear what the issue really is. The answer in the ROP was along the lines of "that is the way we do it and you have not convinced us to change".
I was really hoping for a real answer about what the difference was. I might have accepted "NM has a plastic jacket that doesn't contain the heat as well" but that wouldn't explain the rule for MC and AC.