ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Definition of FPN ,,

It starts on page 70–21 and it’s all over the book. What does that word mean? Because there’s no definition of that word in this damn book. they give a definition of every acronym, but that one. They think they are smart engineers, but I think they’re idiots because no one gets the definition and it’s all over the damn book.

Is that a general term because if it is, how dare they put something in there that’s not fire related I looked all over this damn book and there’s no mention of FPN but yet they use it everywhere you would think the first time they used it they would identify it and it starts on page 7020 and in this whole damn book and no one wants to tell me what it isI think the Electrical union is a conspiracy of secrecy

Fine Print Note

It's an additional note solely for information pertinent to the subject. FPNs are not enforceable.
(BTW: We frown on pro/con Union subjects here)

The bigger issue is . . .
Clarity.
My first "profession" was as one of the first 12,000 licensed paramedics in Illinois. I won't forget the first class, where the nurse instructor went on at great length about how the purpose of trade-specific language was to confuse, baffle, and otherwise shut out non-medical personnel from understanding what was being said. "All careers do it," she asserted.
Since then I've been versed in a variety of careers, everything from 'soup to nuts,' as the Brits say, yet the medical field is the only one where language is routinely use to lie, misrepresent, mislead, and confuse. Go figure. If you can't trust your doctor, who can you trust.

Let me correct that. Corporate America seems to consider it mandatory to lie like a cheap rug to employees. We don't have 'staff' and 'customers;' we have 'associates' and 'employees.' Etc.
The electrical trade is a shining light of clarity in this regard. Think back: How many of our heated discussions have revolved around what the code
actually says, as compared to what we thought it said?

Even so, it is a trade. You have to learn your ABC's before you can write your Shakespeare. Likewise, the codebooks are no place to learn a trade. You have to now what you are doing first; you need the context.

The FPN's attempt to put code sections in context. An illustration or explanation -- nothing more.

FPN are now called informational notes (for a few cycles now)

Decades ago when I first was getting serious about the inspector trade there was a "career" group on Prodigy sort of led by Joe Tedesco (IAEI) and Harold Endean who we see here occasionally. We got the accusation from homeowners we tried to help of being a Secret Society because of the esoteric jargon and obscure code references. After a while, Harold even had T shirts made for us. Over the course of a year or two Joe T pitched his whole road show to us and we all were much more NEC fluent. With the help of Joe, a half dozen of us also got IAEI certified. For me that ended up being my second career. It made me appreciate the power of internet trade groups.