ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Different building code books?

Nec is for Electrical. Does each trade has its own code book and does it follow the NEC 3 year changing pattern?


Thanks
Edward

Edward,

There are Building Codes, Residential Building Codes, Plumbing, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, Energy Conservation, Fire, Private Sewage, Property Maintenance, Zoning plus others. And these codes can also reference other codes. Each trade actually has requirements in more than one code it must follow.

The Codes themselves are typically updated/revised every three years, but adoptions don't always follow this pattern.

Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Addiss (edited 07-01-2004).]

It may be fair to say that, for electrical systems, the NEC is sort of the “tip of the iceberg.”

There are thousands of electrical standards for other than premises wiring—like in utility and industrial settings.

Here’s a group of standards for small to very large transformers… http://standards.ieee.org/catalog/olis/dtransformers.html

What is the difference between the IBC and UBC?
Are they two different codes written by two different orginizations? Does one over ride the other? when is their new version out? and which one would you recommend that i get?


Thanks
Edward

The AHJ is defined by the local government. In some cases this is the town, others the county, or the state. Some jobs may have federal AHJs. Some jobs may have several of these (such as fire marshals, zoning or historical inspectors and building officials) and we have to satisify all of them. Some areas (rural) have no AHJ.

That said, the codes enforced by the AHJ is also determined by the local government (town, city, state, county or federal and sometimes several of these).

The government will adopt a group of "model codes". Model codes are code books such as our own NEC (NFPA 70) and the ICC series (building, plumbing, etc.), or the UBC series (plumbing, mechanical, etc.) NFPA also puts out many model codes in addition to all their standards. NFPA 101 has been the fire code of preference for many years.

Then there are the standards referenced by the model codes. ASTM, NFPA, etc.

The government will also modify the model code. Why they do this is human nature. This is how Chicago gets the rules on "NO ROMEX", or how Connecticut has rules on "No GFCI receptacle allowed under the hot-tub skirting". Sometimes silly stuff, sometimes a lot, sometimes only a little. Until just this year, New York City wrote their own building code from scratch, including the electrical.

NFPA and ICC have been in competition lately over the International Fire Code versus NFPA 101, and NFPA 1 and the International Building Code versus NFPA 5000.

The fight seems like it will be a long one.

NFPA 5000 references the UBC series of codes for plumbing and mechanical.

Both the ICC codes and the NFPA codes reference NFPA 70, which is our own NEC.

We are unique in this. Electricians have the same code nation-wide.

Earl

My knowledge of this (someone please correct me if I am wrong) is that the UBC is basically an old Code. It was published by ICBO with the last version being the 1997. After that, ICBO and the other two big Code Publishers (BOCA and SBCCI) joined together to publish the IBC and other International Codes. Most of the Country uses the International Codes now. There are still some areas (not many) that use the UBC. California is one of them. The California Building Code is based on the 1997 UBC (plus their own Amendments and Modifications) No, they are not in effect in the same area. You should find out and get the one that is in effect in your area. If you know that the existing code is going to change soon it could be a tossup whether to buy now or wait, but otherwise it's really a No-Brainer, you buy whatever Code is in effect in your area.

Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Addiss (edited 07-03-2004).]

Got it.

Thank you Gents.