by Jack Lyons,
Northeast Field Representative,
NEMA
January/February 2020
It is the start of the 2020 National Electrical Code®
(NEC) adoption season, and Massachusetts
is on track to kick off with a January 1, 2020,
adoption date. The Board of Fire Prevention
Regulations (BFPR) will have met December 5,
2019, to promulgate the 2020 NEC as the electrical
installation regulation for the commonwealth. If
the process goes as planned and the amendments
that the Electric Advisory Board are accepted by
the board, Massachusetts will continue to be the
first state in the nation to adopt the 2020 NEC.
The advisory committee worked over the past
six months, even before the technical session at
the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
conference occurred, to look at the changes and
the effects these changes have on existing state
amendments. There were many amendments
that were able to be deleted due to the changes in
the NEC.
Some of the highlighted amendments advised
moving forward with full arc-fault circuit
interrupter (AFCI) expansion in a dwelling,
deleting an amendment to now require available
fault current marking on service equipment, and
identify NFPA 1® as the recently adopted fire code
for the state. The advisory committee modified
the measurement rule for ground-fault circuit
interrupter (GFCI) coverage around sinks, keeping
the doorway language in the rule in 210.8 but
requiring the cabinet sink base receptacle to be
GFCI protected.
There is also some ambiguity of NEC printed
versions. Massachusetts does not automatically
adopt tentative interim amendments (TIAs)
that are approved by the NFPA Standards
Council during the cycle of the current code.
Therefore, the only version that will be adopted
on January 1, 2020, will be the first printing. This
will lead to some confusion, as all future NFPA
approved TIAs will be printed in subsequent
printings and will not be enforceable unless they
go through the promulgating process of the BFPR.
Authorities having jurisdiction and contractors
will have to be sure what book is being referred to
while planning or inspecting a job and what TIAs
have been accepted in Massachusetts.
As we prepare and advocate to adopt all revised
codes for the sake of safety, resilience, and
efficiency, let us hope for a successful year. ei