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The designations "National Electrical Code” and “NEC” refer to the National Electrical Code®, which is a registered trademark of the National Fire Protection Association.

Top 2005 Code Changes
The Gift That Keeps Giving
The gift-giving season doesn't officially start until December, so you're going to have to wait a little longer for CodeWatch's Other 25 Code Changes. But don't worry, it'll be worth the wait: Not only will you get the industry's best NEC insight, the giving will last for an entire year. Starting Dec. 8th and continuing through 2005, each issue of CodeWatch will feature Mike Holt's analysis of one additional 2005 Code change not included in EC&M's Top 25 Code Changes feature. That's 25 additional gifts to open throughout the year -- and we promise you won't want to return any of them.

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Nightmare Installations
'Tis the Season for Disaster
The new owner of a circa 1940 house called and asked us to check the wiring in her house. We found that the previous owner had hidden cracked plaster with drop ceilings and lowered the fixtures without the benefit of boxes by using "flying splices." He had also added switches and receptacles in the wall without boxes. Most frightening, he had apparently run out of scrap wire because he started using Christmas tree light wire. He must have realized that the wire had a current limitation since he ran two strands to each terminal. What had started out as a simple "check the wiring" project turned into a "the owner is out of money, and now it's time to stop" disaster. To this day, I wonder what else we would have found if we had been able to keep looking. Since the house is still standing, I trust the owner found the cash to have the remaining wiring repaired.
Name withheld

Send your 200-word story to us and it may appear in a future issue of CodeWatch. Authors of stories chosen for publication will receive $25.

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Code Challenge

What's Wrong Here?
By Joe Tedesco
How does this installation violate the NEC?

Hint: Does Art. 314, as related to box size, apply to this motor terminal housing?

Code Q&A
By Mike Holt
Q. Is there a section in the Code that restricts the use of power strips?
See the answer.

Code Quiz
By Steven Owen
According to the 2005 NEC, premises wiring systems that supply branch circuits and feeders from one nominal voltage system shall identify ungrounded conductors by which of the following means?

Black, red, and blue color coding

Brown, orange, and yellow color coding

Brown, purple, and yellow color coding

There is no requirement for this identification as presented in this question

Visit EC&M's Web site for the answer and explanation.

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Faces of the Code
S. E. "Sandy" Egesdal
Member, Code-Making Panel 3
After more than 40 years of carefully planning his choices, Sandy Egesdal recently made one of the most impulsive decisions of his life. He bought a condo without ever stepping inside. "I don't usually do that sort of thing," he says with a laugh.

Egesdal may never have accomplished the things he did during his career in the fire alarm and security industry if he'd made a habit of being rash. For one, he wouldn't have had the foresight to know that the best way to educate his co-workers at Honeywell on the ins and outs of the NEC was by applying for a spot on Code-Making Panel 16 in 1972 as a NEMA representative and educating himself on its nuances. "It was very important to have a workforce that was knowledgeable about Code-compliant installations and to have the internal knowledge to provide job assistance to the 'field troops,'" he says. "And by serving on Panel 16, I could help weave that information into training, products, and field tools."

So for 28 years he did just that until leaving Honeywell in 2000 and starting his own consulting business, Egesdal Associates PLC. He's still a Code-making panel member (he moved with Art. 725 and 760 to CMP-3 in 2001 and became a representative for the Automatic Fire Alarm Association), but over the last three decades his role has changed. Thanks to his years of service and work on numerous other fire alarm-related standards committees, he's no longer just absorbing the information. He's giving it back as well. "I ended up learning a lot from committee members from many industries, and in these later years I feel like I've also contributed," he says.

And as karma would have it, 32 years after he got involved with the Code to help others, it's now helping him: contacts he made on CMP-16 and CMP-3 have led to consulting work for the U.S. Department of Energy, NECA, fire alarm system suppliers, and cable manufacturers. In other words, work isn't in short supply for him these days. And it turns out that seemingly impulsive decision to buy a new condo was based on a little planning after all. "I was familiar with the floor plan" he says. "And it has the view I've wanted for many years."

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Speak Out
Anticipation Nation
For some people, each edition of the Code is cause for excitement. For others, it just means it's time to start studying. How much do you expect the 2005 Code to change how you do your job? Visit www.ecmweb.com to tell us.

A lesser newsletter staff might gloat over news like this: 35% of CodeWatch readers plan to get their Code change information from EC&M -- more than Code conferences, books, or online course. But instead of bragging, we'll just take it as a challenge to live up to your expectations. Of course, that doesn't mean we won't brag to our friends...

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www.NECcode.com
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Books, Code Quiz, DVDs, Graphics for PowerPoint, Newsletter, Online Training, Posters, Simulated Exams, Software, Video clips, and Videos
Visit www.NECcode.com and stay current with important industry issues.

Shows and Events
EC&M Code Change Conference
You know what goes with turkey and dressing better than mashed potatoes and gravy? The relief you'll get from knowing you're signed up for an EC&M 2005 NEC Code Change Conference. You've only got one more day to reserve a seat at one of the last two stops on Code expert Mike Holt's nationwide tour, so do it now before your mother-in-law shows up and puts you to work in the kitchen. Download the registration form, fill it out, fax it to (203) 929-5351, and slip into that blissful tryptophan-induced coma on Thursday with a clear conscience.

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