McGraw-Hills
NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE 2008 HANDBOOK
About the Authors
Brian J. McPartland is an electrical consultant and educator who teaches the nuts and bolts of the National Electrical Code. He is coauthor of McGraw-Hills National Electrical CodeHandbook, 25th Edition.
Joseph F. McPartland is an electrical contracting consultant and coauthor of McGraw-Hills National Electrical CodeHandbook, 25th Edition.
Frederic P. Hartwell is a working electrician, President of Hartwell Electrical Services, Inc., and has been certified by the International Association of Electrical Inspectors as a Certified Master Electrical Inspector. He is the senior member of NEC CMP 9. He is coauthor of McGraw-Hills American Electricians Handbook, 15th Edition.
McGraw-Hills
NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE2008 HANDBOOK
Twenty-Sixth Edition
Based on the Current 2008
National Electrical Code
by
Brian J. McPartland
Joseph F. McPartland
and
Frederic P. Hartwell
National Fire Protection Association, NFPA, National Electrical Code, NEC, NFPA 70, and NFPA 70E are registered trademarks of the National Fire Protection Association. All NFPA trademarks are the official property of the National Fire Protection Association. McGraw-Hills National Electrical Code 2008 Handbook is not affiliated with, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with the National Fire Protection Association.
Copyright 2009, 2005, 2002, 1999, 1996, 1993, 1990, 1987, 1984, 1981, 1979 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval system, with out the prior written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978-0-07-154655-3
MHID: 0-07-154655-3
The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-154652-2, MHID: 0-07-154652-9.
All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps.
McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. To contact a representative please visit the Contact Us page at www.mhprofessional.com .
Although every effort has been made to make the explanation of the Code accurate, neither the Publisher nor the Author assumes any liability for damages that may result from the use of the Handbook.
TERMS OF USE
This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (McGraw-Hill) and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it with out McGraw-Hills prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms.
THE WORK IS PROVIDED "AS IS." McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the functions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise.
Contents
Preface
The 26th edition of McGraw-Hills National Electrical CodeHandbook has been thoroughly revised to reflect the changes given in the 2008 National Electrical Code. This is a reference book of commentary, discussion, and analysis on the most commonly encountered rules of the 2008 National Electrical Code. Designed to be used in conjunction with the 2008 NE Code book published by the National Fire Protection Association, this Handbook presents thousands of illustrationsdiagrams and photosto supplement the detailed text in explaining and clarifying NEC regulations. Description of the background and rationale for specific Code rules is aimed at affording a broader, deeper, and readily developed understanding of the meaning and application of those rules. The style of presentation is conversational and intended to facilitate a quick, practical grasp of the ideas and concepts that are couched in the necessarily terse, stiff, quasi-legal language of the NEC document itself.
This Handbook follows the order of articles as presented in the NE Code book, starting with Article 90 and proceeding through Appendix. The Code rules are referenced by section numbers (e.g., 250.138. Cord- and Plug-Connected Equipment.). This format ensures quick and easy correlation between NEC sections and the discussions and explanations of the rules involved. This companion reference to the NEC book expands on the rules and presents common interpretations that have been put on the many difficult and controversial Code requirements. A user of this Handbook should refer to the NEC book for the precise wording of a rule and then refer to the corresponding section number in this Handbook for a practical evaluation of the details.
Because many NEC rules do not present difficulty in understanding or interpretation, not all sections are referenced. But the vast majority of sections are covered, especially all sections that have proved troublesome or controversial. And particular emphasis is given to changes and additions that have been made in Code rules over recent editions of the NEC. Although this new edition, McGraw-Hills National Electrical Code
Next page