Test Your Knowledge of the NEC

[Little Bill]

Here's a little quiz on when certain things were first introduced in the code. See how many you can get right.

I will post the answers later.

Have fun!

Which NEC edition introduced the following: 1. The six disconnect rule for services

1951 (postwar multifamily dwellings began to increase)
1937 (it took some time to add it)
1899 (it was an early requirement)

​

2. A separate article for information technology equipment

1968 (mainframe computers hit the market)

1975 (corporate computer systems became available)
1985 (just in time for the information technology boom) http://www.necplus.org/Features/Pages/NECHistoryQuiz.aspx#a2

​

3. Electric vehicle charging requirements

1996 (the first time was in Article 625)
1947 (about halfway between the first edition and the latest edition)
1915 (electric vehicles have been around for a long time) http://www.necplus.org/Features/Pages/NECHistoryQuiz.aspx#a3

​

4. Bonding of electrical and nonelectrical metal parts around swimming pools

1962 (at the inception of Article 680)
1971 (ground-fault circuit interrupters became required)
2005 (equipotential bonding appeared) http://www.necplus.org/Features/Pages/NECHistoryQuiz.aspx#a4

​

5. Communications circuits treated entirely separate from other Code requirements

1954 (as more homes put in telephones)
1937 (it took time to recognize these circuits were different)
1911 (telephones have always been in the NEC)

​

6. A minimum 100-ampere service for a one-family dwelling

1959 (American families moved to the suburbs)
1975 (homes required more power)
1999 (it is a recent requirement)

​

7. Special requirements for Class 1, 2, and 3 circuits

1978 (with fire alarms and other signal circuits)
1962 (low power circuits were not a concern until now)
1933 (just a guess) http://www.necplus.org/Features/Pages/NECHistoryQuiz.aspx#a7

​

8. Allowing more than 42 overcurrent devices in a panelboard

2002 (it is a recent change)
2008 (it must be more recent)
other It is still limited to 42 devices http://www.necplus.org/Features/Pages/NECHistoryQuiz.aspx#a8

​

9. An article addressing health care facilities

1987 (right after the first NFPA 99, Standard for Health Care Facilities was issued in 1984)
1971 (many health care facility standards existed but electrical installation rules were lacking)
1962 (the baby boom populace needed more hospitals) http://www.necplus.org/Features/Pages/NECHistoryQuiz.aspx#a9

​

10. A specific article to address theme park animatronics circuits
1956 (after the learning curve getting Disneyland^? wired)
1981 (more amusement parks began popping up)
2008 (just an edition or so ago)

11. A requirement to verify that service equipment is capable of handling the fault current it will interrupt 2011 (field marking became a requirement)
1971 (OSHA came onto the scene)
1940 (it has been in place longer than you might guess)

 

[jxofaltrds]

OMG! I got them all right!

Almost missed #3.

 

[Buck Parrish]

My wife bought a 1947 NEC book at a yard sell for $00.50.
It's in good shape. It has a leather cover.

 

[Little Bill]

Anymore players before I post the answers?

 

[Little Bill]

Here's a little quiz on when certain things were first introduced in the code. See how many you can get right.

I will post the answers later.

Have fun!

Which NEC edition introduced the following: 1. The six disconnect rule for services

1951 (postwar multifamily dwellings began to increase)
1937 (it took some time to add it)
1899 (it was an early requirement)

​

2. A separate article for information technology equipment

1968 (mainframe computers hit the market)

1975 (corporate computer systems became available)
1985 (just in time for the information technology boom)

​

3. Electric vehicle charging requirements

1996 (the first time was in Article 625)
1947 (about halfway between the first edition and the latest edition)
1915 (electric vehicles have been around for a long time)

​

4. Bonding of electrical and nonelectrical metal parts around swimming pools

1962 (at the inception of Article 680)
1971 (ground-fault circuit interrupters became required)
2005 (equipotential bonding appeared)

​

5. Communications circuits treated entirely separate from other Code requirements

1954 (as more homes put in telephones)
1937 (it took time to recognize these circuits were different)
1911 (telephones have always been in the NEC)

​

6. A minimum 100-ampere service for a one-family dwelling

1959 (American families moved to the suburbs)
1975 (homes required more power)
1999 (it is a recent requirement)

​

7. Special requirements for Class 1, 2, and 3 circuits

1978 (with fire alarms and other signal circuits)
1962 (low power circuits were not a concern until now)
1933 (just a guess)

​

8. Allowing more than 42 overcurrent devices in a panelboard

2002 (it is a recent change)
2008 (it must be more recent)
other It is still limited to 42 devices

​

9. An article addressing health care facilities

1987 (right after the first NFPA 99, Standard for Health Care Facilities was issued in 1984)
1971 (many health care facility standards existed but electrical installation rules were lacking)
1962 (the baby boom populace needed more hospitals)

​

10. A specific article to address theme park animatronics circuits
1956 (after the learning curve getting Disneyland^? wired)
1981 (more amusement parks began popping up)
2008 (just an edition or so ago)

11. A requirement to verify that service equipment is capable of handling the fault current it will interrupt
2011 (field marking became a requirement)
1971 (OSHA came onto the scene)
1940 (it has been in place longer than you might guess)

Just noticed part of #11 didn't paste right, so I corrected it. It was the first choice of the answers. Don't know how that happened! Sorry!!

 

[Dennis Alwon]

Anymore players before I post the answers?

NEC Plus member-

 

[Little Bill]

NEC Plus member-

No Fair!

 

[Dennis Alwon]

Sorry bill I took the link out-- didn't realize it had the answers at the bottom.

 

[Little Bill]

Sorry bill I took the link out-- didn't realize it had the answers at the bottom.

That's ok. Doesn't look like many are interested anyway.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

That's ok. Doesn't look like many are interested anyway.

I doubt I would get many correct.

 

[Hv&Lv]

That's ok. Doesn't look like many are interested anyway.

Well, I was interested, just didn't want to post my answers for all to see how little I know...

 

[jim dungar]

Well, I was interested, just didn't want to post my answers for all to see how little I know...

:thumbsup:

 

[Little Bill]

:thumbsup:

I think I got 7 right. Some were just a guess though. The one's I didn't get I would have never guessed the right answer!

 

[jxofaltrds]

I doubt I would get many correct.

Something we can agree on?

 

[Little Bill]

Here's a little quiz on when certain things were first introduced in the code. See how many you can get right.

I will post the answers later.

Have fun!

Which NEC edition introduced the following: 1. The six disconnect rule for services

1951 (postwar multifamily dwellings began to increase)
1937 (it took some time to add it)
1899 (it was an early requirement)

​

2. A separate article for information technology equipment

1968 (mainframe computers hit the market)

1975 (corporate computer systems became available)
1985 (just in time for the information technology boom)

​

3. Electric vehicle charging requirements

1996 (the first time was in Article 625)
1947 (about halfway between the first edition and the latest edition)
1915 (electric vehicles have been around for a long time)

​

4. Bonding of electrical and nonelectrical metal parts around swimming pools

1962 (at the inception of Article 680)
1971 (ground-fault circuit interrupters became required)
2005 (equipotential bonding appeared)

​

5. Communications circuits treated entirely separate from other Code requirements

1954 (as more homes put in telephones)
1937 (it took time to recognize these circuits were different)
1911 (telephones have always been in the NEC)

​

6. A minimum 100-ampere service for a one-family dwelling

1959 (American families moved to the suburbs)
1975 (homes required more power)
1999 (it is a recent requirement)

​

7. Special requirements for Class 1, 2, and 3 circuits

1978 (with fire alarms and other signal circuits)
1962 (low power circuits were not a concern until now)
1933 (just a guess)

​

8. Allowing more than 42 overcurrent devices in a panelboard

2002 (it is a recent change)
2008 (it must be more recent)
other It is still limited to 42 devices

​

9. An article addressing health care facilities

1987 (right after the first NFPA 99, Standard for Health Care Facilities was issued in 1984)
1971 (many health care facility standards existed but electrical installation rules were lacking)
1962 (the baby boom populace needed more hospitals)

​

10. A specific article to address theme park animatronics circuits
1956 (after the learning curve getting Disneyland^? wired)
1981 (more amusement parks began popping up)
2008 (just an edition or so ago)

11. A requirement to verify that service equipment is capable of handling the fault current it will interrupt 2011 (field marking became a requirement)
1971 (OSHA came onto the scene)
1940 (it has been in place longer than you might guess)

Ok, here are the answers. Sorry I've been busy and forgot to post the answers until now.

The Answers 1. The six disconnect rule for services appeared in 1937. It took time before the Code addressed the number of disconnects; it appears as if one disconnect was the unwritten ? then the written ? rule. When additional services and service entrance conductors became permitted, it was obvious that more than one disconnect would be needed. The 1935 edition, for example, allowed separate disconnects for up to four meters. If five or more meters were necessary, then one piece of service equipment had to handle the full current.
2. In 1968, Article 645 addressed data processing systems, allowing cables ? including power cords ? under a raised floor. Article 645 required a disconnecting means for the ventilation system as well as for power to all electrical equipment in the room except lighting. The disconnecting means had to be in a readily accessible location at designated exit doors.
3. Explicit reference to the charging of electric vehicles appeared in 1947 (Article 510 Garages), but for many years charging cables had been in the NEC. The basis for the present requirements actually started in 1915. In that edition a flexible charging cable, with an ampacity of at least fifty amperes, had to have connectors designed to break apart with its current-carrying parts protected from accidental contact. The specific reference to electric vehicle charging in 1947 recognized that a vehicle could be equipped with a pull-apart plug that would automatically pull both cord and plug away from damage. Article 625 covering electric vehicles did appear in 1996.
4. Requirements to bond metal parts around a swimming pool were in the new Article 680, in 1962. Although not called equipotential bonding, bonding together all metal conduits, piping systems, pool reinforcing steel, lighting fixtures, etc., and then connecting them to a common ground was in the initial article. Article 680 also required grounding of non-electrical metal parts such as ladders, diving boards, and their supports. When called equipotential bonding in 2005, the requirement to bond the pool perimeter was added.
5. Telephone and telegraph signaling wires were in the Code nearly from the beginning, but communications circuits were first treated as independent from other NEC chapters in 1937. They were combined in an article with other signaling and control circuits, all of which were exempt from the rest of the Code requirements.
6. A minimum of a 100-amp service for one-family dwellings appeared as an exception in 1959. The main requirement was to provide a 50-amp circuit breaker or 60-amp switch. The exception required a 100-amp service if the dwelling had an initial load of 10 kW or more. It was not until 1999 that the 100-amp service became the main requirement.
7. Introduced in the 1933 edition, Class 1, 2, and 3 circuits were included with all other signal circuits. In 1937, these circuits were included with communication circuits which exempted them from the remainder of the Code requirements. An article in the 1947 edition addressed only these power limited systems, but by its placement in Chapter 7, the rest of Code applied to these circuits.
8. The limit of 42 overcurrent devices in a lighting and appliance panelboard had been in the NEC for 78 years before removal during the 2008 revision cycle.
9. Article 517, Health Care Facilities, arrived in 1971. X-ray and therapeutic high-frequency equipment, and the hazardous location presented in anesthetizing areas had been covered for some time. Prior to 1971, specific concerns regarding patient care areas and need for emergency systems were not addressed by the NEC.
10. The specific article (Article 522) dealing with animatronics circuits ? more precisely all control systems for permanent amusement attractions ? appeared in 2008. Previously, the control circuits followed Article 725. It was recognized that unique installations occurred with modern rides and animatronics, and that these installations required methods not addressed by Article 725.
11. The appearance of a recognizable requirement that equipment intended to interrupt a fault current, have an interrupting rating of at least that fault current occurred in 1940. For over 70 years, service disconnects were required to have this fault current verified to assure the equipment was properly rated. A change in 2011 required that this verified fault current now be marked on service equipment in other than dwelling units.