2026

E

Eddie702

Licensed Electrician
Location
Western Massachusetts
Occupation
Electrician
I am in the middle of my 2026 Code Class 7 1/2 Hours today and 7 1/2 tomorrow.

1. Electric water heaters are considered a continuous load
2. 10 amp circuits, apparently not all mfg. have 10-amp AFCI breakers yet. They think it will be a while.
3. New GFCI breakers coming out for stoves (Type HF) to combat stove tripping problems. Just hitting the market. MA has not adopted the 2026 but likely will in the next month or two.
4. MA has an exception where you don't have to put a GFCI on a stove. In fact if you have equipment tripping a GFCI you have to fill out a form and submit it to the state to get relief. They claim stoves are the majority of tripping problems
5.They seem to be uptight ( the code) about reconditioned/remanufactured equipment can't use it in some cases depending on what it is
6. a lot of talk about listed staples for NM, AC cable and listed wire ty and listed wire ty supports.

More after tomorrow. Bored to death. Had several speakers (about 5) that are on the code making panels and also went over the proposed MA amendments.
 
Eddie702 said:
6. a lot of talk about listed staples for NM, AC cable and listed wire ty and listed wire ty supports.
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That one drives me crazy, I know MA was big on using the "correct" NM staple even before the code change. Love it, let someone at a desk in india who is reslling/rebranding staples decide how many cables its good for vs me in the field who actually knows the conditions of the wood :mad:
 
2) Even though some sections of the 2026 suggest that you can use 16AWG copper or 14AWG copper clad aluminum, 210.19(D) says otherwise. As far as the reference to 14AWG in 210.19(D), see 110.15. Note that the intent was to permit those conductors for the 10 amp branch circuits, but they forgot to change that section. I expect a TIA or if no TIA then a correction in the 2029 code.
While you need AFCIs for 10 amp lighting circuits in residential occupancies, AFCIs are not required for commercial occupancies so you may see 10 amp circuits in that application.

3) The GFCI-HF devices have nothing to do with the leakage current problem in stoves and other equipment with calrod heating elements. If the calrods are not completely dried as part of the manufacturing process, there will be 60 hertz leakage current that will cause a GFCI to trip. The GFCI-HF is intended to solve the High Frequency leakage current tripping problem caused by air conditioning and refrigeration equipment use power conversion devices (VFDs). They do that by increasing the amount of current that will cause the GFCI to trip as the frequency goes up. The higher the frequency, the less the effect on the human body, so the trip point for 20,000 hertz leakage can be much higher than it is for 60 hertz.

6) Yes the 2026 code requires all supporting devices used with cable wiring methods to be listed. The same thing was proposed for raceway wiring methods, but the code making panel for the raceway wiring methods rejected that public input.
 
100 years of armored cable and NM and now they decide the staples must be listed. Are these people sitting around with nothing to do but think up ridiculous code changes?. The book is too thick, and the print is too small for this nonsense. @don_resqcapt19 your right of course the HF is high frequency. I must have got confused. he talked about the calrod elements in the stoves just as you described holding moisture.

Around here Briscon staples are the most common they happen to be made in MA. Ma. requires insulated staples for NM. I looked on their web page I didn't see anything about listing. Don't know what other brands are out there.
 
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The use of listed supports PIs were submitted by UL. The substantiation were all like the following with the exception of changing the wiring method reference. Note that they did not cite any real world problems that would be solved by the use of listed products.
To avoid damage to Type AC cable and undue stress being transferred to electrical connections from sagging cables the use of listed hardware for support and securement of Type AC Cables is necessary by the NEC. The ANSI/UL Standard for Safety for Hardware for the Support of Conduit, Tubing, and Cable, UL 2239, was first published nearly 20 years ago and contains all necessary hardware construction, performance, marking and installation instructions necessary to provide installers and AHJs the guidance to properly support and secure Type AC cables when using listed hardware.
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Eddie702 said:
Are these people sitting around with nothing to do but think up ridiculous code changes?
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The CMPs are volunteers. You can't expect those with the desire to help the world and the time and means to scratch that itch to not add something to the code book when they get the chance.

We need to switch to a five year code cycle.
 
Aren’t changes suppose to come from death or damage to property- it’s not about being preventive it’s about a problem that needs addressing?..

I’ll just carry a bag of listed zipties and show them and still use my stocked item..

If they put this much energy into making handyman not do electrical work then all problems would go away—
 
Of course the UL wants staples listed. They want to be paid to put their sticker on a bucket of staples to say, "Yep, it holds cables." They will probably specify a certain ft lbs of force requirement to properly hold cables, and the electric cable staplers will have to be certified to apply that force. We should go back to the 1993 NEC and toss out all this garbage. No changes to the NEC have made anything safer since that time. Its all just waste and money grabbing from listing agencies and manufacturers.
 
They could take out all the unenforceable rules and thin the book down some.
For example, loads on receptacles not exceeding 80% of the branch circuit. Who is going to go into homes and check what's plugged in? The HO will soon find out if they are loading the circuit over the OCP of the circuit. Not much danger there, just a tripped breaker.
 
AC\DC said:
If they put this much energy into making handyman not do electrical work then all problems would go away—
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The NEC has nothing to do with who may make an electrical installation, however based on the increasing number of "qualified persons" rules in the code, they seem to think they have such authority.
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
The NEC has nothing to do with who may make an electrical installation, however based on the increasing number of "qualified persons" rules in the code, they seem to think they have such authority.
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correct, but if these stupid states would stop adopting it then these stupid code panel members wouldn’t have a job parasitic or symbiotic however you wanna look at it
 
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