ryan_618
Senior Member
- Location
- Salt Lake City, Utah
I plan on submitting quite a few changes for the 08 cycle, and would like whatever help you guys can give. Thanks in advance.
110.26(A)
Working space. Working space for equipment operating at 600 volts, nominal, or less to ground and likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized shall comply with the dimensions of 110.26 (A)(1), (2), and (3) or as required or permitted elsewhere in this code.
Change to read:
Working space. Working space for the following equipment, operating at 600 volts, nominal, or less to ground and likely to be examined, adjusted, serviced, or maintained while energized shall comply with the dimensions of 110.26 (A)(1), (2), and (3) or as required or permitted elsewhere in this code.
(1) Switchboards
(2) Panelboards
(3) Industrial control panels
(4) Meter socket enclosures
(5) Motor control centers
(6) Transformers
(7) Switches, where used as a disconnecting means.
Substantiation: As written, this crucial safety provision is unenforceable. The phrase ??likely to require?? when taken literally, would mean to ?command or insist on? working on energized equipment (see ?require? in the American Century Dictionary). This would be in direct opposition to the standards put forth by OSHA and the NFPA 70E. In fact, the installation of a remote means of disconnect could be used to argue that the equipment need not be worked on while energized. It is obvious that this is not the true intent of the code.
Items 1-7 exist in 110.16, and are therefore obviously intended to have the working space required by 110.26. Items 6 and 7 are very frequently examined, adjusted, serviced and maintained while energized. The list format is crucial to the proper application of this section. The present code text now requires that all equipment that might, in the eyes of the authority having jurisdiction, be worked on while energized. Due to the definition of ?equipment?, this would include every box, every luminaire, every general purpose snap switch, every receptacle, and anything else that meets the definition. This also is obviously not the intent of the code.
Section 110.26(A) is crucial for maintaining the safety of our electrical workers and inspectors and therefore must be written in clear, concise and enforceable language.
110.26(A)
Working space. Working space for equipment operating at 600 volts, nominal, or less to ground and likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized shall comply with the dimensions of 110.26 (A)(1), (2), and (3) or as required or permitted elsewhere in this code.
Change to read:
Working space. Working space for the following equipment, operating at 600 volts, nominal, or less to ground and likely to be examined, adjusted, serviced, or maintained while energized shall comply with the dimensions of 110.26 (A)(1), (2), and (3) or as required or permitted elsewhere in this code.
(1) Switchboards
(2) Panelboards
(3) Industrial control panels
(4) Meter socket enclosures
(5) Motor control centers
(6) Transformers
(7) Switches, where used as a disconnecting means.
Substantiation: As written, this crucial safety provision is unenforceable. The phrase ??likely to require?? when taken literally, would mean to ?command or insist on? working on energized equipment (see ?require? in the American Century Dictionary). This would be in direct opposition to the standards put forth by OSHA and the NFPA 70E. In fact, the installation of a remote means of disconnect could be used to argue that the equipment need not be worked on while energized. It is obvious that this is not the true intent of the code.
Items 1-7 exist in 110.16, and are therefore obviously intended to have the working space required by 110.26. Items 6 and 7 are very frequently examined, adjusted, serviced and maintained while energized. The list format is crucial to the proper application of this section. The present code text now requires that all equipment that might, in the eyes of the authority having jurisdiction, be worked on while energized. Due to the definition of ?equipment?, this would include every box, every luminaire, every general purpose snap switch, every receptacle, and anything else that meets the definition. This also is obviously not the intent of the code.
Section 110.26(A) is crucial for maintaining the safety of our electrical workers and inspectors and therefore must be written in clear, concise and enforceable language.