Electronic NEC??

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I think there are various e-book sites out there where you may be able to download this and other books for free - with 30 day trial periods for site membership - read the fine print to see what you are committing to and remember to cancel membership before trial period ends or they may stick you with whatever fees you agreed to when signing up.

As mentioned nothing is free, but you may find a way through red tape - still costs you something in some way.
 
chevyx92 said:
Does anyone know of a free downloadable PDF version of the latest edition of the NEC?
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Supposedly there are sites out there that will allow you to download it for free but in the eyes of this forum it's considered stealing copyrighted material so any posted links will be removed.
 
infinity said:
Supposedly there are sites out there that will allow you to download it for free but in the eyes of this forum it's considered stealing copyrighted material so any posted links will be removed.
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trial periods like I mentioned may not be copyright violations, but as I mentioned you are entering an agreement that you may end up paying something for eventually. I will state that option may be out there and I have looked into a couple of them but was leery of committing so far. I will not post any links to such sites though it is not that hard to search for them either.
 
kwired said:
trial periods like I mentioned may not be copyright violations, but as I mentioned you are entering an agreement that you may end up paying something for eventually. I will state that option may be out there and I have looked into a couple of them but was leery of committing so far. I will not post any links to such sites though it is not that hard to search for them either.
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We all like getting expensive stuff for free, there even are compelling arguments that since this material is adopted into law that it should be free. The owner of this forum sells copyrighted material so just as we wouldn't want links to places where that can be obtained for free we won't allow links to other sites that do the same for the NEC.

Just wanted to mention that upfront because most discussions of this nature ultimately end up with links to free stuff that one should be paying for.
 
infinity said:
We all like getting expensive stuff for free, there even are compelling arguments that since this material is adopted into law that it should be free. The owner of this forum sells copyrighted material so just as we wouldn't want links to places where that can be obtained for free we won't allow links to other sites that do the same for the NEC.

Just wanted to mention that upfront because most discussions of this nature ultimately end up with links to free stuff that one should be paying for.
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I understand.

Can't figure out why NFPA wants same price for hard copy as they want for electronic copy though (at least last time I had checked), must get the hard copies published for free:blink:
 
kwired said:
I understand.

Can't figure out why NFPA wants same price for hard copy as they want for electronic copy though (at least last time I had checked), must get the hard copies published for free:blink:
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That was a pet peeve of mine when they first started selling the CD version of the code which costs about 10 cents to produce. I think that the early CD versions cost more than the printed books. :rant:
 
kwired said:
I understand.

Can't figure out why NFPA wants same price for hard copy as they want for electronic copy though (at least last time I had checked), must get the hard copies published for free:blink:
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The other explanation is that it costs just as much for the PDF license and security and support as it does to print a book :)

They do lock it down like Fort Knox. :)
 
Infinity, you already know I am in 100% agreement.

What kwired is referring are trial versions that offered by sites that allow one to test a demo model.

I know exactly what he is referring to and I am glad he pointed out the dangers of entering into such agreements. The sites usually want a credit card and at the end of the trial period (~30 days) and if the patron does not cancel, the guy is charged full price and sent a code to open full version. Sneaky as hell IMO.
 
steve66 said:
The other explanation is that it costs just as much for the PDF license and security and support as it does to print a book :)

They do lock it down like Fort Knox. :)
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Maybe is some costs we don't think about, can't imagine they are as much as publishing a hard copy though. If anything they maybe realize there will be illegal copies out there and this helps level that effect out some. I doubt you will find illegal hard copies very easily.
 
What I find galling is paying good money for an electronic copy of the NEC Handbook, and to have it age, without any support from NFPA, into a brick.

I can pay the same price for the paper version and have access for centuries. . . not so with the electronic.

The early versions of the electronic NEC and NEC Handbook included a vanilla PDF copy of the NEC, itself, and that made sense to me as offering an accessibility to the actual content that I paid for. Accessibility to the content even after the crippling security measures are no longer supported by the NFPA resulting in such software incompatibilities locking me out of the full features originally sold to me.

Now, admittedly, the lowly PDF goes through version upgrades, but it sure seems to be slower than the malignancy of the NFPA's own security protocols. I can still open by PDF of the 1999 NEC, but I can't possibly run the electronic 1999 NEC Handbook.
 
al hildenbrand said:
What I find galling is paying good money for an electronic copy of the NEC Handbook, and to have it age, without any support from NFPA, into a brick.

I can pay the same price for the paper version and have access for centuries. . . not so with the electronic.

The early versions of the electronic NEC and NEC Handbook included a vanilla PDF copy of the NEC, itself, and that made sense to me as offering an accessibility to the actual content that I paid for. Accessibility to the content even after the crippling security measures are no longer supported by the NFPA resulting in such software incompatibilities locking me out of the full features originally sold to me.

Now, admittedly, the lowly PDF goes through version upgrades, but it sure seems to be slower than the malignancy of the NFPA's own security protocols. I can still open by PDF of the 1999 NEC, but I can't possibly run the electronic 1999 NEC Handbook.
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They should at least released the security features after some time. I think you can take old microsoft windows disc's and still install say new copy of win XP on a machine and not need to purchase a new license to be able to use it. May take an additional step or so to get around the original licensing thing though.
 
steve66 said:
The other explanation is that it costs just as much for the PDF license and security and support as it does to print a book :)

They do lock it down like Fort Knox. :)
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Actually, no. Once you pay for the PDF, you can have it on as many computers as you want, but at the top it says in very tiny print, Copyright to xxx. I can remember some time ago you were limted to 2 copies.
 
tom baker said:
Actually, no. Once you pay for the PDF, you can have it on as many computers as you want, but at the top it says in very tiny print, Copyright to xxx. I can remember some time ago you were limted to 2 copies.
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That was when the NFPA was using the Folio View software. I had the 2005 NEC that was limited to two copies being used. If you installed a new hard drive on your computer you had to call them to activate it again so that it would install. The current NEC can be used on multiple devices. I installed it on Google Drive and can access it from anywhere.
 
infinity said:
That was when the NFPA was using the Folio View software. I had the 2005 NEC that was limited to two copies being used. If you installed a new hard drive on your computer you had to call them to activate it again so that it would install. The current NEC can be used on multiple devices. I installed it on Google Drive and can access it from anywhere.
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I still use the 2014 "E-book" you can access it from any device with internet access, all you need is your user name and password. Eventually will probably stop using it - have no idea when they may stop supporting it - "Inkling" is the host site, probably depends on the owner of that site to some extent as well. A hard copy is yours as long as you don't destroy it, but the only updates you get for it are to look up errata and TIA's and print them yourself.

A PDF is also yours as long as you don't corrupt or lose the file and as long as you have software that can read the file. Backup copies are a way around losing it. Still may need to look for your own errata and TIA's though.
 
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