Has understanding the NEC Changed

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david

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About 10 years ago a senor electrical inspector handed me a brother?s electric type writer with a monitor and a slot for a floppy drive. It was a gift to him for Christmas a year previous,. The contraption was too modern for him he didn?t like it. But he had every copy of the NEC handbook that was in print at the time, and he was the first one to recommend that to me and later gave me a copy of soars book on grounding.

For reference he used IAEI magazines, . made hour and half trips to monthly chapter meetings books and occasional seminars , and meetings put together by the electric utilities, code change books

Most of these guys have retired or passed away, most had no use for the internet, yet these guys were diligent in trying to stay current.
It makes me wonder what our understanding of the NEC would be if we only had their resources to use.
 
I'm old enough to remember the pre internet days. Didn't understand the NEC then, don't understand it now.
 
chris kennedy said:
I'm old enough to remember the pre internet days. Didn't understand the NEC then, don't understand it now.
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Back then you sat at your table with a reading light, brought all your resources together, reached out to your phone to a trusted advisor talked it over made a decision.

The internet forces you out side of a local network to a broad audience, you ask a question here, or make a statement on someone else's question you get what this site was designed for the resources and understanding of different personalities then you go back to your reading light and study table.

Learning here isn?t just seeking out those you trust for advice but is weighing what you understand against other points of view.
 
this is a discussion forum, there are no official code instructors here, Time and time again first time poster say I finally got the courage to ask a question.
some here may be intimidating to others and you may find the answer to a question here by reading through old post, but even answers from older post change, and that person making a statement may not think the same way on an issue today
 
You also have to remember that the code book was MUCH smaller 'back then'.

Just take a look at the change from the 1993 NEC to the 2011. I don't have a copy of an NEC from the 50's but it probably could have been read in one night. Now we have 1,000 large pages of small print with references to tables and exceptions and back again.

Every code cycle there are new topics to be included. Not long ago there was no PV or electric vehicle sections to deal with. Article 250 has been growing at a cancerous rate for years.

If not for the Internet, most of us would just simply regard the inspector as the indisputable authority on the NEC. Now we can get answers and opinions from people with far more knowledge and experience than we ever could.
 
My first year as an inspector I spent 4 days away from my family at a code update seminar held three hours away. After that I went to the, every other month, for one day, So Cal Chapter IAEI meetings and once a year, if it was in CA, I went to the five day IAEI Southwestern section meetings, and once a year I went to the three day California Electrical Inspectors meetings. In between that I do a bunch of one day seminars.

It's very easy to fall behind if you don't keep up. You also need the interaction with other people to give and get opinions. I don't mind doing a half hour inspection and then staying for another half hour, if I have the time, to discuss the code and answer questions. I think if more inspectors took the time to teach the code instead of just enforcing it, they would find they get better compliance.
 
david said:
It makes me wonder what our understanding of the NEC would be if we only had their resources to use.
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Speaking for myself there is no doubt in my mind that these forums have made me much more informed about the codes and the trade in general.
 
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