Starting with the 2020 NEC the NFPA will no longer be offering a PDF version. If you want an electronic version you will need to by an annual license for $200 and have an internet connection wherever you need to access the NEC. If you are an NFPA member and like the PDF version feel free to contact them and complain.
Source?
I don't think what the op said is quite true. As far as I can tell there is a $65 charge for the electronic access. You can buy the book and pay $14 for a one year access to the electronic version. So every year you would have to pay another $14 but this deal includes the book.
I don't see anything that states o join for $200
I don't think what the op said is quite true. As far as I can tell there is a $65 charge for the electronic access. You can buy the book and pay $14 for a one year access to the electronic version. So every year you would have to pay another $14 but this deal includes the book.
I don't see anything that states o join for $200
Just to give an update since I first posted. The NFPA dropped the price of the online access to the NEC to $65/yr. If you buy the print edition you can get your first year of online access for an additional $14. This is all on the NFPA website in their catalog.
I always loaded the PDF versions on an iPad that only has wifi and I rarely have internet access in the field so the online version is not usable to me.
While "NFPA Link" is more expensive, it can now work offline and you can do pretty much anything you can do with a pdf.Engineers and contractors need an NEC document that searchable and portable (hence, the .pdf version). The new NEC no longer meets these requirements. Users are just going to continue with the 2017 edition. Dumb.