6- 183 - (400-8(4), Exception): Reject
SUBMITTER: Frederic P. Hartwell, Hartwell Electrical Services,
Inc./Rep. Massachusetts Electrical Code Advisory Committee
RECOMMENDATION: Revise as follows:
?Flexible cord and cable shall be permitted to be attached to
building surfaces in accordance with the provisions of Section 364-8.
For other applications, where the length of the cord from the supply
termination to a suitable tension take-up device is limited to 8 feet
(2.44 m), flexible cord shall be permitted to have one connection to
the building surface.?
SUBSTANTIATION: This proposal allows for traditional
cord extensions from other, non-busway sources such as
overhead wireways. The present NEC isn?t clear whether or not
that entire family of cord use dropped out of the 1999 Code.
The 1999 rule only mentions Section 364-8, and the scope of
that section only covers extensions from busways (naturally,
since that?s what Article 364 covers.) One theory holds that ?the
provisions? involved here are the installation rules for similar
applications, such as that the vertical drop be vertical and so
on. The other, more literal theory, holds that no cords can
extend to a take-up device unless they originate at a busway.
The latter view represents an enormous change in standard
installation practice, and there wasn?t a shred of technical
substantiation in the last Code cycle to support such a
preposterous restriction. This proposal, by covering other nonbusway
applications in a separate sentence, clearly allows those
other applications to continue.
PANEL ACTION: Reject.
PANEL STATEMENT: The submitter has not provided any
technical substantiation to support the recommendation.
NUMBER OF PANEL MEMBERS ELIGIBLE TO VOTE: 11
VOTE ON PANEL ACTION:
AFFIRMATIVE: 11