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National Electric Code: Changes and Updates for Seasoned Employees

If you knew the 2014 National Electrical Code^® (NEC^®), you may not know the 2017 NEC^®. Updated every three years, the Code changes to accommodate new technologies and techniques. Rather than sit through a lecture course that seems to overlook your years of experience, consider taking a refresher and review course that includes plenty of hands-on practical applications.

Who is the NEC For?

From experienced electricians to recently promoted building managers, a course in the changes and updates to the NEC^® will benefit many workers, whether dealing with electrical issues every day or only once every six months.

For anyone with direct daily contact with electrical equipment, the Code refresher course is essential. You cannot afford to make a mistake because you are working with outdated notions in these jobs:

• Supervisors and electrical workers working on 50V or greater equipment
• Linemen and Utility workers
• Plant and facility managers
• Plant and facility maintenance technicians
• Apprentice and experienced HVAC technicians
• Maintenance Technicians

In addition, an NEC^® refresher course can help you if you need familiarity with electrical equipment and processes, even if you do not deal with breaker panels and 50V equipment every day. Consider the value of a refresher course if any of these describe your job:

• Building engineers
• Building managers and superintendents
• Energy management personnel
• Environmental health and safety personnel
• Fire Alarm Technicians
• Mechanic
• Owners and managers
• Safety directors
• Stationary engineers
• Warehouse employees

Spotting Quality in an NEC Seminar

How you select a suitable updating seminar is important. You may be able to find a one-day lecture course that gives the briefest overview without any practical experience. Such a seminar is usually helpful only if you need a certificate to wave in front of HR.

For a hands-on, useful workshop atmosphere, look for a course that goes into detail about the many areas of the NEC^® that have been revised:

• 110.24: Available fault current
• 210.8[b]: GFCI in other than dwellings
• 210.52.4: Separate spaces on counters
• 210.55: Meeting rooms
• 250.30: Grounding separately derived systems
• Arc fault circuit interrupter
• Article 314: Size of Power distribution Blocks Revised
• Article 410.130G: Revised to include disconnecting when ballast is replaced
• Article 430: Motors has several revisions
• New requirement for Article 590: Temporary wiring receptacles during construction
• New Article 606: Prefabricated Wiring Assembles
• New requirement for Fire Pumps from article 695: Power source for electric driven fire pumps
• Revised Table 310.15: Adjustment and correction factors for the ampacity of conductors
• Uninterruptible power supply — UPS systems

Be Safe Before, After, and During a Job

With electricity, safety is in the details and correct procedures. New requirements in the 2017 NEC^® include these safety items:

1. Provisions on electrical installations over 600 volts
2. 240.87: Means to reduce incident energy
3. New Article 399: Requirements for overhead distribution systems for large electrical system users, such as school or business campus settings
4. 408.4B: Labeling at subpanels to identify feeder supply source
5. 450.14: Disconnecting means for transformers

Green Energy

The rise in the value and benefits of green energy — solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass — brings a rise in the chances you will be working with electrical systems connected to solar panels, rechargeable batteries, wind turbines and more:

1. Revised Article 625: Updates on safe battery charging for plug-in hybrid vehicles that reduce the risk of explosion
2. Revisions to Article 645: IT Equipment
3. New Article 694: First-time guidelines for small wind electric systems
4. Revised Article 705: Interconnecting solar and fuel cells, windmills, and generators with other power supplies
5. New Article 840: Broadband communications; new requirements for wireless disconnects and wireless routers

NEC Code Changes: Get Your Hands On It

Because an updates course is intended for seasoned workers, expect to have hands-on time with challenges that move beyond lectures and projected slides. See if the course you want offers opportunities to apply the Code to:

• Retro-fits
• New installations with changing work-flows
• Live components
• Commissioning equipment
• One-line diagrams

Of particular importance is arc flash, since the phenomenon is unforgiving. Constant review could prevent a needless tragedy. Make sure any Code update class includes a thorough discussion of arc flash, documenting and safeguarding against it, and NFPA 70E requirements.

Judging Value

A review of updates to NEC® will only be valuable to you if you can immediately apply your new knowledge.

A one-day survey course may make you curious to do more research on your own. A two-day, 16-hour workshop with a small class size will virtually guarantee you leave with detailed, useful information. Your workers become more effective and valuable in their jobs. They might even save a life.

If you want a good overview of the updated NEC^®, taught by instructors who value your experience and your time, contact us at NTT Training Inc. today to reserve your spot for this two-day course, National Electrical Code®: Changes/Update.

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For more information about National Technology Transfer or any of our programs click here: http://www.nttinc.com or http://www.nttinc.com/seminar-list-catalog/.