Specifications and Standard Activity
by Kerry Heid, Magna Electric Corporation
Canadian Standards Update:
CSA Z462 and the NFPA 70E
Currently there are two CSA standards being worked on
that have ties to NETA. CSA Z462, Workplace Electrical
Safety, is being reviewed, and a new standard, CSA Z320
Building Commissioning is being developed. CSA Z462 is
harmonized with NFPA 70E, while CSA Z320 is a new
standard.
Meetings for CSA Z462 were held in Montreal on
September 30 and October 1 as well as in Toronto on December 8 and 9. The primary reason for these meetings was
to organize the committee to make submissions for change
to NFPA 70E. The deadline for changes in 70E is January
5, 2010. Since CSA Z462 and NFPA 70E are technically
harmonized, it is important for members of the Canadian
standard committee to effect change of 70E so that this
change can then be integrated into the next revision of Z462.
www.netaworld.org Changes proposed that affect NETA are in regard to chapter
2, Safety-Related Maintenance Requirements, where proposals
were approved to mandate maintenance requirements in
two critical areas: switching devices and protective devices.
Maintenance on switching devices is directly relevant to
worker safety when establishing an electrically safe work
condition. Maintenance on overcurrent protective devices
is crucial in ensuring calculated incident energy values meet
actual field values when operating times of equipment are
considered.
A new standard called Building Commission is under
development. The electrical subcommittee has extensively
used the NETA acceptance testing specifications for determining the protocol for electrical system commissioning.
This standard applies to all commercial and institutional
buildings built in Canada.
Spring 2010 NETA WORLD
1
Specifications and Standard Activity
NEC Code Making Panel
Committee Report
2011 NFPA 70
NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE
CODE PANEL 10
DESCRIPTION OF PANEL CMP-10 deals primarily with Article 240, Overcurrent
Protection.
MEETING DATE
December, 7th and 8th, 2009
MEETING PURPOSE Report on Comments, 2011 Code
ATTENDEES:
NAME
REPRESENTING
Roderic L. Hageman, Principle
Scott Blizard, Alternate
NETA
NETA
NUMBER OF COMMENTS 52
Accept
Reject
Accept in Principle
9
30
4
Accept in Part
Accept in Principle in Part
Hold
0
1
9
Definitions:
Accept – The panel accepts the comment exactly as written.
Only editorial changes may be made.
Reject – The comment is rejected by the panel.
Accept in Principle – Accept the comment with a change
in wording.
Accept in Part – If part of a comment is accepted without
change and the remainder is rejected. The panel action
must indicate what part was accepted and what part was
rejected and the panel statement must indicate its reasons
for rejecting that portion.
Accept in Principle in Part – This is a combination of “Accept in Principle” and “Accept in Part” as shown above.
Hold – A comment is held for consideration during the
next Code cycle because it introduces new material not
in the original proposal.
2
NETA WORLD Spring 2010
CMP-10 is a very well organized and knowledgeable
panel, with representation from many organizations including IAIE, IEC, IEEE, IBEW, EEI, ACC, NETA, UL,
NEMA, and NECA. This diverse group brings various
points of view to the code-making process.
Donald Cook is the chair of CMP-10. Donny is a member of the International Association of Electrical Inspectors,
IAEI, and will help CMP-10 suggest enforceable code.
Due to significant effort by members of the panel in
preparing suggested panel statements and Donny’s work in
organizing the comments in a logical order to be addressed
by the panel, the panel was able to work through the 53
comments in just one and one-half days.
There were a few comments that would be of particular
interest to NETA members. Some of these were rejected
unanimously by the panel and, therefore, will have no impact
on NETA at this stage of the code-making process.
CMP-10 received nine comments regarding Proposal
10-72. In the proposal stage, 10-72 proposed a new Article
240.35 that would require that enclosures, in other than
dwelling occupancies, containing service or feeder circuit
overcurrent protection devices be marked with 1) available
short-circuit current, 2) the date the calculation was made,
and 3) a warning that the value may change. The panel was
more divided on this proposal than any other of the 84
proposals. After significant discussion, the panel voted to
accept in principle and in part. They dropped the warning
and added an exception for installations with written safety
procedures, and where only qualified persons could service
the equipment, as long as the short-circuit information was
available to the AHJ. The final ballot was 7 to 4 in favor of
the panel action.
www.netaworld.org
This same proposal was presented to CMP-1 at the ROP
meeting and was accepted by them. CMP-10 created its
own comment, 10-26a, log #CC1000 that effectively asks
the Correlating Committee to accept the proposal as 240.35
if it does not accept CMP-1’s version in the final ballot on
comments.
During the proposal stage, proposal 10-82 proposed a
new article, 240.87 to require either zone-selective interlocking, differential relaying, or an energy-reducing maintenance switch on circuit breakers without an instantaneous
trip. This proposal was accepted in principle by the panel.
The panel added “or an approved equivalent” to allow for
future technology. This proposal sent a shock wave through
the breaker manufacturing community. Eaton requested
time to make a presentation to the panel encouraging the
panel to reject the proposal, and there were 10 comments,
nine of which requested major changes in the proposal or
outright rejection. The panel, however, continued to support
the original proposal with some language modification
One other proposal that may be of interest to testing
firms after 2016 is a proposal by our Panel Chair, Donny
Cook that requires equipment required or permitted in
Article 240 (overcurrent protective devices) to be “listed or
field evaluated by a qualified testing laboratory or inspection agency concerned with product evaluation”. Donny’s
suggested December 31, 2016 delayed enforcement gives
the industry time to get devices listed. Following that date,
devices not listed by an organization such as UL would have
to be field evaluated for acceptability.
I made the comment in discussion that some characteristics, such as interrupting capability, are not capable of
being evaluated in the field. The comment was accepted by
the panel, and it will be interesting to see the final results.
www.netaworld.org Spring 2010 NETA WORLD
3
Specifications and Standard Activity
Ron Widup, Shermco Industries
The 2011 National Electrical Code:
Report on Comments Meeting Update
For each version of the NFPA 70, The National Electrical
Code or NEC, there is a specific process for review and
revision on the standard. Recently, one of the last significant
steps in the process, the “Report on Comments” (ROC)
meeting was just completed in California. This was for the
current revision of standard (the 2011 Edition) and marks
the last time the Code Making Panel participants get together as a group to discuss public proposals and comments.
NETA is represented on three Code Making Panels,
CMP-10 (Rod Hageman/Scott Blizard), CMP 11 (Ron
Widup), and CMP-15 (Mike Velvikis). There was also
activity from NETA on CMP-4 during the ROC meeting.
The following information pertains to each panel activity.
CMP-4
Code Making Panel 4 is responsible for Articles 225
and 230
One of the more important Articles is 230.95(C), which
sets forth the performance testing requirements of Ground
Fault Protection Systems (GFP).
There were two proposals submitted for recommended
changes to Article 230.95(C), one by Rod Hageman of
PRIT Service and one by Ron Widup of Shermco Industries. The basic intent of the proposals was to add the words
“by primary current injection” as a technical clarification to
the existing performance testing requirements of 230.95(C).
At the Report on Proposal (ROP) meeting, both proposals were rejected by CMP-4. As a follow-up to the committee action, comments were sent to NFPA in an attempt
to clarify the position and technical merit of the proposals.
Additionally, on December 9, 2009, at the Report on
Comments meeting in California, Rod Hageman and Ron
Widup presented an overview of testing of GFP systems
by primary current injection. The intent was to educate the
CMP-4 committee on the intent and technical merits of
the proposals.
4
NETA WORLD Spring 2010
Unfortunately, the committee did not reverse their original action to reject. A new series of proposals will need to
be authored for the next (2014) edition of the NEC.
CMP-11
Code Making Panel 11 is responsible for Articles 409,
430, 440, 460, 470, Annex D, and Example D8. These articles primarily relate to motors and motor controls, as well
as HVAC and refrigeration related code topics.
While this Code cycle did not have very many controversial or “hot” topics for CMP-11, there were several
important proposals and related discussion topics that were
a part of the meeting and the 64 individual comments
submitted to NFPA.
Some of the meeting highlight points of discussion were:
Valve Actuator (VAM) Assemblies
There was much discussion about defining Small Valve
Actuator (VAM) Assemblies. Valve Actuator (VAM) assemblies are covered in Article 430.2 and 430.81.
Regarding original Proposal No. 11-25, ROC Item 115, Log 2852 and Proposal No. 11-25, ROC Item 11-35,
Log 2173. The panel holds the proposals and comment in
accordance with NFPA Regulation Governing Committee
Projects Section 4.4.6.2.2(c) because the proposed changes
could not be handled within the timeframe for processing
the report. They will become an automatic proposal item
at the next cycle.
Article 430.28 Feeder Taps
There was much discussion on feeder taps and the wording of proposal No. 11-55. Acceptance of the comment to
this proposal would allow a tap to be made to a tap which is
specifically prohibited by Article 240.21. It was also noted
that CMP-10 actions on proposal ROP 10-56 of the 1999
edition of the NEC specifically prohibited tapping a tap.
The panel intends that tap conductors be terminated into a
single overcurrent device.
www.netaworld.org
Adjustable Speed Drive Systems
Article 430.123, Branch Circuit Short-Circuit and
Ground Fault Protection
As it relates to adjustable-speed drive systems, the panel
provided comment and additional revisions for clarity.
Article 440.9 Equipment Grounding
This proposal added new text that states “Any wiring
method employed shall contain an equipment grounding
conductor in accordance with 250.118(1).”
This adds a very important safety requirement for a
grounding conductor on outdoor air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, as wiring methods installed outdoors
are more susceptible to being damaged and/or compromised.
Overall there were 64 comments and two committee proposals. The recommended committee actions were:
Code Making Panel 11 Summary of Actions at ROC
Meeting
30
7
1
5
19
2
2
The (somewhat abbreviated) 2011 NEC timeline is as
follows:
• NEC CMP ballots by staff liaison 1/12/10
• Date for NEC TCC meeting 2/22 - 2/26/10
• NEC TCC ballots 3/3/10
• Final copy (w/ ballot statements) to Secretary, Standards
Council 3/5/10
• Posting of NEC Certified NITMAM 5/21/10
• Association Meeting for Documents with NITMAM
6/6-10/10
• Appeal closing date 6/29/10
• Council issuance for Documents with or without NITMAM 7/30/10
In July 2010 the 2011 Edition of the National Electrical
Code should become official.
Accept
Accept in Principle
Accept in Part
Accept in Principle and Part
Reject
Hold
Committee Action
2011 Edition of the NEC: The Home
Stretch
The next step in the process is for the committee members
to vote on the recommended meeting actions, the NFPA
Technical Correlating Committee to review the results,
anyone with issues that wants to make a motion on the issues present at the NFPA Association Meeting, and finally
for the NFPA council to issue the document.
www.netaworld.org Spring 2010 NETA WORLD
5
Specifications and Standard Activity
Standards Update
ANSI/NETA ETT-2010
ANSI/NETA ATS-2009
The ANSI/NETA Standard for Certification of Electrical Testing Technicians was approved as an American
National Standard on January 8, 2010. The document was
originally approved as an ANSI standard in 2000. This
standard establishes minimum
requirements for qualification,
certification, training, and exStandard for
perience requirements of the
Certification
electrical testing technician. It
of
also provides criteria for docuElectrical
menting qualifications and
Testing
certification, and details the
Technicians
minimum qualifications for
an independent and impartial certifying body to certify
electrical testing technicians.
The ANSI/NETA Standard for Acceptance Testing
Specifications for Electrical Power Equipment and System
is scheduled to be published as
a revised document in 2013.
Standard for
These specifications cover
Acceptance
the suggested field tests and
Testing
inspections that are available
Specifications
to assess the suitability for
for Electrical Power
initial energization of elecEquipment and Systems
trical power equipment and
systems. The purpose of these
specifications is to assure that
tested electrical equipment
and systems are operational,
are within applicable standards and manufacturer’s tolerances, and are installed in accordance with design specifications. Work on this document
will officially begin in 2011. Once completed, this standard
will carry the designation of ANSI/NETA ATS-2013.
ANSI/NETA ETT-2010
InterNational Electrical Testing Association
American National Standard
ANSI/NETA MTS-2007
The ANSI/NETA Standard for Maintenance Testing
Specifications for Electrical Power Equipment and Systems will be reviewed and is
scheduled to be published as
Standard for
a revised American National
Maintenance
Standard in 2011. These specTesting
ifications cover the suggested
Specifications
field tests and inspections that
for Electrical Power Distribution
are available to assess the suitEquipment and Systems
ability for continued service
InterNational Electrical
and reliability of electrical
Testing Association
power distribution equipment
and systems. The purpose
of these specifications is to
assure that tested electrical
equipment and systems are operational, are within applicable
standards and manufacturer’s tolerances, and are suitable for
continued service. The revision is expected to be completed
in the fall of 2010 and will carry the designation of ANSI/
NETA MTS-2011.
ANSI/NETA MTS-2007
ANSI/NETA ATS-2009
Participation
Comments and suggestions are always welcome on
any of the standards and should be directed to the NETA
office at neta@netaworld.org or 888-300-6382. To learn
more about the NETA standards process, purchase these
standards, or to get involved, please visit www.netaworld.
org or call 888-300-6382.
American National Standard
2007
6
NETA WORLD Spring 2010
www.netaworld.org