CHARLESTON -- Two significant changes to the city's building code could make life simpler for area contractors and business owners.

One change has to do with the installation of metallic raceways and the other the installation of sprinkler systems. City Planner Steve Pamperin said the city adopted the 2005 National Electrical Code as a guide in 2011; however, a local amendment left from the prior code stating that wire must be installed in raceways in all cases except for special exceptions stuck around and was applied to the 2005 NEC.

The change, now on file for public inspection, would get rid of the local amendment, Pamperin said.

"Basically, we're going to replace it with wording that says, 'all wiring shall conform to the National Electric Code,'" he said.

The change could save contractors some money if their building isn't required to install the raceways, Pamperin said. That doesn't mean metallic raceway is entirely optional, though -- by state law, building architects will need to determine if the raceway is required, Pamperin said.

"We have determined that the National Electric Code should be the model that governs us," Pamperin said.

Electrical inspector Joel Ranson said the city revisited the amendment about four years ago.

"(Contractors) had asked us to look into it again at that point," Ranson said.

Fire Chief Pat Goodwin said the NEC is published by the National Fire Protection Agency as the minimum measures a building must take in order to be completely safe -- and those are the measures the city will follow when it comes to the raceways.

"In that code, they're saying 'if installed correctly, this is safe in these applications,'" Goodwin said.

See the rest here:
Building code changes up for inspection

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January 8, 2015 at 5:39 pm by Mr HomeBuilder
Category: Wiring Installation