John Grabowski wrote:

"Robert11" wrote in message
. ..
Hello,

I read somewhere recently that the (new) National Electrical Code
mandates NM WG 12 gage for all
new indoor house wiring. Was always 14 gage in the past, of course.

Is it true that it is now AWG 12 for "everything" indoors to be Code
compliant ?


20 amp circuits have been required for kitchen countertop receptacles
for quite a while now. I haven't seen anything about the whole house in
the new book, but I have yet to take my mandated code update class yet.
NJ hasn't adopted the 2008 NEC yet, but I am wondering if they will
include 406.11 which requires tamper resistant receptacles. They keep
leaving out the requirement for AFCI breakers.

If you are planning to do some wiring, after you pull the permit it
would be a good idea to have a brief meeting with the electrical
inspector and get the facts from the person who has the power to pass or
fail your project. Every jurisdiction can have different requirements
regardless of what the NEC states.

I'm not trying to be quarrelsome when I say that is only true in local
option States. Some states do not permit local option. Virginia, for
example, is a minimum / maximum state. That means that the code as
adopted by the state code approval body is both the minimum and the
maximum that the local government can require of contractors in the
state. Such states have a lower cost per built square foot of housing
then the ones that allow local option. That is because contractors do
not have to spend time keeping up with the requirements of dozens of
local amendments. A building in one county can be framed, plumbed,
wired and so on exactly the same in another county. Some min max states
have a professional qualifications board for inspectors. If an
inspector is overturned on appeal he or she may be required to attend
remedial training. If a local government has an issue that has already
been decided by the state board appealed in their jurisdiction they run
the risk of the state decertifying that local inspection authority and
requiring that the local government use state or qualified contract
inspectors.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison