willshak wrote:
Bill wrote the following:
"willshak" wrote in message

The McGraw Hill 2008 NEC Handbook is not expensive.
http://www.amazon.com/McGraw-Hill-Na...3229808&sr=8-1

or:
http://tinyurl.com/yfsdlrt



The above is not *the* NEC Handbook which is this...
http://www.nfpa.org/catalog/product.asp?pid=70hb08


I didn't say it was the 'official' NFPA NEC handbook
I said it was the 'McGraw-Hill' 2008 NEC Handbook.
But it is a handbook based on the National Electrical Code, never the less.
The OP is not an electrician and just wants to do some residential
electrical wiring to meet code.
Why spend 3x more for a professional electrician's bible?


I would say they are both "the NEC Handbook"

For an amateur I think both have problems
- They are organized around the NEC. If you are installing a receptacle
you need information from multiple code sections (grounding, box fill,
branch circuits, receptacles, Romex, ...) An amateur does not know what
sections are relevant.
- When reading the NEC the text can often refer to other sections which
you then have to understand.
- The NEC covers the broad range of installations. If you are just
working on a house most of it is irrelevant. (There is a residential
version of the NEC.)

I would suggest finding a book that aimed at amateurs and is partly
oriented around jobs (installing a receptacle) but has the scope that is
required to understand the rules (where is AFCI and GFCI protection
required). I don't have any titles. You won't become competent overnight.

--
bud--