This week we bring another great graphic from the FBC. This pertains to drilling and notching wood framing members.
Click on the diagram to make it full page.
Till next time be safe work safe
Jake
Contractors and inspectors still call and ask about the location of smoke alarms, they want to make sure that the location they put it in is OK.
As shown above it is OK to mount a smoke alarm right up against the ceiling on the wall, there’s no longer that space of 4” down from the ceiling or 4”
away from the corner on the ceiling. The space 12” down from the ceiling is to the top of the detector. This changed in the 2010 NFPA 72. Hope this helps.
Till next time be safe and work safe
Jake
This Table from the Florida Building Code has been removed, and replaced by the new calculation using 83% for residential services. Just as they did in the NEC the FBC removed an easier way to size residential conductors and overcurrent devices by replacing it with a calculation. All changes aren’t necessarily better. The table shown not only gives us the conductors and overcurrent device sizes it gives us the grounding electrode conductor size also. Make a copy and stick it in your code book for easier reference or Email me and I’ll send you a PDF.
Till next time be safe work safe, and Happy Birthday to our son Aaron who turns 26 today.
Happy Birthday we love you.
Jake
Ever wonder when you put that service mast above the roof how far from the edge can it be or how high off the roof does it has to be. This weeks post comes from the Florida Building Code Residential it is a graphic that will help you understand this section. This section E3604.2.1 is a good example of how this section is interpreted, I added the red boxes for further clarification.
Click on the graphic below to view it full screen.
Till next time work safe and be safe
Jake
This weeks 2014 Code change comes from section 200.4(B) which deals with neutrals grouped in panelboards or enclosures. Then identifying them so that you don’t mistakenly disconnect the wrong one and send an over or under voltage to a piece of equipment and possibly burn it up. This section requires us to identify the neutral conductor for each circuit or circuits it serves. This is for single circuit or multi-wire circuit.
Over the years I have seen electricians working on circuits only to disconnect the neutral to move it around to make room for another neutral conductor, only to disconnect it while the circuit it serves was still energized. This resulted in a burnt out refrigerator or computer that was on a multi-wire circuit.
I have seen a few good ways to ID the neutrals by either numbering them with the corresponding circuit number(s) on each neutral or grouping them with a piece of the sheath from NM cable marked with the circuit ID.
There are a couple of Exceptions where you can tell which neutral goes with a particular circuit of a cable or conduit installation, or when there just isn’t room to mark the wire in an existing installation where the conductors are pulled through a box or enclosure without splices.
Till next time work safe be safe and keep an eye on your helper.
Jake
This question has come up several times in the last couple of weeks. How close can I put my low voltage lights near a pool?
Section 680.22,B6 allows us to install LV fixtures closer than 5’ but they have to meet 680.23, A 2 for the type of transformer that is allowed to feed the fixtures.
680.22 B(6) Low-Voltage Luminaires. Listed low-voltage luminaires not requiring grounding, not exceeding the low-voltage contact limit, and supplied by listed transformers or power supplies that comply with 680.23(A)(2) shall be permitted to be located less than 1.5 m (5 ft.) from the inside walls of the pool.
(2) Transformers and Power Supplies. Transformers and power supplies used for the supply of underwater luminaires, together with the transformer or power supply enclosure, shall be listed for swimming pool and spa use. The transformer or power supply shall incorporate either a transformer of the isolated winding type, with an ungrounded secondary that has a grounded metal barrier between the primary and secondary windings, or one that incorporates an approved system of double insulation between the primary and secondary windings.
Till next time
Be safe, work safe
Jake
A new annex has been added to the 2914 NEC Annex J which give us some guidance when dealing with ADA requirements.
You will no longer have to hunt for the ADA requirements for electrical installations, it will be in our Code book.
Till next time be safe work safe
Jake
This weeks post comes from the Florida Building Code Residential Electrical code from Chapters 34 through 45. Inside each chapter they have given us some of the best illustrations that I’ve seen. So every now and then I will pull up one or two to show you. This one shows the clearances from overhead services to platforms , widows and the like. A good illustration on what the code implies (230.9).
Till next time be safe work safe
Jake
This one comes to us from Howard B. He tells me that we have to keep an eye on the new helpers.
If you see it send it.
Till next time be safe work safe and keep an eye out for those great pictures.
Jake
This weeks change allows us to use the steel frame of a building in place of running a conductor all around a building. Bonding each item that needs to be bonded into part of the Grounding Electrode system. Such as the case of the electrical service on one side of the building and the cold water service on the other.
.
Till next time be safe work safe
Jake