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Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Question:

Re: CQD answer published Thursday, October 17, 2019 -Intentional NEC Violation

When confronted with a situation such as described in this question in which someone insists that something be done that violates a code or safety consideration, I find it useful to imagine myself in the witness box of a courtroom being confronted by the plaintiff's attorney asking the question "Isn't it correct to say that as a professional electrician, you knew that what you did was a violation of the National Electric Code, yet you did it anyway?" This mental image has given me the fortitude to just say no on more than one occasion.

John Kahler

A

Answer:

Hey John thanks for sharing your thoughts. That is a great perspective to consider when doing anything. It also caused me think of how one would feel if someone else was injured or killed because we chose not to follow the rules. That might be more difficult to deal with than losing a court case.

ABOUT CQD: The Code Question of the Day (CQD) is NECA and ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR Magazine’s flagship National Electrical Code (NEC®) public forum for the industry, sponsored by EATON. The daily distribution of Q&A generates a lively dialogue and shares relative Code-based practical responses.

SUBMIT YOUR CODE QUESTION: Click here to submit a question to for inclusion in an upcoming edition of the Code Question of the Day, or email codequestion@necanet.org. 

CHARLIE TROUT: Charles M. Trout, better known as Charlie, was a nationally known NEC® expert and author. He served on several NEC® technical committees and is past chairman of CMP-12. In 2006 Charlie was awarded the prestigious Coggeshall Award for outstanding contributions to the electrical contracting industry, codes and standards development, and technical training. Even though Charlie passed away in October of 2015, his work continues in spirit. NECA continues to maintain this question forum for its many subscribers in memory and recognition of all his significant contributions to making the NEC what it is today.

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IMPORTANT NOTICE: Unless the question requests a response based on a specific edition, all answers are based on the latest edition of NFPA 70® National Electrical Code®.

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