Ohio Electrical Ad Hoc Committee Recommends 2008 NEC for All 1, 2, and 3 Family Dwelling Installations in Ohio

As reported earlier, the Ohio Board of Building Standards (OBBS) at their June 13, 2008 conference meeting voted to sustain Ohio Governor Ted Strickland’s emergency order to utilize the 2005 NEC for all 1, 2, & 3 family dwelling electrical installations.  This was done even though the 2008 NEC was originally accepted for this purpose beginning January 1, 2008 by the OBBS and is the current electrical code of record used for all other electrical installations within the State of Ohio including multi-family (4 or more) dwellings. This rule becomes effective June 24, 2008.

However, in accordance with the emergency order, the Director of the Ohio Department of Commerce appointed an Electrical Ad Hoc Committee to review and make recommendation to the OBBS regarding the emergency rules regarding the electrical code.  Members of that Electrical Ad Hoc Committee include:

Charlie Ruma, Chairman – Builder 

Tim McClintock, Building Official

Jim Zengel, Builder

Jack Pryor, Building Official

Brian Lieburn, Builder

Tom Moore, Building Official

Steve Regoli, Regulatory

Richard Schriewer, Building Official

Debbie Ohler, Regulatory

Dave Moran, IBEW

Billy Phillips, Regulatory                                                     

Greg Stewart, Superior Group

Jerry Holland, Regulatory

Tom Shreves, NECA Contractor

Don Cooper, State Fire Marshal

Tom Domitrovich, Manufacturer

The Electrical Ad Hoc Committee held its second and final meeting on June 19 and reached consensus for a recommendation to the OBBS that with the available technology to increase safety and minimal cost impact, we need to move forward with the 2008 NEC.  This recommendation is to readopt the 2008 NEC, for 1, 2, & 3 family dwellings, without amendments. The effective date agreed upon by the committee for reimplementation is January 1, 2009.

Much of the deliberation revolved around whether or not the committee should make modifications/amendments to the 2005 NEC and propose it for adoption; or make modification/amendments to the 2008 NEC and propose it for adoption. Consensus was finally reached that modifying a national standard that has already gone through an extensive code development process with NFPA was not favorable and could even create liability issues.

Additional discussion revolved around the cost impact of the 2008 NEC with costs being projected from both a minimum code standpoint and from a structure with more than minimum code required circuits. Discussion also centered on the advantages of the technology and safety benefits of the 2008 NEC as it relates to a reported 14 fire deaths in Ohio over a period covering 2006-2007 with these fire deaths being the direct result of electrical equipment, arcing and overloading. In addition, discussion regarding the reliability of both AFCI & GFCI devices was held that centered on "nuisance tripping", which today is attributed to potential problems with the appliance and/or branch circuit wiring and not the safety devices themselves with members on the committee representing the building industry suggesting the manufacturing industry needs to become more actively involved in helping to educate the public concerning such issues.

A pivotal point of this Ad Hoc Committee meeting was the presentation of a 165-page booklet by committee members Tim McClintock and Tom Moore that was complied by the Ohio International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI) that included a 4-page white paper authored by Mr. McClintock, statistics, and other data to support the adoption of the 2008 NEC without amendments. The importance of this document in gaining the positive consensus of the committee in adopting the 2008 NEC as the electrical installation standard for 1, 2, and 3 family dwellings in Ohio cannot be understated. Congratulations to Tim and Tom and to the Ohio Chapter of IAEI on a job well done in never wavering from their position as champions of safety and in their belief in the safety that is afforded the people of Ohio by the adoption of the 2008 National Electrical Code^® without amendment.

What's next:

• The Electrical Ad Hoc Committee will make their recommendation to the OBBS for a January 1, 2009 effective date for the 2008 NEC without amendments
• The Residential Construction Advisory Committee (RCAC) will make a duplicate recommendation based on confirmation made by Jim Zengel, Chairman of the RCAC. Note that Mr. Zengel also served on the electrical ad-hoc committee.
• These recommendations will be made to the OBBS on July 11,  2008, which is the next scheduled OBBS Meeting
• OBBS should adopt a motion to direct OBBS staff to draft proposed rules to reinstate the 2008 NEC with the 1/1/09 date. These rules will have to be filed in accordance with ORC 119.03, which requires filing on the Register of Ohio and appropriate state agencies, public hearing, JCARR hearing, and ultimately adoption. The expected time line will be a public hearing in November 2008 and subsequent adoption in December 2008.

Contact: John Minick:  john.minick@nema.org