Graded Project National Electrical Code National Electrical Code INTRODUCTION This next portion of your program is a project-based assignment designed for you to demonstrate your understanding of the National Electrical Code and your ability to apply the requirements and their interpretations to some typical residential building applications and one industrial application. As you have learned, the National Electrical Code (NEC) is a reference manual that outlines requirements for the installation of electrical equipment. The NEC is published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and is updated every three years to reflect changes in the industry. The exact requirements for the installation of electrical equipment in your area will vary depending on local regulations. You learned in your studies that the application of the Code is rarely an exact science and that the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) is often the final determination of local code compliance. However, almost all electrical requirements are based on the National Electrical Code. Therefore, it’s very important to understand the NEC thoroughly and be able to apply it to your work. One objective of this project is to help you appreciate that you don’t to have to memorize the various NEC codes. You’ll be asked to use the NEC in the way that it was designed, as a rule book of sorts, that you will apply, step-by-step, through some interesting and challenging problems. All of the submissions for this assignment are open-book, so you can relax and focus on developing your skills in using the NEC. Before you begin, this is a good time to simply review the NEC and to locate the articles that you would expect to apply to common building projects. Familiarize yourself with the 1 locations of common applications in the codes, as you’ll need this information to complete this project. In this project, you’ll also be looking at electrical wiring diagrams. Therefore, you may also want to review the material on how to read these diagrams before you begin this project. Interpreting the floor plan wiring diagram for a typical residence, then carrying out the required wiring, is no simple matter. To remind you of the details which must often be addressed in a typical residential project, a wiring diagram was included with this portion of your program. The standalone drawing shows a complete wiring diagram for one floor of a typical residence. As you can see, this typical residence contains many electrical outlets and devices. All of these devices must be installed to satisfy NEC requirements. You should note that the stand-alone drawing isn’t a part of the actual assignments that you’ll complete; it’s simply a good practice tool to brush-up on your print-reading skills. In this project, you’ll use your knowledge of the NEC to answer a variety of questions about electrical circuits. Because this is an application-type project that involves real-life scenarios, the project will take some time to complete. Using the NEC can be time consuming when you’re first learning, so don’t become frustrated if this project takes a little longer to complete than you expected.