Dwelling and Commercial Electrical Equipment

Specific Inspection Topics Electrical Inspections
1

I can use some help here, and would appreciate it if someone would review each of the publications below, and identify the items we would encounter during an inspection. Keep in mind that these are UL standards and cover many areas related to equipment installed in the buildings we live in and occupy.

Annex A Product Safety Standards

Annex A is not a part of the requirements of this NFPA
document but is included for informational purposes only.

This informational annex provides a list of product
safety standards used for product listing where that listing
is required by this Code. It is recognized that this list is
current at the time of publication but that new standards or
modifications to existing standards can occur at any time
while this edition of the *Code *is in effect.

This annex does not form a mandatory part of the requirements
of this *Code *but is intended only to provide
*Code *users with informational guidance about the product
characteristics about which *Code *requirements have been
based.

Product Standard Name Product Standard Number

[FONT=Arial]Antenna-Discharge Units
Arc-Fat Circuit-Interrupters
Armored Cable
Attachment Plugs and Receptacles
Audio/Video and Musical Instrument Apparatus for Household, Commercial, and Similar General Use
Audio-Video Products and Accessories
Busways
Cables — Thermoplastic-Insulated Underground Feeder and Branch-Circuit Cables
Cables — Thermoplastic-Insulated Wires and Cables
Cables — Thermoset-Insulated Wires and Cables
Cables for Non–Power-Limited Fire-Alarm Circuits
Cables for Power-Limited Fire-Alarm Circuits
Capacitors
Cellar Metal Floor Raceways and Fittings
Circuit Integrity (CI) Cable — Outline of Investigation for Fire Tests for Electrical Circuit
Protective Systems
Subject
Circuit Integrity (CI) Cable — Tests of Fire Resistive Cables
Class and Class Transformers
Class Power Units
Commercial Audio Equipment
Communication Circuit Accessories
Communications Cables
Community-Antenna Television Cables
Conduit, Tubing, and Cable Fittings B
Conduit — Type EB and A Rigid PVC Conduit and HDPE Conduit A
Continuous Length HDPE Conduit B HDPE
Control Centers for Changing Message Type Electric Signs
Cord Sets and Power-Supply Cords
Cover Plates for Flush-Mounted Wiring Devices D
Data-Processing Cable
Dead-Front Switchboards
Electric Motors
Electric Sign Components
Electric Signs
Electric Spas, Equipment Assemblies, and Associated Equipment
Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging System Equipment
Electric Water Heaters for Pools and Tubs
Electrical Apparatus for Explosive Gas Atmospheres — Part : Intrinsic Safety “i” ISA -/ –
Electrical Apparatus for Explosive Gas Atmospheres — Part : Type of Protection “n” ISA -/ –
Electrical Apparatus for Use in Class I, Zone Hazardous (Classified) Locations Type of
Protection — Encapsulation “m”
ISA S…/ -
Electrical Apparatus for Use in Class I, Zones O & Hazardous (Classified) Locations: General
Requirements
ISA …/ -
Electrical Apparatus for Use in Class I, Zone Hazardous (Classified) Locations: Type of
Protection — Increased Safety “e”
ISA S…/ -
Electrical Apparatus for Use in Class I, Zone Hazardous (Classified) Locations: Type of
Protection — Flameproof “d”
ISA S…/ -
Electrical Apparatus for Use in Class I, Zone Hazardous (Classified) Locations: Type of
Protection — Powder Filling “q”
ISA S…/ -
Electrical Apparatus for Use in Class I, Zone Hazardous (Classified) Locations: Type of
Protection — Oil-Immersion “O”
ISA S…/ -
Electrical Heating Appliances
Electrical Intermediate Metal Conduit — Steel
Electrical Metallic Tubing — Aluminum A
Electrical Metallic Tubing — Steel
Electrical Nonmetallic Tubing
Electrical Rigid Metal Conduit — Steel
Electric-Battery-Powered Industrial Trucks
Emergency Lighting and Power Equipment
Enclosed and Dead-Front Switches
Enclosures for Electrical Equipment
Energy Management Equipment
Fire Pump Controllers
Fire Resistive Cables
Fixture Wire
Flame Propagation Height of Electrical and Optical-Fiber Cables Installed Vertically in Shafts
Flat-Plate Photovoltaic Modes and Panels
Flexible Cords
Flexible Lighting Products
Flexible Metal Conduit
Fluorescent-Lamp Ballasts
Gas and Vapor Detectors and Sensors
Gas-Burning Heating Appliances for Manufactured Homes and Recreational Vehicles B
Gas-Fired Cooking Appliances for Recreational Vehicles
Gas-Tube-Sign Cable
General-Use Snap Switches
Ground-Fat Circuit-Interrupters
Ground-Fat Sensing and Relaying Equipment
Grounding and Bonding Equipment
Hardware for the Support of Conduit, Tubing and Cable
Heating and Cooling Equipment
High-Intensity-Discharge Lamp Ballasts
High Voltage Industrial Control Equipment
Household Refrigerators and Freezers
Industrial Battery Chargers
Industrial Control Equipment
Industrial Control Panels A
Instrumentation Tray Cable
Insulated Wire Connector Systems for Underground Use or in Damp or Wet Locations D
Inverters, Converters, Controllers and Interconnection System Equipment for Use with Distributed
Energy Resources

Isolated Power Systems Equipment
Junction Boxes for Swimming Pool Luminaires
Liquid Fuel-Burning Heating Appliances for Manufactured Homes and Recreational Vehicles A
Liquid-Tight Flexible Nonmetallic Conduit
Liquid-Tight Flexible Steel Conduit
Lithium Batteries
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : General Requirements -
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Class C Fuses -
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Class CA and CB Fuses -
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Class CC Fuses -
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Class G Fuses -
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Class H Non-Renewable Fuses -
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Class H Renewable Fuses -
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Class J Fuses -
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Class K Fuses -
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Class L Fuses -
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Plug Fuses -
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Class R Fuses -
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Semiconductor Fuses –
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Supplemental Fuses –
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Class T Fuses -
Low-Voltage Fuses — Part : Test Limiters -
Low-Voltage Landscape Lighting Systems
Low-Voltage Lighting Fixtures for Use in Recreational Vehicles
Low Voltage Luminaires
Low-Voltage Switchgear and Control gear, Part : General Requirements -
Low-Voltage Switchgear and Control Gear — Part -: Contactors and Motor Starters –
Luminaire Reflector Kits for Installation on Previously Installed Fluorescent Luminaires,
Supplemental Requirements

Machine-Tool Wires and Cables
Manufactured Wiring Systems
Medical Electrical Equipment — Part : General Requirements –
Medium-Voltage Power Cables
Metal-Clad Cables
Metal-Clad Cables and Cable-Sealing Fittings for Use in Hazardous (Classified) Locations
Metallic Outlet Boxes A
Mobile Home Pipe Heating Cable
Molded-Case Circuit Breakers, Molded-Case Switches, and Circuit-Breaker Enclosures
Motor Control Centers
Motor-Operated Appliances
Neon Transformers and Power Supplies
Nonincendive Electrical Equipment for Use in Class I and II, Division and Class III, Divisions
and Hazardous (Classified) Locations
ISA-…
Nonmetallic Outlet Boxes, Flush-Device Boxes, and Covers C
Nonmetallic Surface Raceways and Fittings A
Nonmetallic Underground Conduit with Conductors
Office Furnishings
Optical Fiber Cable
Optical Fiber and Communication Cable Raceway
Panelboards
Personal Protection Systems for Electric Vehicle Supply Circuits:
General Requirements
–
Personal Protection Systems for Electric Vehicle Supply Circuits:
Requirements for Protection Devices for Use in Charging Systems
–
Plugs, Receptacles and Couplers for Electrical Vehicles
Portable Electric Luminaires
Portable Power Distribution Units
Potting Compounds for Swimming Pool, Fountain, and Spa Equipment A
Power Conversion Equipment C
Power Outlets
Power Units Other Than Class
Power-Limited Circuit Cables
Professional Video and Audio Equipment
Protectors for Coaxial Communications Circuits C
Protectors for Data Communication and Fire Alarm Circuits B
Protectors for Paired Conductor Communications Circuits
Reference Standard for Electrical Wires, Cables, and Flexible Cords
Reinforced Thermosetting Resin Conduit (RTRC) and Fittings
Residential Pipe Heating Cable
Roof and Gutter De-Icing Cable Units
Room Air Conditioners
Safety of Information Technology Equipment, Part : General Requirements –
Safety of Information Technology Equipment, Part : Remote Power Feeding -
Schedule and Rigid PVC Conduit and Fittings
Seasonal and Holiday Decorative Products
Secondary Protectors for Communications Circuits A
Self-Ballasted Lamps and Lamp Adapters
Service-Entrance Cables
Smoke Detectors for Fire Alarm Signaling Systems
Specialty Transformers
Splicing Wire Connectors C
Stage and Studio Lighting
Standby Batteries
Stationary Engine Generator Assemblies
Strut-Type Channel Raceways and Fittings B
Surface Metal Raceways and Fittings
Surface Raceways and Fittings for Use with Data, Signal and Control Circuits C
Surge Arresters — Gapped Silicon-Carbide Surge Arresters for AC Power Circuits IEEE C.
Surge Arresters — Metal-Oxide Surge Arresters for AC Power Circuits IEEE C.
Swimming Pool Pumps, Filters, and Chlorinators
Telephone Equipment
Transfer Switch Equipment
Transient Voltage Surge Suppressors
Underfloor Raceways and Fittings
Underwater Luminaires and Submersible Junction Boxes
Uninterruptible Power Systems
Vacuum Cleaners, Blower Cleaners, and Household Floor Finishing Machines
Waste Disposers
Wire Connectors A-B
Wireways, Auxiliary Gutters, and Associated Fittings
[/FONT]

2

Joe

It would be a big help if you gave us your password so we could access these standards as not many in this forum could afford to buy these standards.

As you have pointed out in your post these standards are for information purposes ONLY and are not mandatory to any installation but simply something that the manufacturing of the end product is based on.

The one thing that I have learned over the years is that the Home Inspector has one of the hardest jobs on the job market today. Their knowledge base has to be astronomical due to the enormous amount of different items they are responsible for looking at.

This is why it is so important to ensure that the information we as educators give them is correct.

Case in point;
I went to evaluate the electrical installation of an old house that had two wire circuits where the devices was changed to grounding type and protected with GFCI devices.
The Home Inspector had ask for an evaluation of the electrical system and pointed out several items one being that the GFCI did not operate when he used his tester.

Included with the installation instructions with every GFCI device on the market today is the testing procedures for testing the device. The instructions clearly state to use the test button on the device and not rely on the button of the little plug-in tester as this Home Inspector had did. When I pushed the test button on the GFCI device it functioned as it was designed to do.

Now what choice did I have but to report that the GECI devices in the house were working properly? How did the people involved in the selling and buying of the house look at the Home Inspector’s report after getting three different electrical contractors look at the electrical system and coming back with the same report, the GFCI devices are working properly.

With the UL Standards that you have posted that most of the members of this forum will never see and are not part of the instructions included with the labeling of the equipment what has the Home Inspector gained?

Instead of adding fuel to the fire of the animosity that exist between Home Inspectors and the building trades today I feel that there is a great need to make sure that they both are working in unison for the same end result. In order for this to happen it is imperative that they both have the same understanding of the codes and inspection process during the building process.

In order to have a better unison between the Home Inspector and the building trades it is important to make sure that they both understand why certain things are the way they are when doing home inspections today.

As outlined in the paragraph that you highlighted it is clear that the UL Standards are not part of the codes and are not enforceable so to quote a section of one of these standards as something to use as a reference for the Home Inspector is not helping to have an understanding between the Home Inspector and the contractors of the building trades. In my opinion it is doing both the Home Inspector and the contractor a disservice.

A good example of this is UL Standard 67 that keeps reappearing throughout this forum. If this standard had always been in effect and was enforceable do you think that from border to border and coast to coast the doubling of neutrals would have taken place? Do you really think that for decades that all the electricians and electrical inspectors weren’t doing their jobs correctly?

I hope that I am always able to give my audience good helpful information that they can take out into the work place and apply but the one thing that they can’t take into the work day is standards that are not enforceable.
To make a statement that according to UL Standards this or that is not allowed then requires the person making that statement liable to substantiate that statement.
Being that none of these standards, by word of the code book itself, are mandatory parts of the Code how could they be quoted as a hazard?
How could a Home Inspector substantiate his remarks?

3

Mike:

Where did you see any reference related to any quoting of any standard, I asked for help identifying some of the equipment the inspector will see in dwellings and commercial buildings. I will remove the UL and numbers, but remember these terms are what the AHJ will use in order to approve any job.

Labeled. Equipment or materials to which has been attached a label, symbol, or other identifying mark of an organization that is acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction and concerned with product evaluation, that maintains periodic inspection of production of labeled equipment or materials, and by whose labeling the manufacturer indicates compliance with appropriate standards or performance in a specified manner.

Listed. Equipment, materials, or services included in a list published by an organization that is acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction and concerned with evaluation of products or services, that maintains periodic inspection of production of listed equipment or materials or periodic evaluation of services, and whose listing states that the equipment, material, or services either meets appropriate designated standards or has been tested and found suitable for a specified purpose.

I should give out the password, what password, you want me to lose my job? Besides, I don’t have any password, major companies pay for this service and use the standards that they need in order to investigate a product for a field label.

4

Joe

You finally hit the nail on the head.

When the manufacturer installs the label he is saying that the end product complies with these standards and when listed that a NTRL has confirmed that it also complies with that NTRL’s standards.

In the scope of the AHJ this could be any one from the installer up to and including the Supreme Court of this great nation. As referred to in the definition of Labeled the AHJ would be;
The phrase “authority having jurisdiction” is used in NFPA documents in a broad manner, since jurisdictions and approval agencies vary, as do their responsibilities. Where public safety is primary, the AHJ may be a federal, state, local, or other regional department or individual such as a fire chief; fire marshal; chief of a fire prevention bureau, labor department, or health department; building official; electrical inspector; or others having statutory authority. For insurance purposes, an insurance inspection department, rating bureau, or other insurance company representative may be the AHJ. In many circumstances, the property owner or his or her designated agent assumes the role of the AHJ; at government installations, the commanding officer or departmental official may be the AHJ.
Possibly the governmental body responsible for the adoption of the NEC.

Take a close look at 90 in the front of the NEC where it gives the layout of the code.

90.3 Code Arrangement.
This Code is divided into the introduction and nine chapters, as shown in Figure 90.3. Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 apply generally; Chapters 5, 6, and 7 apply to special occupancies, special equipment, or other special conditions. These latter chapters supplement or modify the general rules. Chapters 1 through 4 apply except as amended by Chapters 5, 6, and 7 for the particular conditions.
Chapter 8 covers communications systems and is not subject to the requirements of Chapters 1 through 7 except where the requirements are specifically referenced in Chapter 8.
Chapter 9 consists of tables.
**Annexes are not part of the requirements of this Code but are included for informational purposes only. **

Well Joe you ask all these fine folks what part of these standards they use but you didn’t give them access to the standards. How are they to know anything about the standard if they can’t access them?
For a fee one can obtain access to these standards via the internet with a User Name and a Password that can be obtained from UL or a hard copy can be purchased.

When my Honda Element was manufactured there was a requirement for the metal in the frame to meet a certain standard. When I bought my Honda Element I hired a mechanic to check that all the standards was followed and to call out any that didn’t
Now that sounds silly don’t you think?
The same is true about these standards that you keep posting for the Home Inspector to quote.

5

Mike:

I am sorry if I did not make it clear to you, I posted the standards to give the names and types of equipment.

I was not expecting the Home Inspector read each standard.

Look at the list and tell me which equipment we inspect, such as AFCI’s and GFCI’s. I hope this helps.

I will try to make my self clearer in the future.

What color is your car?