About The National Electrical Code (NEC)

These can be some confusing questions, even for those that are well versed in Electrical History.

Since the start of electrical history, Insurance Companies recognized the danger of electrical related fires and began to write electrical rules to be followed. The first documented case of a code as a 'requirement' of rules was first adopted on October 19th 1881, then published November 16th 1881 entitled "The Dangers of Electric Lighting" put out by the New York Board of Fire Underwriters. These rules were released in Pamphlet form in November at their November 16th meeting. The code started with five rules and grew from there as time progressed.

As the idea of electrical codes and rules caught on, Cities, Insurance Companies, and other authorities also published their own codes.

Fire Damage Records In Dollars From 1884 To 1896.

One of the largest problems with early Electrical Code was that there were too many different codes written by different sources.

Also, these codes quickly became out dated, as new types of electrical products came out.
Keeping up with codes became even increasingly harder, as we began to progress and move closer to the 20th Century. The mass increase of books and electrical trade schools, brought more people into the electrical profession. Large companies started to flourish and new electrical inventions flooded the U.S. Patent Office.

If you were to search, you would find many different electrical codes prior to the National Electrical Code (NEC) which started being used as our standard in 1897.

Only some of the companies that published electrical codes are listed below to give you the basic idea:

The National Board of Fire Underwriters; American Institute of Mining Engineers; Underwriters� National Electric Association; American Institute of Architects; American Society of Mechanical Engineers; American Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers; Western Union Telegraph Company; American Bell Telephone Company; American Street Railway Association; American Institute of Electrical Engineers; Bureau of Electricity, Pittsburgh; Factory Mutual Fire Insurance Companies; American Society of Civil Engineers; National Master Builders Association; National Association Fire Engineers; Postal Telegraph Company; New England Insurance Exchange; National Electric Light Association; etc.

You can now imagine the confusion that was taking place with so many different codes to choose from.
Not only did many of the codes differ one from another, but the quality of these codes differed too.
There was not enough qualified experience by those that wrote most codes in all of the different electrical products and professions, which was also endlessly increasing. This lack of knowledge and experience caused lines and even entire sections of one issued code, to be copied or adopted into other codes. Many city codes were simply mix mashes of several codes put together.

Another problem that existed was that insurance companies all adopted their own codes. Most of these were all mix mashes as well. In New York City alone (in 1895) there were over 50 different insurance companies out of which only about half of them had formed an insurance inspection association of their own. With so many different differing codes, electrical and mechanical engineers found it hard because one inspector would allow a job to be done one way, while another would not. Many times work needed to be redone (costing multiple thousands) over minor points that were of no real concern. It was simply that one inspector would allow it and another would not. In some cases it even came down to how the code was interpreted by one group of inspectors as opposed to another group.

If we were going to be safely carried into the next century, everyone needed to organize and group together.

One code for everyone, developed by a group well experienced in all of the aspects that needed to be taken into consideration.

These to name a few: Fire prevention, manufacturing, inventors, architects, electrical and mechanical engineers, street and railway, electrical lighting associations as well as underwriters and others that would benefit from a national code.

In the beginning a large portion opposed its aims and purposes.
Their fear was that the fire underwriters of the country would be more powerful then the municipal, state, or even the United States, governments; that any law, edict or rule issued by them, whether right or wrong, could be enforced and must be obeyed. Still others (in these early days) simply had a prejudice against electricity. (natural gas was still being used for most lighting - even into the early 1900's)

Also, the common practice around this time was for fire underwriters to not receive any suggestions from the electric companies. They made their own rules, and they were like the laws of the Medes and Persians, unalterable.

When this National Code attempt did not come to a close, a new committee was formed (in 1894) by the National Electric Light Association. This committee began to plan what would be needed to bring a National Code to pass.

The Chairman of this committee was William J. Hammer and the committee first named "Standard Rules for Electrical Construction and Operation".

In April 1895 Hammer announced that (at the American Institute Of Electrical Engineers meeting April 17th 1895) that their committee (from the National Electric Light Association) will soon extend them an invitation.
(more on this history see these pages only pages 181 to 226 or see the entire conference)

On March 18th and 19th of 1896 a joint conference was held.

This was called the National Conference on Standard Electrical Rules.

J O I N T C O N F E R E N C E

Of Electrical, Insurance and Allied Interests, looking toward the Adoption,

Promulgation and Enforcement of a National Code of Rules for Electrical

Construction and Operation,

Held at the Headquarters of the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers,
12 West 31st Street, New York City,
March 18 � 19, 1896.

At this meeting a committee of five members were appointed which was called the "Committee on Standard Electrical Rules".

Attendants: Francis B. Crocker, American Society of Electrical Engineers; Frank R. Ford, American Street Railway Association; William H. Merrill, National Board of Fire Underwriters; Francis W. Jones, Postal Telegraph Company; A. S. Brown, Western Union Telegraph Company; Alfred Stone, American Institute of Architects; William Brophy, International Association Fire Engineers; C. J. H. Woodbury, American Bell Telephone Company; S. D. Greene and H. C. Wirt, General Electric Company; Charles F. Scott, Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company; E. A. Fitzgerald, Underwriters� National Electric Association; William J. Hammer, National Electric Light Association; William Brophy, National Electric Light Association; Harrison J. Smith, National Electric Light Association; James I. Ayer, National Electric Light Association; C. H. Wilmerding, National Electric Light Association; William McDevitt, Board of Fire Underwriters, Philadelphia; Morris W. Mead, Bureau of Electricity, Pittsburgh; E. V. French, Factory Mutual Insurance Company, Boston; A. E. Kennelly; W. J. Jenks; E. H. Johnson.
Minutes of the First Meeting of the National Conference On Standard Electrical Rules March 18, 19, 1896 Entire Meeting
AFTER THE FIRST CONFERENCE
The first to adopt the National Electrical Code was The National Electric Light Association. The National Electric Light Association was first organized in 1885 with the help of Franklin S. Terry who was the founder and owner of the Sunbeam Incandescent Lamp Company (later named a vice president of General Electric) For more on Terry see http://antiquesockets.com/c.html#Cutler You can read the entire minutes of the meeting for the National Electric Light Association HERE (see page 98 for the report on electrical rules) or only the NEC part of the report HERE.
American Institute of Electrical Engineers was organized in 1884 and incorporated in 1896.
Note Worthy Presidents Were: Dr. Norvin Green 1884-1886, Franklyn Pope 1886-1887 Edward Weston 1888-1889 Prof. Elihu Thomson 1889-1890 Alex. Grahm Bell 1891-1892 Dr. Edwin J. Houston 1893-1895 Dr. Francis B. Crocker 1897-1898 The current president Dr. Francis B. Crocker (shown to your right)
You can read the entire minutes of the all meetings for the American Institute of Electrical Engineers HERE (see the links below Adoption, Entire meeting on code and The code for only the small sections alone dealing only with the nec sections of the meeting).

The first revision to the National Electrical Code was in 1899 and called the "Edition of 1899" "SUPPLEMENT"

About the same time, a new committee was also formed called the "Committee on Standardization".
This new committee was to work towards the standardization of electrical manufacturing. The first step taken on standardization was on January 26th 1898 and was for the standardization of generators, motors and transformers which you can read about in the institute transactions Vol. XV, pages 3-32. Their first report was printed on June 26th 1899. (Institute transactions Vol. XVI pages 255-268). The committee held monthly meetings and carried on extensive correspondence with manufacturers, consulting and operating engineers as well as other interested parties. As changes and developments increased in the electrical industry, the original code needed to be updated and revised. Like the National Electrical Code, the Standardization Rules also continued to be revised.

New revised Standardization Rules were issued as shown below:

June 20th 1902 (transactions Vol. XIX pages 1075-1092)
June 21st 1907 (annual convention June 24-27 1907)
June 27th 1911 (annual convention June 27 1911)

July 1st 1915 (June 30th 1915 meeting)
June 28th 1916 A number of changes deletions and additions were made (May 15-16 meeting)

At this point I will stop with the history and close with the point that it was the National Electrical Code - Rules & Requirements, as well as these great men in history that has helped to bring us into the electrical world that we now live in.