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Branch and Feeder Circuit Design

FREE ACCESS 2026 National Electrical Code

Branch circuits relevant to modular classroom buildings are primarily addressed in Article 120: Branch Circuits (formerly Article 210 in previous editions). This article covers requirements for branch-circuit sizing, overcurrent protection, outlets, and general installation rules for circuits up to 1000 volts AC or 1500 volts DC. Key sections include:120.19: Conductor sizing and derating.

120.20: Overcurrent protection.
120.21: Receptacle outlets and tamper-resistant requirements.
120.23: Specific rules for appliances and fixed equipment.

For outside branch circuits, see Article 267: Outside Branch Circuits and Feeders over 1000 Volts AC or 1500 Volts DC, Nominal (if applicable to higher voltages).Feeder Circuit RulesFeeder circuits are primarily addressed in Article 121: Feeders (formerly Article 215 in previous editions). This article details feeder conductor sizing, grounding, and disconnecting means for circuits supplying branch circuits or sub-feeders up to 1000 volts AC or 1500 volts DC.Key sections include:121.2: Minimum rating and sizing.

121.3: Overcurrent protection.
121.4: Feeders as branch circuits (when applicable).

Outside feeders are covered in Article 267: Outside Branch Circuits and Feeders over 1000 Volts AC or 1500 Volts DC, Nominal (for higher voltages) or cross-referenced in Article 267 for general outside installations.

For modular school buildings detached from the main building with pre-installed single or three phase wiring systems, designers must choose between a separate service drop from a merchant utility or tapping into an existing source from the nearby school building.

Compact Muon Solenoid / European Organization for Nuclear Research

Modular classroom buildings, often prefabricated and portable, require special attention in electrical power design to ensure safety, compliance, and functionality. The 2026 National Electrical Code (NEC) emphasizes proper sizing of branch circuits (Article 120) and feeders (Article 121) based on load calculations (Article 122), accounting for lighting, HVAC, and technology demands. Designers must consider temporary or relocatable installations, ensuring grounding and bonding comply with Article 250 for safety. Flexible wiring methods, like cord-and-plug connections, may be needed for portability, per Article 400. Modular units often face environmental challenges, requiring weather-resistant materials and equipment (Article 110). Surge protection (Article 285) is critical to safeguard sensitive classroom electronics. Accessibility for maintenance and inspections, per Article 110.26, is vital due to compact designs. Finally, compliance with local codes and coordination with utility connections ensure reliable power delivery for educational environments.

We have tried for several cycles to change the “Type of Occupancy” listing in NEC Table 220.12 to reflect more granular definition for School/university and Sports arena lighting load calculations. We will have another chance in the 2026 NEC. [Public input is due September 10th]

~~Public Input Closing Date: September 7, 2023~~

4 February 2021

Let’s start marking up the 2023 National Electrical Code, shall we? We will collaborate with IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee 18 — the committee that follows NFPA electrical safety consensus products and coordinates the response of IEEE electrical power professionals.

A good place to start is with the transcripts of the 2020 revision — AVAILABLE HERE for free. We look for proposals that failed for one reason or another; holding fast to our hunch that changes to the ampere load requirements that appear in the prescriptive statements to designers and inspectors of Chapter 2 could changed. The 2020 transcripts of Code-Making Panel 4 are linked below:

Code‐Making Panel 2 Public Input Report (991 Pages)

Code-Making Panel 2 Public Comment Report (402 Pages)

We have been trying for several NEC revision cycles to change the “Type of Occupancy” tabulations of Table 220.12 to reflect more granular definition in the Volt/Ampere requirement of 33 VA/m2 (3 VA/ft2) for School/university and Sports arena. Some of the problem in Table 220.12 regarding electrical loads in education facilities lies in its foundation built upon the International Building Code; the remainder of the problem lies with the education facility industry itself; described in detail in our ABOUT.

The good news is that the NFPA Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF) recognizes the problem and is acting on it; described in previous posts and in its project portfolio. Keep in mind that Standards Michigan, the original voice of the user-interest for education facility industry in the global standards system, has to compete with other, competitor stakeholders who make their market in this and in other consensus products accredited by the American National Standards Institute.

~~Public input for the 2023 National Electrical Code is due September 10th.~~ We will collaborate with the FPRF and the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee, and others, to get informed public input to Code-Making Panel 2 and the NEC Technical Correlating Committee. See our CALENDAR for our next Electrical & Telecommunication teleconference, open to everyone.

Issue: [19-201]

Category: Electrical

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Scott Gibb, Jim Harvey, Kane Howard, Paul Kempf, Philip Ling, Jose Meijer

LEARN MORE:

IEEE Industrial Applications Society: The safety and economic benefit of reduced power design densities permitted in the 2014 National Electrical Code (Anthony, Ling, Meijer)

Fire Protection Research Institute | Evaluation of Electrical Feeder and Branch Circuit Loading

Originally posted October 16, 2016

University of Michigan Law School

With thanks to Richard Robben, President of True North Facility Management, the pledges to fund the NFPA Fire Protection Foundation Project: Evaluation of Electrical Feeder and Branch Circuit Loading accumulated to the requisite $24,000 to begin Phase I of two phases of a project originally begun by the University of Michigan to bring the National Electrical Code (NFPA 70) in line with federal energy conservation regulations that incorporate by reference the International Energy Conservation Code.

NFPA 70 is one of the most widely used standards for electrotechnology in the world. The University of Michigan began assertive advocacy on behalf of the US education industry in the NFPA suite in 1996 and that advocacy has expanded globally under two different private organizations: See About

Phase I is now completed. The Phase I Final Report (with public comments) is available in the links below:

REPORT – Branch Circuit Loading Phase1 FINAL

SUMM – Panel Comments – Branch Circuit Loading FINAL2

In October, the project Principal Researcher, Tammy Gammon, provided an update to the NFPA Research Foundation. Her slides are available in the link below:

NFPA Fire Protection Research Institute | Feeder & Branch Circuit Loading Evaluation | Phase I Update

We wish to thank our colleagues at Notre Dame who helped “get the ball rolling”, our colleagues in the Big Ten & Friends consortia, and forward-thinking manufacturers for their pledges:

Eaton Corporation

MIAPPA | Michigan Association of Physical Plant Administrators

Michigan State University

Ohio State University

University of Iowa

University of Minnesota

University of Nebraska

University of Texas Austin

Issue [13-33]

Contact: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Richard Robben (True North, LLC); Tom Harman (University of Houston Clearwater), Kane Howard (Michigan State University), Paul Kempf (Notre Dame)

Colleagues: Robert G. Arno (Harris Corp), Joe Weber (Emerson), Casey Grant (NFPA), Larry Ayers (Independent Electrical Contractors Association)

Category: Electrical, Energy Conservation

Stationary Energy Storage Systems

Should every campus building generate its own power? Sustainability workgroups are vulnerable to speculative hype about net-zero buildings and microgrids. We remind sustainability trendsniffers that the central feature of a distributed energy resource–the eyesore known as the university steam plant–delivers most of the economic benefit of a microgrid. [Comments on Second Draft due April 29th] #StandardsMassachusetts

“M. van Marum. Tweede vervolg der proefneemingen gedaan met Teyler’s electrizeer-machine, 1795” | An early energy storage device | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries

We have been following the developmental trajectory of a new NFPA regulatory product — NFPA 855 Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems — a document with ambitions to formalize the fire safety landscape of the central feature of campus microgrids by setting criteria for minimizing the hazards associated with energy storage systems.

The fire safety of electric vehicles and the companion storage units for solar and wind power systems has been elevated in recent years with incidents with high public visibility. The education industry needs to contribute ideas and data to what we call the emergent #SmartCampus;an electrotechnical transformation — both as a provider of new knowledge and as a user of the new knowledge.

Transcripts of technical deliberation are linked below:

2026 Public Input Report (705 pages) § 2026 Second Draft Meeting Agenda (912 pages)

~~Comment on the 2026 revision received by March 27, 2025 will be heard at the NFPA June 2025 Expo through NFPA’s NITMAM process.~~

University of Michigan | Average daily electrical load across all Ann Arbor campuses is on the order of 100 megawatts

A fair question to ask: “How is NFPA 855 going to establish the standard of care any better than the standard of care discovered and promulgated in the NFPA 70-series and the often-paired documents NFPA 110 and NFPA 111?” (As you read the transcript of the proceedings you can see the committee tip-toeing around prospective overlaps and conflicts; never a first choice).

Suffice to say, the NFPA Standards Council has due process requirements for new committee projects and, obviously, that criteria has been met. Market demand presents an opportunity to assemble a new committee with fresh, with new voices funded by a fresh set of stakeholders who, because they are more accustomed to advocacy in open-source and consortia standards development platforms, might have not been involved in the more rigorous standards development processes of ANSI accredited standards developing organizations — specifically the NFPA, whose members are usually found at the top of organization charts in state and local jurisdictions. For example we find UBER — the ride sharing company — on the technical committee. We find another voice from Tesla Motors. These companies are centered in an industry that does not have the tradition of leading practice discovery and promulgation that the building industry has had for the better part of two hundred years.

Our interest in this standard lies on both sides of the education industry — i.e. the academic research side and the business side. For all practical purposes, the most credible, multi-dimensional and effective voice for lowering #TotalCostofOwnership for the emergent smart campus is found in the tenure of Standards Michigan and its collaboration with IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee (E&H). You may join us sorting through the technical, economic and legal particulars and day at 11 AM Eastern time. The IEEE E&H Committee meets online every other Tuesday in European and American time zones; the next meeting on March 26th. All meetings are open to the public.

University of California San Diego Microgrid

You are encouraged to communicate directly with Brian O’Connor, the NFPA Staff Liaison for specific questions. We have some of the answers but Brian is likely to have all of them. CLICK HERE for the NFPA Directory. Additionally, NFPA will be hosting its Annual Conference & Expo, June 17-20 in San Antonio, Texas; usually an auspicious time for meeting NFPA staff working on this, and other projects.

The prospect of installing of energy storage technologies at every campus building — or groups of buildings, or in regions — is clearly transformational if the education facilities industry somehow manages to find a way to drive the cost of operating and maintaining many energy storage technologies lower than the cost of operating and maintaining a single campus distributed energy resource. The education facility industry will have to train a new cadre of microgrid technology specialists who must be comfortable working at ampere and voltage ranges on both sides of the decimal point that separates power engineers from control engineers. And, of course, dynamic utility pricing (set by state regulatory agencies) will continue to be the most significant independent control variable.

Finding a way to make all this hang together is the legitimate work of the academic research side of the university. We find that sustainability workgroups (and elected governing bodies) in the education industry are vulnerable to out-sized claims about microgrids and distributed energy resources; both trendy terms of art for the electrotechnical transformation we call the emergent #SmartCampus.

We remind sustainability trendsniffers that the central feature of a distributed energy resource — the eyesore known as the university steam plant — bears most of the characteristics of a microgrid. In the videoclip linked below a respected voice from Ohio State University provides enlightenment on this point; even as he contributes to the discovery stream with a study unit.

Ohio State University McCracken Power Plant

Issue: [16-131]

Category: District Energy, Electrical, Energy, Facility Asset Management, Fire Safety, Risk Management, #SmartCampus, US Department of Energy

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Bill Cantor (wcantor@ieee.org). Mahesh Illindala

Standards Massachusetts, Standards Texas, Standards Ohio

*It is noteworthy that (NFPA 70) National Electrical Code-Making Panel 1 has appropriated vehicle-to-grid installations into its scope.

Princeton University Power Plant | Click on image

LEARN MORE:

Related Post: Electrical Safety Research Advisory Committee

Bibiography: Campus Microgrids

Higher Education Facilities Conference: The Rise of University Microgrids

Here's an interesting shift – #utilities are starting to invest in big #batteries rather than building new #power plants. Find out why over at @GreenBiz: https://t.co/m0DYK9qAae #energy #EnergyStorage

— IEEE Power & Energy Society (@ieee_pes) February 28, 2019

Mahesh Illindala enlightens understanding of what microgrid is, and is not:

Check out our top story from February 2018 – Making the right battery storage choice for solar panel installations https://t.co/1xyTnd17TF pic.twitter.com/sXJNX0kSfr

— IEC (@IECStandards) January 2, 2019

Marina & Boatyard Electrical Safety

Rowing at the 2024 Summer Olympics

“The Biglin Brothers Racing| Thomas Eakins (1872)

Rowing competition in the 2024 Olympics inspires a revisit of NFPA 303: Fire Protection Standard for Marinas and Boatyards. Apart from athletic competition, many colleges, universities and trade schools with academic programs are responsible for safety of facilities located on fresh and saltwater shorelines. Other nations refer to best practice discovered and applied in the United States. Keep in mind that, unlike other nations, the standard of care for electrical safety in the United States is driven primarily by the fire safety community. This happens because public safety leadership falls upon the local Fire Marshall who has a budget that is widely understand and generally supported.

From the NFPA 303 scope statement:

This standard applies to the construction and operation of marinas, boatyards, yacht clubs, boat condominiums, docking facilities associated with residential condominiums, multiple-docking facilities at multiple-family residences, and all associated piers, docks, and floats.

This standard also applies to support facilities and structures used for construction, repair, storage, hauling and launching, or fueling of vessels if fire on a pier would pose an immediate threat to these facilities, or if a fire at a referenced facility would pose an immediate threat to a docking facility.

This standard applies to marinas and facilities servicing small recreational and commercial craft, yachts, and other craft of not more than 300 gross tons.

This standard is not intended to apply to a private, noncommercial docking facility constructed or occupied for the use of the owners or residents of the associated single-family dwelling.

No requirement in this standard is to be construed as reducing applicable building, fire, and electrical codes.

The standard of care for facilities owned by educational institutions is not appreciably different from the standard of care for any other Owner except some consideration should be given to the age and training of most of the occupants — students, of course — who are a generally transient population. Some research projects undertaken on university-owned facilities are also subject to the local adaptions of NFPA 303. The current version of NFPA 303 is linked below:

FREE ACCESS: NFPA 303

Boathouse Row / Philadelphia

The 2021 Edition is the current edition and the next edition will be the 2025 revision. Click on the link below to read what new ideas were running through the current edition; mostly electrical that are intended to correlate with National Electrical Code Article 555 and recent electrical safety research*:

Landing Page for the 2028 Edition

~~NFPA 303 Public Input Report for the 2021 Edition~~

~~Public input closing date for the 2025 Edition is June 1, 2023.~~

You may submit comment directly to NFPA on this and/or any other NFPA consensus product by CLICKING HERE. You will need to set up a (free) account. NFPA 303 document is also on the standing agenda of our 4 times monthly collaboration with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee. See our CALENDAR for the next online colloquium; open to everyone.

Michigan Technological University

Issue: [16-133]

Category: Electrical, #SmartCampus, Facility Asset Management

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey

LEARN MORE:

* Marina Risk Reduction

NFPA 70 National Electrical Code (Article 555)

Examining the Risk of Electric Shock Drowning (ESD) As a Function of Water Conductivity

Critical Operations Power Systems

Disaster 500

The original University of Michigan codes and standards enterprise advocated actively in Article 708 Critical Operations Power Systems (COPS) of the National Electrical Code (NEC) because of the elevated likelihood that the education facility industry managed assets that were likely candidates for designation critical operations areas by emergency management authorities.

Because the NEC is incorporated by reference into most state and local electrical safety laws, it saw the possibility that some colleges and universities — particularly large research universities with independent power plants, telecommunications systems and large hospitals — would be on the receiving end of an unfunded mandate. Many education facilities are identified by the Federal Emergency Management Association as community storm shelters, for example.

As managers of publicly owned assets, University of Michigan Plant Operations had no objection to rising to the challenge of using publicly owned education facilities for emergency preparedness and disaster recovery operations; only that meeting the power system reliability requirements to the emergency management command centers would likely cost more than anyone imagined — especially at the University Hospital and the Public Safety Department facilities. Budgets would have to be prepared to make critical operations power systems (COPS) resistant to fire and flood damages; for example.

Collaboration with the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Industrial Applications Society began shortly after the release of the 2007 NEC. Engineering studies were undertaken, papers were published (see links below) and the inspiration for the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee developed to provide a gathering place for power, telecommunication and energy professionals to discover and promulgate leading practice. That committee is now formally a part of IEEE and collaborates with IAS/PES JTCC assigned the task of harmonizing NFPA and IEEE electrical safety and sustainability consensus documents (codes, standards, guidelines and recommended practices.

Transcripts of 2026 Revision:

Public Input Report CMP-13

Public Comment Report CMP-13

https://t.co/chd9RJVc7G
print(“Disaster”) pic.twitter.com/Lu6Dw3bARq

— Standards Michigan (@StandardsMich) November 15, 2021

The transcript of NEC Code Making Panel 13 — the committee that revises COPS Article 708 every three years — is linked below:

NEC CMP-13 First Draft Balloting

NEC CMP-13 Second Draft Balloting

The 2023 Edition of the National Electrical Code does not contain revisions that affect #TotalCostofOwnership — only refinement of wiring installation practices when COPS are built integral to an existing building that will likely raise cost. There are several dissenting comments to this effect and they all dissent because of cost. Familiar battles over overcurrent coordination persist.

Our papers and proposals regarding Article 708 track a concern for power system reliability — and the lack of power — as an inherent safety hazard. These proposals are routinely rejected by incumbent stakeholders on NEC technical panels who do not agree that lack of power is a safety hazard. Even if lack of power is not a safety hazard, reliability requirements do not belong in an electrical wiring installation code developed largely by electricians and fire safety inspectors. The IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee (IEEE E&H) maintains a database on campus power outages; similar to the database used by the IEEE 1366 committees that develop reliability indices to enlighten public utility reliability regulations.

Public input on the 2026 revision to the NEC will be received until September 7th. We have reserved a workspace for our priorities in the link below:

2026 National Electrical Code Workspace

Colleagues: Robert Arno, Neal Dowling, Jim Harvey

LEARN MORE:

IEEE | Critical Operations Power Systems: Improving Risk Assessment in Emergency Facilities with Reliability Engineering

Consuting-Specifying Engineer | Risk Assessments for Critical Operations Power Systems

Electrical Construction & Maintenance | Critical Operations Power Systems

International City County Management Association | Critical Operations Power Systems: Success of the Imagination

Facilities Manager | Critical Operations Power Systems: The Generator in Your Backyard

Electric Vehicle Power Transfer System

Updated July 15, 2025

2026 National Electrical Code Table of Contents

2026 NEC First Draft: How Did We Get Here?

2026 National Electrical Code

Public Input Transcript: First Draft | Public Comment Transcript: Second Draft

2023 National Electrical Code | Current Issues and Recent Research

2026 National Electrical Code Workspace

~~August 5, 2021~~

The 2020 National Electrical Code (NEC) contains significant revisions to Article 625 Electric Vehicle Power Transfer Systems. Free access to this information is linked below:

2023 National Electrical Code

2020 National Electrical Code

You will need to set up a (free) account to view Article 625 or you may join our colloquium today.

Public input for the 2023 Edition of the NEC has already been received. The work of the assigned committee — Code Making Panel 12 — is linked below:

NFPA 70_A2022_NEC_P12_FD_PIReport_rev

Mighty spirited debate. Wireless charging from in-ground facilities employing magnetic resonance are noteworthy. Other Relevant Articles:

Article 240: Overcurrent Protection: This article includes requirements for overcurrent protection devices that could be relevant for EV charging systems.
Article 210: Branch Circuits: General requirements for branch circuits, which can include circuits dedicated to EVSE.
Article 220: Load Calculations: Guidelines for calculating the electrical load for EVSE installations.
Article 230: Services: General requirements for electrical service installations, which can be relevant for EVSE.
Article 250: Grounding and Bonding: Requirements for grounding and bonding, which are critical for safety in EVSE installations.

Technical committees meet November – January to respond. In the intervening time it is helpful break down the ideas that were in play last cycle. The links below provide the access point:

Public Input Report Panel 12

Public Comment Report Panel 12

Panel 12 Final Ballot

We find a fair amount of administrative and harmonization action; fairly common in any revision cycle. We have taken an interest in a few specific concepts that track in academic research construction industry literature:

Correlation with Underwriters Laboratory product standards
Bi-Directional Charging & Demand Response
Connection to interactive power sources

As a wiring safety installation code — with a large installer and inspection constituency — the NEC is usually the starting point for designing the power chain to electric vehicles. There is close coupling between the NEC and product conformance organizations identified by NIST as Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories; the subject of a separate post.

Edison electric vehicle | National Park Service, US Department of the Interior

~~After the First Draft is released June 28th public comment is receivable until August 19th.~~

We typically do not duplicate the work of the 10’s of thousands of National Electrical Code instructors who will be fanning out across the nation to host training sessions for electrical professionals whose license requires mandatory continuing education. That space has been a crowded space for decades. Instead we co-host “transcript reading” sessions with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee to sort through specifics of the 2020 NEC and to develop some of the ideas that ran through 2020 proposals but did not make it to final ballot and which we are likely to see on the docket of the 2023 NEC revision. That committee meets online 4 times monthly. We also include Article 625 on the standing agenda of our Mobility colloquium; open to everyone. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting

Issue: [16-102]

Category: Electrical, Transportation & Parking, Energy

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey

Workspace / NFPA

More

U.S. NATIONAL ELECTRIC VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS SUMMIT | DETROIT, MICHIGAN 2010

Gallery: Electric Vehicle Fire Risk

Solarvoltaic PV Systems

“Icarus” Joos de Momper

National Electrical Code Articles 690 and 691 provide electrical installation requirements for Owner solarvoltaic PV systems that fall under local electrical safety regulations. Access to the 2023 Edition is linked below;

2023 National Electrical Code

2026 National Electrical Code Second Draft Transcript | CMP-4

Insight into the technical problems managed in the 2023 edition can be seen in the developmental transcripts linked below:

Panel 4 Public Input Report (869 pages)

Panel 4 Second Draft Comment Report (199 pages)

The IEEE Joint IAS/PES (Industrial Applications Society & Power and Energy Society) has one vote on this 21-member committee; the only pure “User-Interest” we describe in our ABOUT. All other voting representatives on this committee represent market incumbents or are proxies for market incumbents; also described in our ABOUT.

The 2026 National Electrical Code has entered its revision cycle. Public input is due September 7th.

We maintain these articles, and all other articles related to “renewable” energy, on the standing agenda of our Power and Solar colloquia which anyone may join with the login credentials at the upper right of our home page. We work close coupled with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee which meets 4 times monthly in American and European time zones; also open to everyone.

Code for Fireworks Display

“Fireworks over Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome” | Jacob Philipp Hackert (1775)

At least twice a year, and during performances with flame effects, public safety departments in colleges and universities have an elevated concern about campus citizen safety, and the safety of the host community, when fireworks are used for celebration. We find very rigorous prohibitions against the use of fireworks, weapons and explosives on campus. Education and enforcement usually falls on facility and operation campus safety units.

That much said, we follow development, but do not advocate in NFPA 1123 Code for Fireworks Display, because it lies among a grouping of titles that set the standard of care for many college and university public safety departments that sometimes need to craft prohibitions with consideration for the business purposes of entertainment and celebration in education facilities. NFPA 1123 is not a long document — only 22 pages of core text — but it contains a few basic considerations for display site selection, clearances and permitting that campus public safety departments will coordinate with the host community. It references NFPA 1126, Standard for the Use of Pyrotechnics Before a Proximate Audience and NFPA 160 Standard for the Use of Flame Effects Before an Audience.

Something to keep an eye on. The home page for this code is linked below:

NFPA 1123 Code for Fireworks Display

For a sense of the technical discussions, transcripts of two developmental stages are linked below:

Public Input Report

Public Comment Report

Public comment on 2026 Edition proposed revisions is receivable until May 30, 2024.

We maintain this title on our periodic Prometheus colloquium. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting.

Issue: [16-134]

Category: Public Safety

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben

More

Readings / PYROTECHNIC ARTS & SCIENCES IN EUROPEAN HISTORY

The Chemistry of Fireworks

Voice Communications Devices for Use by Emergency Services

The frequency differences between public safety radio and public broadcasting radio are mainly due to their distinct purposes and requirements.

Public safety radio operates on VHF and UHF bands for emergency services communication These radio systems are designed for robustness, reliability, and coverage over a specific geographic area. They prioritize clarity and reliability of communication over long distances and in challenging environments. Encryption may also be employed for secure communication.
Public broadcasting radio operates on FM and AM bands for disseminating news, entertainment, and cultural content to the general public. These radio stations focus on providing a wide range of content, including news, talk shows, music, and cultural programming. They often cover broad geographic areas and aim for high-quality audio transmission for listener enjoyment. Unlike public safety radio, public broadcasting radio stations typically do not require encryption and prioritize accessibility to the general public.

Standard on Fire and Emergency Service Use of Thermal Imagers, Two-Way Portable RF Voice Communication Devices, Ground Ladders, and Fire Hose, and Fire Hose Appliances

NFPA 1930 is in a custom cycle due to the Emergency Response and Responder Safety Document Consolidation Plan (consolidation plan) as approved by the NFPA Standards Council. As part of the consolidation plan, NFPA 1930 is combining Standards NFPA 1801, NFPA 1802, NFPA 1932, NFPA 1937, and NFPA 1962.

Firefighter radio communication faces several special technical challenges due to the nature of the environment they operate in and the criticality of their tasks. Here are some of the key challenges:

Interference and Signal Degradation: Buildings, debris, and firefighting equipment can obstruct radio signals, leading to interference and degradation of communication quality.
Multipath Propagation: Radio signals can bounce off surfaces within buildings, causing multipath propagation, which results in signal fading and distortion.
Limited Bandwidth: Firefighter radio systems often operate on limited bandwidths, which can restrict the amount of data that can be transmitted simultaneously, impacting the clarity and reliability of communication.
Noise: The high noise levels present in firefighting environments, including sirens, machinery, and fire itself, can interfere with radio communication, making it difficult for firefighters to hear and understand each other.
Line-of-Sight Limitations: Radio signals typically require a clear line of sight between the transmitter and receiver. However, in complex urban environments or within buildings, obstructions such as walls and floors can obstruct the line of sight, affecting signal strength and reliability.
Equipment Durability: Firefighter radio equipment needs to withstand harsh environmental conditions, including high temperatures, smoke, water, and physical impacts. Ensuring the durability and reliability of equipment in such conditions is a significant challenge.
Battery Life: Prolonged operations in emergency situations can drain radio batteries quickly. Firefighters need reliable battery life to ensure continuous communication throughout their mission.
Interoperability: Different emergency response agencies may use different radio systems and frequencies, leading to interoperability issues. Ensuring seamless communication between various agencies involved in firefighting operations is crucial for effective coordination and response.
Priority Access: During large-scale emergencies, such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks, communication networks may become congested, limiting access for emergency responders. Firefighters need priority access to communication networks to ensure they can effectively coordinate their efforts.
Training and Familiarity: Operating radio equipment effectively under stress requires training and familiarity. Firefighters must be trained to use radio equipment efficiently and effectively, even in challenging conditions, to ensure clear and concise communication during emergencies.

National Institute of Standards & Technology

Testing of Portable Radios in a Fire Fighting Environment

Information & Communication Technology Cabling

Balloting on the first stage of development of the 2023 National Electrical Code is underway now and will be completed by March 26th. We collaborate with several experts in the IEEE who are the leading voices in standards setting for ICT infrastructure present in education communities. The issues are many and complex and fast-moving. We provide transcripts and a sample of the issues that will determine the substance of the 2023 Edition.

Code Making Panel No. 3 Public Input Report

A sample of concepts in play:

Temperature limitations of Class 2 and Class 3 Cables

Fire resistive cabling systems

Multi-voltage (single junction, entry, pathway or connection) signaling control relay equipment

Listing of audio/video power-limited circuits

Code Making Panel No. 16 Public Input Report

A sample of concepts in play:

Definition of “Communication Utility”

Mechanical execution of work

Listed/Unlisted cables entering buildings

Underground communication cabling coordination with the National Electrical Safety Code

Public comment on the First Draft of the 2026 revision will be received until August 24, 2024. We collaborate with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee which hosts open colloquia 4 times monthly in European and American time zones. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.