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 MECA NEWS

A monthly newsletter brought to you by the Massachusetts Electrical Contractors Association, Inc.
                                        
In This Month's Issue:
                                                            
Legislative Updates                Member Toolbox
Informative Articles                 Upcoming Events
Recalls
                                           
Legislation
Board of State of Examiners of Electricians

Public meeting
June 25, 2018 

 
A review of agenda topics and discussion are as follows; Text in blue is additional information from and pertaining to the MECA office.

Ada Alfonso reviewed specific items pertaining to E-Licensing.  First, the E-Licensing – Electrical unit is 100% paperless as of June 1, 2018.  MECA is working with the DPL to arrange a day for Electricians to meet at a convenient location for the opportunity to link their license. (Account set-up).  We will be sending details out shortly.  

The BSEE staff is collecting email addresses from all license holders to populate them into the system.  The main means of contact from the state will be email.  The MECA office is assisting with this to ensure that all our members receive all correspondence from that state.  You can easily email the office with your full name as it is stated on your license, license number(s) and your preferred email address for contact from the state to beth@mecanews.com .  As we collect this information we will forward it to the state.

Starting September 2018 there will be email blasts from the BSEE to all license holders regarding (1) Reminder to link license(s) (2) Reminder to ensure that their CE certs have been uploaded by their providers, MECA has uploaded all certificates to the state for everyone that has completed a 15 hour class during this code cycle. (3) Reminder that renewal cycle starts March 1, 2019 (4) Reminders will be sent to renew license(s) (5) Email reminders for other important board information and notices.

Status review of the board approved corporate licenses and assigning more than one company to a master license. The website will link both businesses to the holder of the master license.  All systems will go into effect as of August 2018.  

The BSEE is updating a list of all Inspectors of Wire in the commonwealth and will populate the database with all municipal contact information. MECA members already have access to the inspectors list in the member portal area at www.mecanews.com.

IOW must submit all additional 6 hour continuing education certificates to the Board for renewal.
Board to develop better communication with IOW.  In September 2018 Ada Alfonso will meet with IAEI organizations and MEIA organizations to determine the best ways to bring them information from the Board.  They will be will working closely with Board Counsel to review CMR and MGL’s with inspectors.

Report from New Hampshire Board of Electricians as per Ada Alfonso
  • Test scores have been improving since board allowed for more time to take test.
  • HB 1327 - This bill establishes the number of apprentice electricians that may work for a Journeyman or master electrician – Signed by Governor. Click the bill number to the left for details.
  • HB 1254 – Establishing a committee to study the procedures for adoption of national codes by the state of New Hampshire,; establishing a moratorium on the adoption of changes to the state building code and state fire code; and repealing the joint legislative oversight committee on the emergency management system.
  • Request through PROV for allowing an interpreter for publishing a Spanish version of the exam. NH Board approved an interpreter for applicant during exam. All costs of interpreter to be incurred by candidate.  Interpreter to have no association or knowledge of electrical trade.
_____________________________________
  • Chief Inspector Sotirakopoulos report:
  • Fire Marshall reported counterfeit GFCI receptacles with UL label being installed country wide.  Consumers would not know that receptacle is faulty or not in working order.  Refer to the Article below containing details of the GFCI counterfeit receptacle.
  • Can Massachusetts residents with NH License reciprocate with Massachusetts? The answer is yes, unless it is on a reciprocate license from ME (or another state) or the person failed the exam.  
CMR Subcommittee Chair, James Colleary proposed extension of sunset hours
James Colleary, Wire Inspector Member proposed extending the education expiration from 6 years to 20 years to the board.  This is something that many people feel would make a large difference both for those wanting to get back into the trade as well as the industry itself.  The Board is to review the proposal prior to making a final decision and approval.  

Next scheduled public meeting will be held on July 23, 2018
 

Department of Licensure
1000 Washington St.
Room 1D
Boston, MA

 
Ada Alfonso, Executive Director, DPL
Email: ada.alfonso@state.ma.us
 
 
UL Warns of Counterfeit UL Marks on Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI) (Release 18PN-14)

The following is a notification from UL that the ground fault circuit interrupter, identified below, bears a counterfeit UL Mark for the United States and Canada. These GFCIs have not been evaluated by UL to the appropriate Standards for Safety and it is unknown if they comply with any safety requirements.

Although these counterfeit GFCIs are marked with model designation TGMT20 and have the UL label, the GFCIs were not manufactured by Zhejiang Trimone Co. Ltd.

Name of Product:
Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) Model TGMT20

Identification on the Product:
The product is marked with a counterfeit UL Listing Mark and the following:

E229322

LISTED
GROUND FAULT CIRCUIT
INTERRUPTER
ISSUE NO. XX-YYYYYY (where the X’s may be one or two letters and the Y’s are numbers)

Packaging;  Product;  Label on product:

Difference between the GFCI authorized to bear the UL Mark and the counterfeit GFCI:

Authorized GFCI – the words “INSTRUCTIONS” appear twice on the front of the GFCI.  The last “S” in both words line up.

Counterfeit GFCI – the last “S” in the words, “INSTRUCTIONS”, do not line up.

Known to be distributed by: Multiple ecommerce sites.

Staying Current
A look ahead at the 2020 edition of the NEC, which will consider emerging issues including Power over Ethernet, marina and dock safety to eliminate electric shock drowning, and more

BY ANGELO VERZONI

On average, more than one person a day dies in the United States as a result of a fire involving an electrical failure or malfunction. For a country that’s led the world in fire and electrical safety for well over a century—NFPA’s first National Electrical Code (NEC) was released in 1897, for example—this is a troubling statistic to consider.
According to Chris Dubay, NFPA’s vice president of codes and standards, a few things can be blamed. “First, we basically ignore electrical systems,” he told the crowd at the Independent Electrical Contractors Business Summit in Las Vegas in January. “We put them in and then we leave them alone. As the building stock ages, so do those systems … Maybe it’s time to consider some inspection and required remediation of electrical systems when property is changing hands.” Dubay also noted that most jurisdictions lag far behind in code adoption and that unqualified people are performing electrical work—additional reasons for the continued deaths and injures related to electrical failure or malfunction.
With a new NEC on the horizon for 2020 and a vision to become the go-to global resource on emerging electrical issues like Power over Ethernet and electric shock drowning, NFPA is determined to change this narrative in the coming years. Several speakers will deliver education sessions at the Conference & Expo that center on electrical safety and reflect this effort.



The future of the code

The NEC is adopted in some way in every state in the U.S. Nineteen states use the 2017 version, 20 use the 2014 version, and eight use earlier versions—only three states lack statewide adoption. Outside of the U.S., NEC adoption is growing fast. The code is one of NFPA’s most well-known and widely used documents, and for the 2020 edition, a number of proposed changes are in motion to keep the NEC on the cutting edge of electrical safety.

One proposal would update the way the code guides users through conducting load calculations, which measure the amount of energy a building uses and influence what kind of equipment is necessary for its electrical system. The NEC currently uses tables that are more than 50 years old to guide users through these calculations, which, by many accounts, leads to commercial and industrial properties having oversized electrical systems.

In theory, these oversized systems can result in longer-lasting arc flash events with longer fault clearing times, according to Derek Vigstol, electrical technical services lead at NFPA. “The longer it takes to clear, the longer an arc flash event could persist,” he said. “The equipment might even be oversized to the point where the arc never clears, and you have an event where it just keeps arcing. If we can adjust the load calculation so we have tighter electrical clearances, I personally think that puts us in a better situation.”

The change for 2020 would add new load calculation tables that account for jurisdictions’ increasing efforts to make buildings more energy efficient and modern electrical technologies like LED lighting, which demands far less power than the lighting systems that were widespread decades ago. The change would translate to equipment better suited to the property—in addition to improving safety, it could also mean significant savings for properties on purchasing and installation prices for electrical systems. NFPA’s own four-story office building in Massachusetts is a good example. “We’re saving a bundle on direct energy costs using the new calculation method,” Vigstol said.

Michael Johnston, executive director of standards and safety for the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and chair of the NEC correlating committee, likened the change to the publishing industry’s transition from paper to digital. The code won’t abandon the old calculation method, just as newspapers still print physical copies; it will simply add a new one. “This type of change creates a lot of relevancy for the NEC,” Johnston said. “It shows we’re progressive and proactive, and it makes the code a lot more adoptable for these jurisdictions that want to adopt modern energy codes.”

Another issue the 2020 NEC may address is horticultural lighting. As marijuana legalization sweeps the country, marijuana grow facilities are becoming an electrical safety concern for many enforcers. (NFPA Journal covered the fire hazards of the cannabis industry in its September/October 2016 cover story, “Growing Pains.”) There’s nothing especially unique happening electrically, but it’s an intense load. A 2016 article in The Guardian shed light on how energy intensive grow operations can be. In Boulder County, Colorado, for example, one 5,000-square-foot grow facility was found to be consuming about 29,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each month—by comparison, a nearby household in the county used less than 1,000 kilowatt hours, according to the article.

The NEC already includes information needed in dealing with such a large electrical load. Still, there’s a desire to have more guidance specific to these types of facilities, Johnston said. NECA discussed the idea of developing a recommended practice on installing and maintaining electrical systems for marijuana grow facilities, he said; faced with concerns over the future legality of the industry, however, NECA’s Codes and Standards Committee didn’t move forward. While he doesn’t envision language being added to the NEC that references marijuana grow facilities, Johnston thinks broader language on horticultural lighting could be added, with mention of marijuana grow facilities as an example.

To follow the progression of the 2020 NEC and provide input, visit the document information webpage.

Emerging electrical issues

While topics like marijuana grow lighting could make their first appearance in the NEC, other emerging issues have already made their way into the code as NFPA works to build additional resources for them.

Power over Ethernet (PoE) is a good example. Few topics have been as buzzed about in the electrical world in recent years as PoE, which uses communications cables to supply power in addition to transmitting data. The integration of data and power allows buildings to become “smart”—with a PoE system, for example, a building can tell which spaces are occupied, information that’s useful not only for saving money on electricity but also possibly lives in the event of an emergency.

PoE also includes potential hazards. Since the cables are often bundled, heat dissipation becomes a concern as more power is added to them. The NEC already includes limitations on how much power PoE cables can carry before they are subject to more stringent installation requirements than traditional communications cables. For the 2020 edition, Johnston said he sees the code “evolving a little bit more to manage the heat issue.”

At least one question of scope will also be addressed. Chapter 8 of the NEC has traditionally covered communications, provisions that were not subject to the power requirements of the earlier chapters, Johnston said. PoE changes this, however, and a proposal was put forward to eliminate that exemption. “There’s power in those cables now,” Johnston said. “There’s no longer just data. That’s a huge issue for the communications industry. They want to maintain the independence, but there are going to be rules in those other, earlier chapters in the NEC that can’t be ignored.”

Additionally, in October, NFPA’s research arm, the Fire Protection Research Foundation, held a PoE workshop at the University of New Hampshire and published the proceedings online. Attendees left the one-day event with recommendations that the research and regulatory communities better define and clarify the terms involved with PoE, outline an approach for conducting a risk analysis for each application of PoE, and more.

The workshop was “only the beginning of a longer journey as we dive into this new era that many refer to as the ‘Internet of Things,’” Foundation Director Casey Grant wrote in his Research column in the November/December 2017 issue of NFPA Journal. “This new era, along with the devices and technologies that support it, including PoE, are here to stay. It is imperative that the regulatory community rises to address this new sweeping challenge.”

Another emerging issue that’s been a focus of NFPA is electric shock drowning (ESD), which can occur when a person jumps into electrified water in areas like marinas, where boats and docks containing electrical systems can “leak” current into the water. If the current itself doesn’t kill the person, it can paralyze them and cause them to drown. (NFPA Journal published an article on ESD, “The Danger Below,” in its September/October 2017 issue, following the August publication of a Fire Protection Research Foundation report on ESD. The topic is also covered in the NEC section of “In Compliance” in this issue.)

The NEC includes provisions on wiring and electrical equipment at marinas, boatyards, and docking facilities. But the boats themselves are often the problem, experts say. While the NEC doesn’t include provisions on the wiring of boats within its scope, it can add recommendations for testing them. “I see the code evolving a little more to possibly require some type of testing as boats come into marinas to make sure they’re not introducing a current into the water,” Johnston said. There are already some proactive marina construction companies that are installing testing areas for boats before they can dock, he said.

With so many members of the public using boats and marinas, far more people than just the ones who use the NEC need to be familiar with ESD. Even within the boating community, the phenomenon isn’t well known. Because of this need for public education, NFPA hopes to by this summer launch a national awareness campaign on ESD. The campaign would include messages on nfpa.org about ESD, signage for placement at marinas warning people about ESD, and more. Learn more about ESD online.

On top of emerging challenges like PoE and ESD, a lack of skilled workers is troubling the electrical industry. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 2015 to 2024, about 6,000 to 7,000 electrical workers will have been needed to be added to the workforce while another 6,000 to 7,000 will have been needed to replace those retiring or leaving the trade. This demand makes working with the most up-to-date information even more critical, and Dubay left attendees of the IEC summit with that thought.

“I recognize that the one-two punch of labor issues and continuously emerging technologies has put even greater demands on you and your team,” he said. “It is critical that you work smarter today. Whether you and your employees are performing routine electrical tasks or dealing with new communications systems or having to install new energy sources, it’s important that you do it armed with the most current information and knowledge available. We’re one of those key information and knowledge resources. Take the time to engage with us … I have no doubt that we can continue to learn from one another and raise the bar on electrical safety in our country.”

NFPA CodeFinder Tool Debuts With Maps of Code Adoption

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has released a new interactive online tool that identifies the NFPA codes and standards that are in effect in U.S. municipalities or counties, as well as in regions of Canada, South America, Latin America and the Middle East. 

The tool, called CodeFinder, is designed to help users around the globe identify the NFPA codes and standards in effect, including those referenced in other codes. The NFPA release said the tool integrates data available at the state level, in cities with more than a quarter million in population and in counties with over one million in population (or the largest municipalities in the state). The tool also identifies the NFPA codes and standards being used in countries outside the United States.



 “Codes and standards are developed by experts from around the globe to ensure a minimum level of safety. Current editions of codes incorporate learnings from new research, case studies, loss experience, and innovation. By applying the most recent codes and standards, we will ensure that people and property get the level of protection that they expect and deserve,” President and CEO Jim Pauley told attendees at the NFPA Conference & Expo in Las Vegas. “CodeFinder was developed so that those charged with fire and life safety can easily access up-to-date safety benchmarks and help reduce risk in our world.”

CodeFinder utilizes color-coded mapping and a hovering feature, and filters results by jurisdiction. Users can also search by topic or by the most frequently used NFPA codes and standards. NFPA included a place for users to provide code information, if the information is not already included within CodeFinder.

NFPA said CodeFinder is designed to be informational and educational, and does not provide a comprehensive or exhaustive list of codes and standards usage, nor are amendments to those codes and standards reflected in the tool. The color-coding on the map reflects only the most up-to-date edition of a particular code or standard incorporated by any authority having jurisdiction. Prior to using the new NFPA resource, users will be prompted to review more details and disclaimers for CodeFinder.

 

MEMBER TOOLBOX

Use your membership tools to your advantage.

Refer a friend and receive a $30 credit toward your next purchase with MECA.

 

Word of mouth is the associations best compliment.  That's why when any current MECA member refers a friend, colleague or acquaintance who joins MECA, we will add a $30 credit to your account that can be used on your next class or code book order. (3 referrals = a free code book!)

We want to let you know that we appreciate your dedication to MECA and that spreading the good word about your association is making an impact. We realize that you are out in the field and have unlimited access to meeting numerous Electrical Contractors that can benefit from a MECA membership. We want our members to benefit as well, which is why we created this program. Your help in creating a thriving association and making others aware of the benefits , tools and resources that MECA offers to assist them with their business is a simple, yet substantial way to contribute to your industry .

Thank you for your continued support and loyalty.
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Wishing our readers a safe

Happy 4th of July!
  
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our Veteran's for their service and commitment to our Independence. 
 
THANK YOU!
Kohler Recalls Automatic Transfer Switches
Name of product:
Kohler 100-amp service-entrance automatic transfer switches
Hazard:

The transfer switch can fail and overheat, posing a fire hazard.

Remedy:
Repair

Click HERE for more info
Join the Benjamin Franklin Institute on July 25th for basketball and burgers! This is a free event for all current and prospective students. Come meet the BFIT Chargers basketball team, faculty and staff, and other BFIT students for a fun day of free food, entertainment, and sun!
MECA 2018 TRADE SHOW
NOVEMBER 15TH!
Have you considered donating to Habitat for Humanity?
Habitat Greater Boston is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization. Their projects are funded primarily by private donations from individuals, community groups, corporations, charities, foundations, and religious organizations.  Call the number below to schedule a free pick-up of your donation.

Check out your local ReStore for a great selection and discount prices on bulbs, fixtures and electrical supplies! 

Click the links below to be directed to the ReStore website near you:


West Roxbury 
Leominster
Hanover
Attleboro
Danvers
Carver
Tyngsborough
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Order your 2017 NEC code book through MECA.  Click here to order.
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