National Electrical Code Articles and Information

Code Quiz: Article 220, Part 1

Based on the 2005 NEC

Questions and answers written by Mark Lamendola, who has worked as a master electrician, electrical inspector, and design engineer. Mark is an IEEE Senior Member, and the Code article author for Codebookcity.com. Since 1996, he has been writing National Electrical Code articles for electrical trade magazines and has an extensive portfolio of hundreds of NEC articles..

1.      What is the main purpose of Article 220?

2.      Is the number of Articles that apply to the calculations of loads in special applications more than 10 or less than 10?

3.      If an application is covered by a special application Article, does the information in that article replace what you would otherwise use from Article 220?

4.      Is it legal to perform calculations for a 115V circuit?

5.      What voltages can you use when doing circuit calculations covered by Article 220?

6.      Where calculations result in a fraction of an ampere less than 0.5A, does the NEC require you to round that number up so as to account for the extra amperage above the whole number?

7.      To calculate lighting loads, must you have a lighting plan from the designer or can you calculate lighting loads based upon the type of occupancy?

8.      What’s the requirement for calculating the load of an outlet supplying luminaries?

9.      What is the minimum load you can use for heavy-duty lampholders?

10.  What’s the minimum load you can use for receptacles?