{"id":462,"date":"2019-11-11T11:00:41","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T16:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/?p=462"},"modified":"2019-11-06T08:55:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T13:55:00","slug":"what-does-mean-electrical-system-up-to-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/electrical\/what-does-mean-electrical-system-up-to-code\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does It Mean for My Electrical System to Be \u201cUp to Code\u201d?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"electrical-panel-repairs\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve heard the term \u201cup to code\u201d before and have a general sense of what it means when it comes to electrical systems: they have to meet certain guidelines in order to be considered safe. But what does that mean in practice? What is this nebulous code, and how can you know if your home is in violation of some kind? And if your home isn\u2019t \u201cup to code,\u201d what needs to be done to fix the problem?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s plenty of questions, but we\u2019ll address these concerns briefly below. As with any serious electrical system question, it\u2019s best to ask an electrician in Amherst, NY<\/a> directly. You\u2019ll get the best information as well as the service you require.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The National Electrical Code<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In general, the electrical code<\/em> refers to the\nNational Electrical Code (NEC). This isn\u2019t a set of laws, but a set of standards\nfor electrical wiring in the US that can be regionally adopted. It is part of\nthe National Fire Code series from the National Fire Protection Association\n(NFPA). The code has a long history, dating back to 1897 when electrical use in\nhomes and businesses was widespread enough to make regulations necessary. The\ncode is continually updated: the most recent edition is from 2008, and a new\none will come out in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we mentioned above, the NEC isn\u2019t federal law. Instead,\nit\u2019s a guide for local jurisdictions to create their own laws regarding electrical\nstandards. A jurisdiction may simply adopt the entire NEC unchanged, or it may\nmake alterations. It may even throw out the NEC entirely and write its own set\nof codes\u2014although this is uncommon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Importance of the Licensed Local Electrician<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Because there is no single federal standard electrical code\nbut rather a local implementation, it\u2019s vital for all electrical work to be\nleft to licensed professionals. A licensed electrician must know the local code\nrequirements and stay up to date on changes with continuing training. Amateurs\ncan\u2019t be trusted to know this information, and any work they do isn\u2019t\nconsidered legally up to code\u2014even if it\u2019s done correctly, and it rarely is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay Up to Code<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How can you know if your house meets the local electrical code? If you live in a home built in the last twenty years and no unlicensed electrical work has been done on it, then you are likely up to code. Keep a watch for any electrical issues (flickering lights, numerous tripped circuit breakers) and call for repairs right away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a house more than twenty years old, you may have issues\nwith bad aluminum wiring connections. If you know of any<\/em> unlicensed\nelectrical work on the house (and this absolutely includes you doing DIY work),\nthen the house is automatically not up to code. In either case of older homes\nor amateur work, arrange for an electrical audit with our professionals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we find your house doesn\u2019t meet current code regulations,\nwe can handle the necessary rewiring, panel upgrades, outlet replacements,\nfixture replacements, or any of a dozen other jobs that will fix the issue. We\u2019ll\nensure your house is up to code and your family is safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scherer Electric is Western New York\u2019s Favorite Electrician! Call us for super-fast service<\/a>, any time of the day or night.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In general, the electrical code refers to the National Electrical Code (NEC). This isn\u2019t a set of laws, but a set of standards,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[87],"tags":[102,101,95],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":466,"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions\/466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schererelectric.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}