The National Electrical Code® (NEC) is the preeminent electrical installation code in the United States. However, the NEC takes on real significance when it is adopted into law by states and local jurisdictions. The timing for adoption of installation codes is different in each state or local jurisdiction and some adopt the NEC with state or local amendments. The result is that different electrical codes are being enforced in different parts of the country.
NEMA’s Field Representatives track the adoption of the NEC in their respective territories and have developed a report that identifies which electrical codes are being enforced. As of April 1, 2017, there is one state enforcing the 2017 NEC, thirty-five states are enforcing the 2014 NEC, six states are enforcing the 2011 NEC, and just four states continue to enforce the 2008 NEC. New for the April 2017 code adoption report is the code adoption status and details for the five U.S. Territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. While these five territories only include 4,120 square miles of land, they have a combined population of 3.9 million people and have extremely robust electrical distribution and construction industries.
Go HERE to view the NEC adoption by state map and download the detailed NEC adoption report that accompanies the map.
Contact: Bryan Holland, Bryan.Holland@nema.org