New York City Modernizes Its Electrical Code

One of the few remaining jurisdictions in the United States with an electrical code based on the antiquated 2008 National Electrical Code (NEC) is finally making a move on the electrical safety front. And that straggler isn’t just any municipality. It’s none other than New York City, with a population of eight million.

By year-end, the city’s mayor was expected to sign legislation updating and revising the city’s electrical code, the city’s most outdated, to largely align with the 2020 NEC. Several years in the making since the last time it was updated to reference the 2008 NEC, which took place in 2011, the new Code will be fully enforced beginning December 2025.

The New York City Electrical Code is the product of an extended review process that began in 2018. The initial goal was to update the code based on the 2014 NEC. That rewrite never happened, partly because the Covid 19 pandemic intervened. Also, the effort was bogged down by a challenging new requirement to bring the municipal electrical code in line administratively with the city’s broader construction codes.

New procedures adopted for drafting a new set of standards also added to the complexity. The city’s Department of Buildings, which manages code revisions, adopted the stakeholder consensus-based model for electrical, used for revising other codes. That resulted in the formation of technical review committees and an approach that did away with a majority vote structure in favor of members reaching full agreement. That produced more time-consuming debate and study and the use of Department of Buildings staff mediation to break deadlocks.

“This is a long and arduous process requiring a significant number of meetings that take place over several years,” says Ryan Degan, the department’s deputy press secretary.

But that new process proved constructive. Testifying before the city council’s housing and buildings committee, which oversaw the revision work, the department’s deputy commissioner for policy and legal affairs said committees were staffed with a variety of experts who took the time needed to debate and painstakingly craft elements of a modernized code.

“We selected a broad spectrum of stakeholders from across the industry; engineers, architects, labor, real estate, and other government entities were involved in the process,” Guillermo Patino testified. “All were willing to donate their time, energy, and expertise to make sure that we have the best standards, On top of that they all came to a consensus on the vast majority of these issues.”

With the DNA of a modern-day NEC plus amendments tailored to the city’s unique and changing needs and priorities, the new code is billed as giving New York the oversight tool needed to better manage a vital component of an expected steady stream of large and complex infrastructure construction work from multiple angles.

The city’s embrace of emissions reductions through electrification – via EVs, charging stations, gas appliance phase-outs, and the like – could firm up a code that pointedly addresses the nuances of those projects.

“Technology is advancing, and we need to have codes and regulations that recognize that, along with the safety features that are necessary for those installations,” Patino told the buildings committee.

Other provisions inspired by the city’s experience and expected future trends in the city checked off by Degan include “new rules for rebuilding/reconditioning electrical equipment and systems in the aftermath of flood events,” a response to Hurricane Sandy that hit metro New York in 2012; “better design requirements for energy storage systems” needed to execute plans for a more reliable and resilient city electrical grid; detailed guidance for installing “electric battery systems can meet the needs for emergency and standby systems as a cleaner, safer alternative to fossil fuels”; an allowance for “reducing the minimum wire size from #12 gauge to #14 gauge,” a change that will reduce construction cost; and detail on Power-over-Ethernet configurations, “a new way to power and control high-efficiency energy lighting fixtures (i.e., LED),” likely to be further incentivized in the city’s continued push for green construction.

Striking a balance between safety and efficiency also guided revision work. In aligning electrical more closely with other construction trades, the new code extends the electrician licensing term from one to three years; effectively eliminates the journeyman designation; lowers the minimum age for master electrician licensure to 18 from 21; disbands an electrician licensing board in favor of utilizing a panel addressing licensing of all construction trades; requires electrical permits to be renewed annually; permits some low-voltage work to be performed by non-master electricians; and allows broader use of PVC conduit, within guidelines stricter than NEC 2020.

Taken as a whole, Degan says, the new code will ensure the city’s readiness “by incorporating the latest technology, supporting sustainable solutions, and improving energy efficiency while ensuring that electrical systems can be adaptable to future requirements.”

However, the city doesn’t plan on taking a long victory lap. Next year, Degan says, it all begins again. “The department plans to launch a new code revision cycle with new committee volunteers in 2025 to begin work on the next NYC Electrical Code update.”