Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1970 - 29

I PANEL I NATIONAL

ELECTRIC CODE
THE CODE:
HOW AND WHY
K.S. Geiges
Underwriters Laboratories,
Chicago, III.
f the panels into which the National
Code is divided, I think there
are
seventeen
which cover theatres,
Panel 15, in addition to covering theatres,
covers motion picture studios which utilize
some of the same sound equipment, proj ectors, and arc lamps.

OElectric

In addition to the panels, there is a coordinating committee which analyzes their
work. For example, if a proposal made to
one panel might interest certain people but
be opposed by others not represented, the
correlating committee would act to see that
the subject was reviewed by those concerned.
What is the Code concerned with? The
Code is primarily concerned with rules for
installation of equipment, not its design. It
also provides rules for the insurance authorities, and for municipal, county, and state
inspection authorities, who have legal responsibility for the safety of the public.
Another aspect involved is that of labor, but
I beli eve this is at the state rather than the
municipal inspection level.
All now use the "red book," and it's often asked: "Why don't they use the red
book as it's written? Why must they rewrite it into city, county, state, and national codes?" The answer is that almost
every constituency feels it has unique problems, and it is a time-honored custom for
each to write its own. This may be someday eliminated, but apparently not in the
near future.
More and more often state codes involve
special features. California, or instance, has
just issued an extremely comprehensive
code covering structural, electrical, mechanical, refrigeration, and fire aspects of new
buildings.
It should be kept in mind that the code
is concerned with safety, not performance. It
would be a fine thing to have a performance
code, but this code would hardly have the
force of law behind it. However, a safety
code has the force of law insofar as the

l!!!!LJ THEATER DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

local authorities are concerned.
And proposals for Code revision are
made either by organizations or by individuals to either the National Electric Code
Committee or directly to the panel concerned.
Proposals should be accompanied by supporting data which will vary with the nature
of the proposal.
The panels consider the proposals during
the first year of the cycle, and in the
second year their evaluations are published
in May.
Anyone interested can attend the national meeting and object to anything he doesn't
like. This is the year (1970) for objections.
The code panel met again after the May
meeting to review objections. The final draft
was drawn and in May, 1971, this is presented for final action. At that time, if
those who presented the objection are unhappy they can again raise their voices and
ask for immediate action. On occasion this
has resulted in an immediate change of the
fi nal text of the code. In any case, the National Fire Protection Association, which is
the sponsor of the code, will take some action at this time. A further check on the
changes goes to the American National
Standards Institute for approval as an American National Standard, and again at that
time an objection can be raised. (As far as
I know an objection has never been raised
at that time.)
The concern this afternoon is the theatre
standpoint. As theatre techni~ians we wonder why we should be involved with the
Code. In many states, where you are dealing with an academic institution, you are
not subject to building inspectors, and the
universities often are autonomous. Nevertheless, we must be concerned with safety.
This is essentially what the code is concerned with, and not only the Electrical
Code, but the building code as well. With
the increased theatre construction in this
country, we can assume that the chances
of something happening are increasing.

OCTOBER,1970

We've been fortunate that we have not had
the disaster one might expect.
It took us between 50 and 70 years to
get rid of the asbestos theatre curtain which
resulted from the Iroquois Theatre fire in
Chicago at the turn of the century.
In Massachusetts, they use the so-called
"Coconut Grove Lights"-that's the selfcontained battery pack with the two headlights. The Coconut Grove fire in 19401941 was the cause of that. As a reSUlt,
the lighting beam position in theatres there
must be completely enclosed, a structural
requirement that is costly.
We don't want it to happen again, so we
must be conscious of safety. We must
learn to keep our own house clean. We
must be aware of the improvements that
are necessary. And by working with the
National Electric Code and through the
USITT and other theatre organizations, we
need to understand these laws and to abide
by them. We should take action and we
need to take action as soon as possible.
Another point here is the legal position
of the theatre architects, engineers, managers, designers, and stagehands. Recent
court decisions in other fields are now
holding what they call "third party liability."
The case in point is that of the air traffic
controllers. Of the reasons for their recent
sickout one was the fact that there have
been some suits, now still in the courts,
in which individual air traffic controllers
were being sued for crashes.
Imagine that you as lighting designer or
stage hand are involved in a production. The
producer says, "We don't have the money.
Use that cabl e over in the corner." You
look at it, and it's falling apart. But you
use it. And unfortunately that producer
dies in the fire. So you're alive, and you
need a good lawyer to take it from there.
We don't want to have the situation that
exists in the German theatre, where the technical director is liable for any and all acci-

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