Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2013 - 19

the primary source of information about
electrical safety is the national electrical
code, known as the nec, or nfpa70, or
simply the code, which is published by the
national fire protection association.

school, and corresponding with some of the
experts who write the books and teach the
workshops. Part of the challenge of many training programs, besides their cost, is that they
are geared toward experienced professional
technicians. For a layperson, these workshops
can be overwhelming, and the safety information he or she came to learn can get lost in
the weight of technical vocabulary and the
seemingly endless debates that arise when you
get a group of experienced technicians in the
same room. The books written to explain the
rules and regulations are generally for career
electricians and aren't that helpful for theatre
people. The essential book, the National Electrical Code, is expensive ($70 to $90 dollars)
and it's full of very specialized language. To its
credit, the Code clearly says that it is "not intended as a design specification or an instructional manual for untrained persons" (22).
The purpose of this article, which began
as a Lighting Commission poster session at
the 2013 USITT Conference & Stage Expo, is
to highlight a few of the more commonly confused rules and ideas that are often the source
of problems for young professionals and the
academic part of our community and to point
the reader toward further resources.

vocabuLary
The primary source of information about
electrical safety is the National Electrical
Code, known as the NEC, or NFPA70, or
simply the Code, which is published by the
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
The NEC is updated periodically-the current
edition was published in 2011-and a new
edition is scheduled for publication next year.

It is important to understand that the Code
is "advisory in nature," as is explained in the
book's introduction. It is not a law, however,
many legislative bodies adopt language in the
NEC as the foundation for their legal rules and
regulations. This means that the actual law
pertaining to any part of the Code might vary
from location to location, depending on what
parts that locale chooses to adopt. Still, the NEC
represents the most accessible reference when it
comes to making some of the choices that have
to be made regarding electrical installations and
maintaining a safe workplace.
To interpret and enforce something as
complicated and important as standards for
electrical safety, the NFPA relies on an "Authority Having Jurisdiction" (AHJ), which the
NEC defines as "An organization, office, or
individual responsible for enforcing the requirements of a code or standard, or for approving equipment, materials, an installation,
or a procedure." Often this is the fire marshal
or the electrical inspector. The important thing
to remember is that he or she has the final say
in interpretation of the Code. It seldom makes
sense to argue with the AHJ.

organization
The NEC is divided into nine main chapters.
The articles within each chapter begin with
the number of that chapter. So, for instance, a
reference to Article 324 would be in Chapter
3. The first four chapters create the foundation for electrical standards, and the following
five chapters represent special conditions or
variations. It is expected that users of the NEC
will have a thorough knowledge of the first
four chapters and then also whatever other

chapters or articles pertain to their field. In
the case of theatrical settings, the most relevant article is 520: "Theatres, Audience Areas of Motion Picture and Television Studios,
Performance Areas, and Similar Locations,"
and it is only about ten pages long. It's possible that your AHJ might not be as familiar
with Article 520 as you expect. ETCP trainers
have shared stories with me of being called
for help when an AHJ insisted that a common
electrical standard be met without understanding that a special variance for theatre
venues was available. In most cases, though,
Article 520 is stricter than earlier chapters,
and an AHJ could potentially approve something that Article 520 prohibits. For instance,
stage equipment is considered "portable,"
and thus theatre venues are given some leeway in using flexible cords and cables rather
than having to install conduit. Article 520
does, however, strictly restrict the kinds of
cords and cables we are allowed to use.
NEC section 90.5, which is in the introduction, provides definitions of two terms
that are important to understand because
some rules in the Code are open to variances
and some are not.
(A) Mandatory Rules. Mandatory rules of this Code
are those that identify actions that are specifically
required or prohibited and are characterized
by the use of the terms shall or shall not. (B)
Permissive Rules. Permissive rules of this
Code are those that identify actions that are
allowed but not required, are normally used to
describe options or alternative methods, and are
characterized by the use of the terms shall be
permitted or shall not be required. (23-24)

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2013