studying you code

[jwelectric]

Has anyone else other than me ever gotten on one of these discussion forums and paid close attention to how some electricians try to trash the inspectors and some inspectors try to trash the electricians.

Does anyone other than me come to the conclusion that this type of person gets the net of their knowledge from discussion forums and continuing education classes instead of the study of the codes governing their trade?

Here in North Carolina an electrician must have a certain amount of time and pass a test in order to get a license and an inspector must also pass a test to get a standard certificate to inspect. The electrician must have 8 hours of continuing education per year and inspectors must have 6 hours of continuing education per year.

My question is how many hours per month does anyone here spend studying the electrical code other than those requirements mandated by the board issuing them there right to do their work.

I spend no less than 50 hours a month in my electrical code book with another 10 hours in past code cycles averaged over a years’ time.

 

[cda]

Not an electicalian

Do you have the code memorized?

If you are doing plan review or inspections everyday you are using the code.

Normally I only crack the code books when something strange comes up or that once a year code section is used and forgot the wording.

Yes someone installing should know what the code says, but do they really need to read the book for everyday work, if they know what they are doing?

 

[ICE]

Has anyone else other than me ever gotten on one of these discussion forums and paid close attention to how some electricians try to trash the inspectors and some inspectors try to trash the electricians.

I have noticed that you swing both ways.

 

[jwelectric]

Not an electicalian

I hold the highest class license in NC and also the highest class certificate for electrical inspectors in NC

Do you have the code memorized?

Not totally but I am fairly versed in several code cycles. Call it a hobby

If you are doing plan review or inspections everyday you are using the code.

Also an instructor will spend several hours in the codes

Normally I only crack the code books when something strange comes up or that once a year code section is used and forgot the wording.

When debating the codes is also a good time to look at the different code sections

Yes someone installing should know what the code says, but do they really need to read the book for everyday work, if they know what they are doing?

The codes are constantly changing and being amended so I would think it would be a good idea. When the inspector turns something down I would hope that there are at least two people looking at the section in question.When it comes to gray areas like some being discussed on this forum I would think that if one is a professional that time would be spent trying to sort through the matter instead of just blindly following the what the read posted on discussion forums or hearing someone else saying, or should I say at least I do some research. This is the reason for this thread to see how many actually read and study these matters or do they just post based on memory.

 

[jwelectric]

I have noticed that you swing both ways.

As an Unlimited electrical contractor I trash inspectors.As a Level III electrical inspector I trash electricians.

When I run into someone on these forums who want to play the game I am more than willing to play with them especially when it is obvious that their knowledge is very limited of the subject.

 

[cda]

Originally Posted by cda

Not an electicalian

I hold the highest class license in NC and also the highest class certificate for electrical inspectors in NC

I am not one, to much of a shocking job

""""When it comes to gray areas like some being discussed on this forum I would think that if one is a professional that time would be spent trying to sort through the matter instead of just blindly following the what the read posted on discussion forums or hearing someone else saying, or should I say at least I do some research. This is the reason for this thread to see how many actually read and study these matters or do they just post based on memory. """"

both and that is normally when I have to add a little steak sauce to the foot, after taking it out of mouth. Been through to many codes and they all seem to run together.

 

[MASSDRIVER]

Has anyone else other than me ever gotten on one of these discussion forums and paid close attention to how some electricians try to trash the inspectors and some inspectors try to trash the electricians.Does anyone other than me come to the conclusion that this type of person gets the net of their knowledge from discussion forums and continuing education classes instead of the study of the codes governing their trade?

Here in North Carolina an electrician must have a certain amount of time and pass a test in order to get a license and an inspector must also pass a test to get a standard certificate to inspect. The electrician must have 8 hours of continuing education per year and inspectors must have 6 hours of continuing education per year.

My question is how many hours per month does anyone here spend studying the electrical code other than those requirements mandated by the board issuing them there right to do their work.

I spend no less than 50 hours a month in my electrical code book with another 10 hours in past code cycles averaged over a years’ time.

You are a God amongst electricians, and their patron saint of deference and humility.

Lord knows they need it.

Brent

 

[hlfireinspector]

Knowledge of electricians is displayed in number of missing fingertips.

As an Unlimited electrical contractor I trash inspectors.As a Level III electrical inspector I trash electricians.

When I run into someone on these forums who want to play the game I am more than willing to play with them especially when it is obvious that their knowledge is very limited of the subject.

 

[ICE]

Knowledge of electricians is displayed in number of missing fingertips.

So are you saying that he can't pick his nose?

It's not like he can't pick his seat, which in his case is at the front facing the rest of us.

 

[ICE]

You are a God amongst electricians, and their patron saint of deference and humility. Lord knows they need it.

Brent

Shirley you jest.

 

[Gregg Harris]

Shirley you jest.

I think that he was making an attempt to ad humor to the post.

 

[ICE]

You and I get it ..... I was making sure that jwelectric gets it.

We would have to ask Brent but humor might not have been the objective.

 

[MASSDRIVER]

Shirley you jest.

Roger, Roger.

I didn't know electricians were so amazing until they all started telling me amazing they were.

I mean, I took it with a grain of salt for the first 40 or 50, but then I figured after about a hundred, hey, they can't all be wrong. Right? So I asked the one here and sure enough, he said he was amazing too. Then he told me not stand so close to him made me go pick up his laundry.

They're so awesome.

And don't call me Shirley.

Brent

 

[jwelectric]

You are a God amongst electricians, and their patron saint of deference and humility. Lord knows they need it.

Brent

Not only the electricians but the inspectors also and the ones who need the most guidance. Ever notice how most inspectors pick at their seat just before doing a deep stab at the nose, wonder why they do such things.

Based on the past few posts it seems that most of the replies do no studying of the codes at all. Must be a bunch of those types that say, “I’ve been doing it like this for years.”

 

[cda]

Based on the past few posts it seems that most of the replies do no studying of the codes at all. Must be a bunch of those types that say, “I’ve been doing it like this for years.”

yes and no

go to about four code classes a year, just not in the book everyweek doing a review or something, and once again I do not plat with electricity, so have another code book I just love to read.

Yes and do keep up with the codes, but we are on about a s 5-6 year adoption cycle, so

 

[MASSDRIVER]

Not only the electricians but the inspectors also and the ones who need the most guidance. Ever notice how most inspectors pick at their seat just before doing a deep stab at the nose, wonder why they do such things.Based on the past few posts it seems that most of the replies do no studying of the codes at all. Must be a bunch of those types that say, “I’ve been doing it like this for years.”

Trying to pass the smell test.

Brent

 

[jwelectric]

Based on the past few posts it seems that most of the replies do no studying of the codes at all. Must be a bunch of those types that say, “I’ve been doing it like this for years.” yes and no

go to about four code classes a year, just not in the book everyweek doing a review or something, and once again I do not plat with electricity, so have another code book I just love to read.

Yes and do keep up with the codes, but we are on about a s 5-6 year adoption cycle, so

I do the Institute in April which is a three day thing, the fall meeting of the NCIAEI which is either two or three days, haven’t missed but three Southern Sectionals in the past 10 years and do four to five one day workshops sponsored by the NCIAEI. I do continuing education for contractors which is the Analysis of Changes at the community college at least twice a year but my biggest study is the electrical inspector classes I teach which consist of 40 hours for a Level I and 32 hours for Levels II and III. These run one a month with four Level I and four Level II and four Level III.

NC has decided to go to the six year code cycles. I now go through two NEC books a cycle so I suppose in the future I will need to start buying them by the case if I don’t decide to retire first. My 2011 loose leaf NEC has more 200 MPH tape than a NASCAR on Sunday afternoon at Martinsville.

 

[Mr. Inspector]

Electrictins don't need anything here even for commercial work. I am a MCP and need to do about 30 hours of education every three years but can be on any subject related to codes. Only what the ICC requires to keep my cert with them.

 

[chris kennedy]

Yes someone installing should know what the code says, but do they really need to read the book for everyday work, if they know what they are doing?

I'm an everyday installer, I know what I'm doing. I'm normally in at least 1 code book a day, usually more than one. Every day work consists of my fellow installers, myself and inspectors dealing new and unusual installs. Thats what makes our profession so intriguing.

On a side note, if this thread continues down a path that is unprofessional it will disappear. Please respect other posters and our gracious host.

 

[Jobsaver]

The tone of the OP suggests a superior position to others and itself is offensive. 50+ hours a month minimum is a lot of time to spend in a code book relevant to the everyday functions of many electricians and inspectors. Others may need to spend even more because of the scope of their work, level of experience, or memory.

In post #17, we can finally acknowledge an entirely different profession of teaching, which may account for some of the hours spent in the book. Nothing requires more study than teaching.

 

[jar546]

Performing both plan review and inspections on a daily basis exposes the code official to a multitude of different situations and problems. Whereas an electrician knows the inside and out of the job he/she is doing, that job may last a week or a month. The inspector is seeing, reviewing and inspecting 10-40+ different electrical inspections of all types. The plan reviewer is also seeing much more than the average electrician because they go from prints to print and job to job whilst the EC is on that particular job for days, weeks or months.

I am not saying that one is better than the other but as a code official who regularly takes code classes, and does plan review & inspections on a daily basis, the variety forces you to quickly review and learn not just the sections but actually see the work being performed which may vary greatly. EC's can bare the same responsibility if they are in a supervisory position for a larger company but typically, they know a lot in great detail about each job.

So I believe that practical application as a plan review and inspector gives a great quantity of exposure to electrical installation systems and requirements in a way that you have no choice. The job at hand is the one you have to deal with including all of the variables and you never know what is coming next so you have to be prepared. Whereas the educator is in a controlled, hypothetical environment with very little to no practical application or curveballs being thrown at you as in the real world. The variety of the real world certainly trumps the controlled, methodical, hypothetical environment of the classroom.

Education of the students is best taught by an active participant in the electrical world who has the knowledge and ability to convey information. Real life experiences of current codes and situations being presented is much more effective than telling someone how you did it 20 years ago. JMHO

 

[RJJ]

To respond to CDA even knowing what you are doing does not replace the need for review of the code book. I don't keep track of the time I spend in the books. I do all types of plan reviews and inspections with several other inspector and plan reviewers to oversee, so this creates a number of unique questions daily. I believe Jeff stated the variables and that is a big issue. They tend to take you back to the codes and what it actually says. When we forget that fact and depend on just memory than we fall into the trap. Thinking we know oh so much. I learn from all of you daily.

 

[ICE]

I deleted the post... ICE is melting

 

[jar546]

I just learned a new word thank to ICE. Edicts is my new word. Thank you. Now go take your pill.