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The NFPA Finally Clarifies AC Disconnects under 440.14, Readily Accessible & NEC 110.26

jar546

jar546

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We had a bit of a contentious thread when I started this one linked below:

Click Here for the Original Thread

Looks like, in the 2023 NFPA 70, the change was made that requires working clearance under 110.26 for mechanical equipment disconnects. Every cycle was put in for code changes to have the requirement for 110.26 added to 440.14, and every time it was rejected because the code panel said that it was "obvious" that 110.26 applied because disconnects are electrical equipment. This is no longer debatable by those that have difficulty reading and comprehending.

Now that we know the intent of the code and how it is being clarified in 2023. The debate is put to rest by that can read and comprehend. No more debate. Finally!

440.14 Location.
Disconnecting means shall be located within sight from, and readily accessible from, the air-conditioning or refrigerating equipment. The disconnecting means shall be permitted to be installed on or within the air-conditioning or refrigerating equipment. Disconnecting means shall meet the working space requirements of 110.26(A).
The disconnecting means shall not be located on panels that are designed to allow access to the air-conditioning or refrigeration equipment or where it obscures the equipment nameplate(s).
 
jar546 said:
Now that we know the intent of the code and how it is being clarified in 2023. The debate is put to rest by that can read and comprehend. No more debate. Finally!
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Why do you find it necessary to insult people that disagree with you?


jar546 said:
Disconnecting means shall meet the working space requirements of 110.26(A).
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This adds words that lack meaning. There has never been a debate as to whether the disconnect fell under 110.26(A). The debate has always been that an unfused disconnect does not meet "likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized" threshold. The reason that it's unlikely to be likely is that a disconnect can merely be a switch. If they want to clarify the comprehension of dummies they're going to need another word. That word is "all" as in "all disconnects."

So as you can see, this fits nicely with the prevailing interpretation that has stood the test of time. I know that you like to have the last word....you missed by one. Get that last word in and then you can school us.


110.26 Spaces About Electrical Equipment. Access and working space shall be provided and maintained about all electrical equipment to permit ready and safe operation and maintenance of such equipment.
(A) Working Space. Working space for equipment operating at 1000 volts, nominal, or less to ground and likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized shall comply with the dimensions of 110.26(A)(1),
 
jar546 said:
Not people. Just you. ;):p


Yes. Unfortunately there were some that could not see the forest through the trees.
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Were is past tense...like you think the matter is settled....far from it.....I was correct when I said the prevailing interpretation......

Even if you get that last word in, the odds of a correction being written for a residential A/C disconnect, fused or not, is slim.

Do you suppose that any thought went into this:

IMG_4725.JPG
This meets the depth width and height....but what about safe?

110.26 Spaces About Electrical Equipment. Access and working space shall be provided and maintained about all electrical equipment to permit ready and safe operation and maintenance of such equipment.

Not even close to safe so I wrote a correction. Now if I can make the argument that something is not safe, is it being a bully to deny a contractor the right to make the argument that something is safe. The word safe is placed in the code before the details.



Here's one of the commercial workmen that have misplaced respect.

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And here's one where the installer got the disconnect right where it needs to be.

IMG_5943.JPG


What about a furnace in a closet? How has that disconnect escaped scrutiny? You can lose skin getting to it but that's okay?


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ICE said:
This adds words that lack meaning.
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Sorry, I don't follow you?

The added words are "Disconnecting means shall meet the working space requirements of 110.26(A)" That means that if it's a disconnecting means, then it has to meet the working space requirements found in 110.26(A). The requirements are actually in 110.26(A)(1) through (4), but those are all parts of 110.26(A).

By referring to the "working space requirements of 110.26(A)," rather than just 110.26(A), the reference short circuits the predicate at the beginning of 110.26(A) about equipment "likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized." The new language in 440.14 is equivalent to saying "For the purposes of 110.26(A), disconnecting means shall be considered to be likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized," just more direct and to the point.

Cheers, Wayne
 
steveray said:
Really?...It's not where the filter and the return duct attach? Or at least that is how they install them around here...

View attachment 10185

Like they show in their manual...

View attachment 10186
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The reality is that the intake will be from the bottom or rear and the positive pressure will be out the top for sure. The front will be an access panel and if they put a duct to it they will fail the inspection if they plan on using the disconnect at the top as the required disconnect. This is not rocket science or brain surgery. You can spend your career looking for excuses as to why people don't have to comply or you can simply enforce the code.
 
wwhitney said:
Sorry, I don't follow you?

The added words are "Disconnecting means shall meet the working space requirements of 110.26(A)" That means that if it's a disconnecting means, then it has to meet the working space requirements found in 110.26(A). The requirements are actually in 110.26(A)(1) through (4), but those are all parts of 110.26(A).

By referring to the "working space requirements of 110.26(A)," rather than just 110.26(A), the reference short circuits the predicate at the beginning of 110.26(A) about equipment "likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized." The new language in 440.14 is equivalent to saying "For the purposes of 110.26(A), disconnecting means shall be considered to be likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized," just more direct and to the point.

Cheers, Wayne
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110.26 Spaces About Electrical Equipment. Access and working space shall be provided and maintained about all electrical equipment to permit ready and safe operation and maintenance of such equipment.
(A) Working Space. Working space for equipment operating at 1000 volts, nominal, or less to ground and likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized shall comply with the dimensions of 110.26(A)(1),


The section is titled Workin Space. The first sentence sets the parameters. The working space requirements of 110.26(A) absolutely includes likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized.

As Jeff stated, the code change has been proposed many times and has been rejected because the committee thought that since a disconnect is equipment and 110.26 references equipment, there wasn’t a need for a change. Perhaps the committee just grew tired of hearing the same tired request and threw them a bone. A bare bone that reinforces the argument that a disconnect is equipment.

It wouldn’t be any clearer if the words disconnecting means was replaced with the word equipment.
 
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ICE said:
The section is titled Workin Space. The first sentence sets the parameters. The working space requirements of 110.26(A) absolutely includes likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized.
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No. 110.26(A) says "if condition A then requirements B". The new reference in 440.14 to requirements just means B. You skip the predicate A.

The previous version of 440.14 had an information note "See 110.26". That was consistent with your interpretation. But this change means something more than just "see 110.26". If the intention was just "see 110.26," there would have been no change in the text.

Cheers, Wayne
 
So....a VAV box falls into air conditioning equipment right? so it needs (motor for damper or fan?) working clearance 110.26A(4) allows a 22x22 opening with no specifications to equipment proximity...And will allow you to lean on the grid and sprinkler lines to get there....?

The duct hanger rod is a violation, but the other crap is fine because electricity is more careful above the ceiling because it knows you are working in a tough spot?

Or is the intent that the grid is allowed to encroach "below" but nothing else is?

(4) Limited Access. Where equipment operating at 1000 volts, nominal, or less to ground and likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized is required by installation instructions or function to be located in a space with limited access, all of the following shall apply:
  • (1)
    Where equipment is installed above a lay-in ceiling, there shall be an opening not smaller than 559 mm × 559 mm (22 in. × 22 in.), or in a crawl space, there shall be an accessible opening not smaller than 559 mm × 762 mm (22 in. × 30 in.).
  • (2)
    The width of the working space shall be the width of the equipment enclosure or a minimum of 762 mm (30 in.), whichever is greater.
  • (3)
    All enclosure doors or hinged panels shall be capable of opening a minimum of 90 degrees.
  • (4)
    The space in front of the enclosure shall comply with the depth requirements of Table 110.26(A)(1). The maximum height of the working space shall be the height necessary to install the equipment in the limited space. A horizontal ceiling structural member or access panel shall be permitted in this space.
 

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jar546 said:
The reality is that the intake will be from the bottom or rear and the positive pressure will be out the top for sure. The front will be an access panel and if they put a duct to it they will fail the inspection if they plan on using the disconnect at the top as the required disconnect. This is not rocket science or brain surgery. You can spend your career looking for excuses as to why people don't have to comply or you can simply enforce the code.
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The unit you showed either has to have the duct connected to the front or be in a location where it can have an unducted return. Connect to the back and you have zero airflow across the coil or filter. Connect to either side and you have basically the same issue because that's where the end of the coil is. The coil drain pan takes up half the bottom and the remainder probably won't be large enough for proper air flow. I would guess if you read the instructions its either an unducted return or connect to the front.
1680291570689.png
 
steveray said:
So....a VAV box falls into air conditioning equipment right?
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It's just a box with a motorized damper and perhaps a booster fan? Arguably the scope of NEC Article 440 excludes that, as it does not contain a "hermetic refrigerant motor-compressor." It's more of an air handler, and so you might find it a system that provides only heating.

Cheers, Wayne
 
Here is the "commentary" from NFPA which addresses and subjects "duct heaters" and mechanical equipment above the ceiling to 110.26A4......

1680527107069.png

If a simple disconnect switch requires working clearance, Shirley these do...
 
To be clear, I didn't express an opinion one way or another as to whether VAVs are subject to 110.26. I'm just saying that Article 440 isn't relevant to that question.

Cheers, Wayne
 
Thanks Wayne...Just beating working clearance to death here, if it needs to be a different thread, specific to 110.26, and HVAC equipment I get that...
 
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