Inside the NEC
The triennial publication of the National Electrical Code is an event of critical importance to any contractor or subcontractor performing electrical installations or repairs. First published in 1897 and produced since 1911 by the National Fire Protection Association, the NEC is now enforced in all 50 states and also serves as the basis for codes in several foreign nations.
As has been the case with all editions published to date, the 1999 edition of the code is designed to ensure “the practical safeguarding of persons and property from the hazards arising from the use of electricity.” Keeping up with changes in both thinking and technology, the latest version of the code carries several new items as well as modifications of interest and substance.
After an introduction, the first four chapters cover the general requirements for wiring, materials and equipment. Chapters 5 to 7 then cover special occupancies, equipment and conditions, while Chapter 8 covers communication systems and Chapter 9 contains tables. Swimming pools, spas and related items are considered as Special Equipment and are covered in Chapter 6 as “Article 680: Swimming Pools, Fountains and Similar Installations.”
Covering this information makes for a long first column on “Things Electric,” but I can think of no more valuable place to start, given the influence the NEC has on the way pools, spas and other waterfeatures are installed.
To clarify what’s happening with the 1999 NEC, I have included the text of each of the new paragraphs of Article 680 as well as the most significant modifications to existing paragraphs, with changes noted as bold-faced italics. In each case, I have inserted a box with my comments and observations. Please note: This is not a complete copy of Article 680, nor are my comments intended to substitute for your own thorough examination and evaluation of the full document. Note also that throughout Article 680 are references to other sections of the NEC; in other words, the document is truly meaningful only when viewed in its entirety.
In future columns, I plan on getting much more specific with certain areas of the code. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to comment or ask specific questions!
Article 680 – Swimming Pools, Fountains, and Similar Installations
General
A. 680-3. Other articles.
(b) The installation and wiring of audio equipment adjacent to pools and fountains shall comply with the applicable requirements of Article 640. Underwater loudspeakers shall be installed in accordance with Section 680-23.
NEW Article 640 was greatly expanded for 1999 and now provides guidance for all forms of audio equipment and the installation thereof. As noted, however, the installation of underwater loudspeakers in a pool or spa is still covered in 680-23.
680-4. Definitions
Fountain. As used in this article, the term includes fountains, ornamental pools, display pools, and reflection pools. It does not include drinking fountains.
Packaged Therapeutic Tub or Hydrotherapeutic Tank Equipment Assembly. A factory-fabricated unit consisting of water circulating, heating, and control equipment mounted on a common base, intended to operate a therapeutic tub or hydrotherapeutic tank. Equipment may include pumps, air blowers, heaters, lights, controls, sanitizer generators, etc.
Pool. As used in this article, the term includes swimming, wading, and permanently installed therapeutic pools.
Self-Contained Therapeutic Tubs or Hydrotherapeutic Tanks. A factory-fabricated unit consisting of a therapeutic tub or hydrotherapeutic tank with all water circulating, heating, and control equipment integral to the unit. Equipment may include pumps, air blowers, heaters, lights, controls, sanitizer generators, etc.
NEW Four new definitions have been added to Article 680 for 1999. Article 100 of the NEC provides definitions of terms common to all sections of the code, while definitions specific to a particular subject, such as these four, are found in the individual articles.
680-6. Receptacles, Lighting Fixtures, Lighting Outlets, Switching Devices, and Ceiling-Suspended (Paddle) Fans
(a) Receptacles.
(1) A receptacle(s) that provides power for a water-pump motor(s) for, or other loads directly related to the circulation and sanitation system, a permanently installed pool or fountain, as permitted in Section 680-7, shall be permitted between 5 ft and 10 ft (1.52 m and 3.05 m) from the inside walls of the pool or fountain, and, where so located, shall be single and of the locking and grounding types and shall be protected by a ground-fault circuit interrupter(s).
Other receptacles on the property shall be located at least 10 ft (3.05 m) from the inside walls of a pool or fountain
(2) Where a permanently installed pool is installed at a dwelling unit(s), at least one 125-volt 15- or 20-ampere receptacle on a general-purpose branch circuit shall be located a minimum of 10 ft (3.05 m) from and not more than 20 ft (6.08 m) from the inside wall of the pool. This receptacle shall be located not more than 6 ft 6 in. (1.98 m) above the floor, platform, or grade level serving the pool.
MODIFIED The additional words in (1) indicate that the receptacles in question are any and all receptacles that may be providing power to pool or spa equipment, not just the receptacles providing power to pumps. Item (2) references a different receptacle – the one that must be in every yard with a permanently installed pool. The added words in (2) nail down the specifics of that receptacle.
(d) Motors in Other than Dwelling Units.
Wiring supplying pool pump motors rated 15 and 20 amperes, 125 volt or 240 volt, single phase, whether by receptacle or direct connection, shall be provided with ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection for personnel.
NEW First off, I must point out that this item was poorly written. It should read: Pump motors connected to 15 or 20 ampere, 120 volt or 240 volt single phase circuits, whether by receptacle or direct connection, shall be provided with ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection for personnel. This applies to all installations at duplexes, apartments and commercial establishments – everywhere other than a single-family residence. The code writers were convinced that this action was warranted because of the generally sub-standard level of electrical maintenance found at many multi-family and commercial pools.
680-12 Disconnecting Means. A disconnecting means shall be provided and be accessible, located within sight from all pools, spas, and hot tub equipment, and shall be located at least 5 ft (1.52 m) from the inside walls of the pool, spa, or hot tub.
MODIFIED The added words correct an oversight in the 1996 NEC: The disconnect is now mandatory in all installations.
680-20. Underwater lighting fixtures.
(b) Wet niche Fixtures
(1) Forming shells shall be installed for the mounting of all wet-niche underwater fixtures and shall be equipped with provisions for conduit entries. Conduit shall extend from the forming shell to a suitable junctions box or other enclosure located as provided in Section 680-21. Conduit shall be rigid metal, intermediate metal, liquidtight flexible nonmetallic, or rigid nonmetallic. Metal conduit shall be of brass or other approved corrosion-resistant metal. Where a nonmetallic conduit is used, a No. 8 insulated copper conductor shall be installed in this conduit with provisions for terminating in the forming shell, junction box or transformer enclosure, or ground-fault circuit-interrupter enclosure unless a listed low-voltage lighting system is used, not requiring grounding. The termination of the No. 8 conductor in the forming shell shall be covered with, or encapsulated in, a listed potting compound to protect such connection from the possible deteriorating effect of pool water. Metal parts of the fixture and forming shell in contact with the pool water shall be of brass or other approved corrosion-resistant metal
(3) The fixture shall be bonded to and secured to the forming shell by a positive locking device that ensures a low-resistance contact and requires a tool to remove the fixture from the forming shell. Bonding is not required for fixtures listed for the application, having no noncurrent-carrying metal parts.
NEW There are two new items here: the indicated wording in (b)(l) regarding grounding and the wording in (b)(3) regarding bonding both apply to the recently introduced, listed light fixtures that do not have any metallic components.
680-21. Junction Boxes and Enclosures for Transformers or Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupters.
(a) Junction Boxes
(1) Listed and labeled for the purpose.
&
(b) Other Enclosures
(1) Listed and labeled for the purpose.
NEW Listed and labeled products meeting this requirement have been available for a long time, and this change makes their use mandatory. The Listed products include the required terminal bars for properly connecting the bonding and grounding wires entering and leaving the boxes and enclosures.
680-22. Bonding.
(a) Bonded Parts
(1) All metallic parts of the pool structure, including the reinforcing metal of the pool shell, coping stones, and deck. The usual steel tie wires shall be considered suitable for bonding the reinforcing steel together, and welding or special clamping shall not be required. These tie wires shall be made tight. Where reinforcing steel is effectively insulated by a listed encapsulating nonconductive compound, at the time of manufacture and installation, it shall not be required to be bonded.
(2) All forming shells and mounting brackets of a no-niche fixture unless a listed low-voltage lighting system is used, not requiring bonding.
(b) Common Bonding Grid. The parts specified in (a) shall be connected to a common bonding grid with a solid copper conductor, insulated, covered, or bare, not smaller than No. 8. Connection shall be made by exothermic welding or by pressure connectors or clamps that are labeled as being suitable for the purpose and are of the following material: stainless steel, brass, copper, or copper alloy. The common bonding grid shall be permitted to be any of the following:
(4) Rigid metal conduit or intermediate metal conduit of brass or other identified corrosion-resistant metal conduit.
NEW & MODIFIED There are five additions and modifications here: in (a)(1), the use of epoxy-coated rebar is finally recognized. With this addition, the requirement to scrape off the coating at each tie-wire point is gone forever. In (a)(2), the new words acknowledge the existence of listed, transformer-isolated light assemblies now available that do not contain any metallic components to which a bonding connection could be made. In (b), we find two changes: the permission to use exothermic welding for making connections to a common bonding grid and the requirement that clamps and connectors be specifically labeled for the purpose. In (4), we find a totally new item: This wording permits the red brass conduit connected to a pool light to be considered as the “common bonding grid.
680-24. Grounding. The following equipment shall be grounded:
(1) Wet-niche and no-niche underwater lighting fixtures, other than those low-voltage systems listed for the application without a grounding conductor.
NEW This item was added to the list of equipment requiring grounding to acknowledge the fact that listed, transformer-isolated light assemblies are now available that do not contain any metallic components to which a grounding connection could be made.
680-25. Methods of Grounding.
(b) Pool Lighting Fixtures and Related Equip-ment
(2) The equipment grounding conductor shall be an insulated copper conductor and shall be installed with the circuit conductors in rigid metal conduit, intermediate metal conduit, liquidtight flexible nonmetallic conduit, or rigid nonmetallic conduit.
(3) Where installed on buildings, electrical metallic tubing shall be permitted to be used to protect conductors. Where installed within buildings, electrical nonmetallic tubing or electrical metallic tubing shall be permitted to be used to protect conductors.
(FPN) For requirements of electrical nonmetallic tubing, see Article 331
Exception: Where connecting to transformers for pool lights, liquidtight flexible metal conduit or liquidtight, flexible non-metallic conduit shall be permitted to be used when installed in accordance with Article 351 and does not exceed 6 ft (1.83 m) for any one length or 10 ft (3.05 m) of total length used.
NEW Items (2) & (3) are not new; rather, only minor editorial changes were made for 1999. I include them here to clarify the Exception, which is new. The intent of this exception is not only to make the initial installation of a light transformer easier, but also to facilitate the replacement of a defective transformer in the future. The use of short runs of flex conduit eliminates the struggle of trying to get rigid conduit to align with the conduit holes in a new transformer.
A hint: when reading items (2) & (3), it helps to realize there are four types of conduit referenced in (2) for general use, one type of tubing referenced in (3) that may be used when the installation is on a building, and two types of tubing referenced in (3) that may be used when the installation is in a building.
(d) Panelboards
(2) A panelboard at a separate building shall be permitted to supply swimming pool equipment if the feeder meets the requirements for grounding in Section 250-32. Where installed, an equipment grounding conductor shall be an insulated conductor.
NEW Prior to inclusion of this item, the grounding wire feeding the pool equipment had to start at the electrical service panel at the primary building on the property. This new item (2) permits connecting the pool equipment to a panelboard located in a separate building that may be available closer to the pool, provided that the original ground connection to that panelboard has been installed correctly.
D. Spas and Hot Tubs
680-38. Emergency Switch for Spas and Hot Tubs. A clearly labeled emergency shutoff or control switch for the purpose of stopping the motor(s) that provide power to the recirculation system and jet system shall be installed readily accessible to the users and at least 5 ft (1.52 m) away, adjacent to, and within sight of the spa or hot tub. This requirement shall not apply to single-family dwellings.
NEW I’m sure everyone is aware of the tragic happenings that prompted the creation of this new requirement. In most commercial environments, the whereabouts of the switches for the equipment are not readily apparent to users; this change serves as a remedy. Single-family dwellings are not included because it is assumed that the power switch is never far away and that the user is likely to know how to turn off the equipment. Note that this is for the circulation and jets pumps on spas and hot tubs only; if, however, a spa is operating from the same pump as a pool, this requirement applies to that pump as well.
680-41. Indoor Installations.
(a) Receptacles. At least one 125-volt, 15- or 20-ampere receptacle on a general-purpose branch circuit shall be located a minimum of 5 ft (1.52 m) from and not more than 10 ft (3.05 m) from the inside wall of the spa or hot tub.
(1) Receptacles on the property shall be located at least 5 ft (1.52 m) measured horizontallyfrom the inside walls of the spa or hot tub.
MODIFIED In (a), this is the same modification, for the same reason, as was made to 680-6(a)(2). In (1), the addition of the word horizontally clarifies the requirement. Without it, a receptacle mounted in a wall immediately adjacent to a spa and 5 feet above the water would be permitted – and dangerous.
680-42. Protection. The outlet(s) that supplies:
(a) a self-contained spa or hot tub, or
(b) a packaged spa or hot tub equipment assembly, or
(c) a field assembled spa or hot tub with a heater load of 50 amperes or less, shall be protected by a ground-fault circuit-interrupter.
A listed self-contained unit or listed packaged equipment assembly marked to indicate that integral ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection is provided for all electrical parts within the unit or assembly (pumps, air blowers, heaters, lights, controls, sanitizer generators, wiring, etc.) shall not require that the outlet supply be protected by a ground-fault circuit interrupter.
A field assembled spa or hot tub rated greater than 250 volts or rated 3 phase shall not require the supply to be protected by a ground-fault circuit interrupter.
A combination pool/hot tub or spa assembly commonly bonded need not be protected by a ground-fault circuit interrupter.
(FPN): See Section 680-4 for definitions of self-contained spa or hot tub and for packaged spa or hot tub equipment assembly.
MODIFIED When this item was written into Article 680 in the 1996 NEC, it neglected to reference field-assembled spas. Item (c) corrects that oversight, but it also recognizes that some field-assembled spas – large commercial systems, for instance – might use 3-phase pumps and large electric heaters for which Class A GFCIs are not available.
SPECIAL NOTE Due to an administrative glitch, the first printing of the 1999 NEC does not include the changes shown above. The National Fire Protection Association, which publishes the NEC, will be acknowledging this by publishing an errata document in the near future. I recommend that you go with the changes as shown here. I will report anything different in future issues of WaterShapes.
E. Fountains
680-57. Signs.
(a) General. Includes only fixed, stationary electrically illuminated utilization equipment with words or symbols designed to convey information or attract attention.
(b) Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupter Protection for Personnel. All circuits supplying the sign shall have ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection for personnel.
(c) Location. Any sign installed inside a fountain shall be at least 5 ft (1.52 m) inside the fountain measured from the outside edges of the fountain.
(d) Disconnect. Shall comply with Section 600-6.
(e) Bonding. Shall comply with Section 600-7.
(f) Grounding. Any equipment associated with the sign shall be grounded as per Article 250.
NEW Article 600 covers signs in general, while this new article is specific to signs installed inside of fountains and is intended to meet the increasing demand for advertising signs built into fountains.
680-62. Therapeutic Tubs (Hydrotherapeutic Tanks)
(a) Protection. The outlet(s) that supplies the following shall be protected by a ground-fault circuit interrupter:
(1) A self-contained therapeutic tub or hydrotherapeutic tank, or
(2) A packaged therapeutic tub or hydrotherapeutic tank, or
(3) A field-assembled therapeutic tub or hydrotherapeutic tank with a heater load of 50 amperes or less
A listed self-contained unit or listed packaged equipment assembly marked to indicate that integral ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection is provided for all electrical parts within the unit or assembly (pumps, air blowers, heaters, lights, controls, sanitizer generators, wiring, etc.) shall not require that the outlet supply be protected by a ground-fault circuit interrupter.
A field-assembled therapeutic tub or hydrotherapeutic tank rated greater than 250 volts or rated 3 phase shall not require the supply to be protected by a ground-fault circuit interrupter.
NEW This section is intended to align the GFCI protection requirements for therapeutic tubs with the similar requirements for spas and hot tubs, per 680-42.
G. HydroMassage Bathtubs
680-72. Accessibility. Hydromasssage bathtub electrical equipment shall be accessible without damaging the building structure or building finish.
NEW 680-72 is intended to prevent tub installers, carpenters, plumbers, masons and tile setters from forgetting that an inspector will insist on being able to inspect the equipment and that, someday, the equipment might need servicing.
680-73. Bonding. All metal piping systems, metal parts of electrical equipment, and pump motors associated with the hydromassage tub shall be bonded together using a copper bonding jumper, insulated, covered, or bare, not smaller than No. 8 solid.
Metal parts of listed equipment incorporating an approved system of double insulation and providing a means for grounding internal nonaccessible, noncurrent-carrying metal parts shall not be bonded.
NEW 680-73 provides the same bonding criteria for tubs as is found in pools and spas.
Jim McNicol was a technical consultant to the swimming pool, jetted bath and spa industries. He worked on development of equipment standards for pools and spas throughout his career and was honored for his service by the National Spa & Pool Institute.