My NFPA 70E

The Scope statement establishes the fact that Article 90 covers the use, application, and arrangement of NFPA 70E.  The Scope statement is simple and to the point.  Use and application details can be found in Section 90.3 and arrangement details in 90.4.

2024 Changes

Prior to NFPA 70E-2024, the scope was found in 90.2 and included two first level sub-divisions consisting of (A) and (B) which addressed what is covered and what is not covered respectively. The Scope provided information related to the document itself and not Article 90.  NFPA 70E-2024 introduced Section 90.1 titled “Scope” that replaced the previous 90.2 Scope and only focused on the scope of Article 90 and not the entire NFPA 70E standard.  It cannot be claimed that the existing 90.2 was simply moved to 90.1 because the contents of 90.2 are not included in the new 90.1.  The previous contents of 90.2 can now be found as part of new 90.3, “Use and Application.” 

This new scope tells the user of NFPA 70E-2024 that Article 90 addresses the use, application, and arrangement of the standard.  The Scope statement no longer applies to the entire document but rather only applies to what the contents of Article 90 provide.  

Impact of Change

Documents that reference sections within Article 90 will have to be reviewed to ensure they align with the new numbering of sections within the Article.  Because of the shift of all numbering due to the addition of a new 90.1, “Scope”, all other sections increased by one.  References made to these sections by documents that could consist of training books and presentations as well as any safety plans will have to be updated with the new section numbers. The addition of 90.1 providing the Scope of Article 90 does not impact the enforcement of NFPA 70E.

Reason for Change

This change was necessary to comply with the National Electrical Code Style Manual.  The 2020 version of the National Electrical Code Style Manual establishes document structure and number in Chapter 2.  Section 2.1.1 the National Electrical Code Style Manual identifies that Article 90 contains the scope, the purpose and any administrative provisions. Section 2.2.1 states “Each article shall have a scope, which shall be the first section of the article. Where an article has multiple parts, the scope shall be the first section in Part I. The approval of article scope statements is the responsibility of the National Electrical Code Correlating Committee.”