WestCon Tribune

July Review

Construction Defect Litigation
vs.
National Electrical Code
Presented By: Rod Tosetti,
Tosetti Electrical Consultants

Westcon Past President, Rod Tosetti gave an excellent, and informative presentation at the July dinner meeting.

Mr. TosettiÕs presentation was a condensed version of a program he delivered in many areas of the country and most recently in Utah for the National Fire Protection Association World Conference. He started out by discussing how the construction defect litigation is affecting the National Electric Code and then examined the transition of a specific code section and the path that particular code section is taking today.

Using slides of a specific case he had worked on, Mr. TosettiÕs first topic showed how improper installation of electrical work on a boat dock created a hazardous situation. This first example was a three million dollar award to the plaintiff (even though the plaintiff had a pre-existing condition). This case opened discussion for:

What causes electrical defects?

  • Lack of education in the field of electrical theory.

  • Lack of education in the field of material installation.

  • Lack of continuing education in the interpretation and application of the National Electric Code.

  • Lack of respect for the deadly power an electrical system possesses. (110 volts can kill you.)

In his second topic of discussion, Mr. Tosetti explained how construction defect litigation is affecting the National Electric Code.

The legal interpretations are diluting the original intent of the code. The code is being applied differently throughout the country. The code is becoming a vacillating document when it was designed as a standard no matter where it was applied in the country. In a hand out, Mr. Tosetti had dialog from an actual deposition. The Supervising Electrical Inspector for the City (not named), was a high school graduate with an AA degree in Electrical Technology and had served a four year apprenticeship. He had held the City position for ten years. He was not certified by the ICBO in any areas and had never held an electrical contractor's license nor any other license. The Chief Electrical Inspector as well as the Supervising Electrical Inspector working for him had no electrical background. Although they have no background, they have the authority to make code decisions when it comes to the National Electrical Code.  Situations like this dilute the intent and purpose of the Code.

As an examination of the deterioration of the code principles, Mr. Tosetti took and analyzed a specific section of the code describing the installation of electrical boxes. In 1937 the code states in non-combustible walls, boxes can not be more than 1/4 from surface.  In walls constructed of combustible materials, the box must be flush with the surface of the wall. For sixty years, (which is twenty code cycles) this code element remained the same. In a 1999 electrical handbook, it was stated that drywall plaster and gypsum board are other noncombustible materials. A wall with metal or wood studs covered by drywall plaster or gypsum board are considered a wall of non-combustible material for the purpose of the section of this code.

In the  2002 code meetings, another change of the language of this same code section continued to degrade the construction methods that the code originally specified and talk about the surface of the walls and continuing to dilute the codes.

With slides backing up his points, and his extensive knowledge and experience in the industry, Mr. Tosetti brought some insightful information to the meeting.

 He also had everyone leaving the meeting to check their electrical outlets at home.