Are your Electrical Specifications Ready for the Washington Cities Electrical Code?

The Washington Cities Listed below will be adopting a new set of Electrical Codes in the next few months.  The Washington Cities Electrical Code will be used to supplement the National Electrical Code (NEC).  The date that each city will be adopting the code will vary.

Section 110.16 of the new Washington Cities Electrical Code (WACEC) states that arc flash labels shall be attached to electrical equipment.   The labels must contain the Hazard Risk Category (HRC) and the Arc Flash energy level (cals/cm2).  This requirement goes above and beyond the Section 110.16 of the NEC.  The NEC allows generic Arc Flash labels warning only that there is a hazard.  The Washington Cities Electrical Code (WACEC) will not allow generic Arc Flash labels.

Arc Flash energies are based upon the available fault current at each piece of equipment and the time that it takes for the upstream device to operate (trip or blow).

SAMPLE ARC FLASH LABEL

An arc flash study can be performed only after:

• Utility information is known
• Transformer Size and Impedance
• Primary Protection (Mfg, Type, & Size)
• Minimum and Maximum available Primary Fault Current
• Protective device data  (Mfg, Type, & Size) to be installed or is already installed has been collected.
• Protective Device Coordination Study (breaker and relay settings) has been completed.

Proper specifications are extremely important to the success of any project.  Detailed Power System Study (Short Circuit, Protective Device Coordination, & Arc Flash) specifications will help to ensure the studies are performed accurately.  These studies must be preformed before the equipment is to be energized.

To assist you with this new requirement, we have created Power System Study Specifications.  These will help you and your company avoid many of the common pitfalls when specifying these important studies.  Please feel free to use these specifications for your projects.