NFPA Makes Ruling on Three TIAs Related to Sec. 210.8(F) of 2020 NEC

As EC&M reported here and here in June, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) issued two Tentative Interim Amendments (TIAs) to the 2020 edition of NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, which both sought to revise Section 210.8(F). New to the 2020 Code, Sec. 210.8(F) extends GFCI protection to outdoor outlet components of air-conditioning and heat pump systems and other equipment supplied by single-phase branch circuits rated 150V to ground or less, 50A or less.

Last year, several jurisdictions that adopted or planned to adopt the 2020 edition of the NEC discovered a problem of repeated tripping of GFCI breakers on newly installed HVAC units, tracing it to GFCI device incompatibility with certain types of HVAC equipment.

“Reports from builders, contractors, and inspectors of A/C units repeatedly shutting off, robbing homeowners of the ability to reliably control dwelling temperatures, and, in turn, exposing them to health risks as the summer cooling season arrives, have led several bodies to remove, alter, or postpone enforcement of Sec. 210.8(F) in their jurisdictions,” said Freelance Writer Tom Zind in his June 17 article covering this issue.

At its August 24-26 meeting, the Standards Council voted to deny the appeal requesting Council to overturn the ballot results and issue TIA No. 1564 on NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, 2020 Edition. In addition, the Standards Council also voted to deny the two appeals requesting them to overturn the ballot results and issue TIA No. 1589 on NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, 2020 Edition. The effect of this action is that the text of TIA No. 1564 and TIA No. 1589 will not be included in NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, 2020 edition.

Although the TIAs at issue in this appeal failed to achieve support from Panel 2 and the CC, TIA No. 1593 — which also relates to Section 210.8(F) — did gain the necessary support of Panel 2 and the CC and is being issued by Council. According to a statement released on September 10 by NFPA, “Appellants nonetheless express concern that TIA 1593 is too narrow. Council acknowledges the concerted and sustained effort by numerous stakeholders to find a mutually agreeable solution to the technical issues at hand. Therefore, the Council directs that NFPA Staff establish a Task Group of affected stakeholders including HVAC, mini-split and ground-fault circuit interrupter manufacturers, among other interested parties, to evaluate and reach an informed, technically substantiated resolution to the issues raised. The Council encourages the Task Group to submit a TIA for processing to the current edition and in parallel to the work being done within the next edition of the NEC, if appropriate.”

The full summary of the NFPA’s decisions on TIA No. 1564 and TIA No. 1589 can be found at https://bit.ly/3EMb4cv and https://bit.ly/3kxEFOS, respectively.