Making Sense of the 2019
California Electrical & Energy
Codes Updates
W R I T T E N B Y D A N I E L I H L E N F E L DT, P E , L E E D A P A N D A N D R E W S M I T H
California Code Basics
Electrical Codes are an essential part of electrical
engineering and construction in the modern world.
At a minimum, codes ensure that everyone is safe
from electrical hazards, and electrical systems are
interoperable. The United States has a national
code making body organized by the National Fire
Protection Agency (NFPA), that is responsible for
releasing a new version of the National Electric
Code (NEC) every three years. The California
Building Standards Commission (CBSC) has six
Code Advisory Committees (CACs) specifically
knowledgeable in the proposed California building
standards. CACs provide special technical review of
proposed building standards including the electrical
code and provide recommendations and changes to
the CBSC and state proposing agencies for review
and adoption. The California Electrical Code (CEC)
is released incorporating changes approved by the
CBSC two years after the NEC released.
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must be included in projects. The first California
Energy Code was released in 1978 and the code has
been updated regularly since then. The energy code
is colloquially referred to as Title 24 and is published
on a three-year cycle. The 2019 California Energy
Code will go into effect at the same time as the
California Electrical Code.
2019 Electrical Code Changes
While many changes to the electrical code are minor
clarifications such as definition updates or slight
modifications of wording, there are a few changes
every code cycle which can drastically affect
designs for the built environment and 2019 is no
exception.
Currently, the NEC has released the 2017 version
of the national code. The 2019 CEC is based on
the 2017 NEC and will go into effect on January
1, 2020. Any projects submitted to review bodies
(e.g., city building departments, OSHPD, DSA, etc.)
before that date are subject to the 2016 release of
the California Electrical Code. The code the project
is reviewed under is not dependent on the date the
project receives final approval, but when it’s first
accepted into the review system. This is important to
understand and ensure that projects are submitted
to plan check before the code changes to avoid
unnecessary redesign. The most significant changes owners need to be
aware of in the 2019 code cycle have to do with
increased awareness of the risk of arc flash in
electrical equipment. After extensive research
performed by industry groups, the calculation
used to perform arc flash studies was updated and
now requires the configuration of the electrical
equipment to be included in the calculation.
Along with configuration information, the new
calculations use different formulas to calculate the
incident energy. This change in the code can result
in different protective equipment and approach
boundaries than the calculations performed under
past versions of the code. These changes will require
arc flash studies in the future to include equipment
configurations. New arc flash studies will be required
when the warning labels need to be updated for any
reason.
In addition to the CEC, California releases an energy
code that must be followed for new construction
and remodeling projects within the state. The energy
code dictates specific energy saving features that Code section 240.87 describes the requirements
for arc incident energy reduction for systems
with circuit breakers larger than 1200 Amperes,
which includes most large electrical installations.