The City of
Tempe is presently reviewing the 2006 International Building Codes and the
2008 National Electrical Code
with a
scheduled adoption date of July 1, 2008.
The reasons the
building codes are updated every three years is to keep pace with new
technologies that can be used to
help improve
the safety of our buildings and thereby help protect our citizens. One of
those emerging technologies is Arc
Fault Circuit
Protection for electrical circuits in residences. You have probably already
heard the term AFCI, referring to
Arc Fault
Circuit Interrupters, but you may not know their purpose, how they are used
to protect lives and property, how
they have been
improved since 1990, or even where current codes require them to be
installed.
An organization
called International Association of Electrical Inspectors has recently
published two very comprehensive
articles which
explain why AFCIs are being used and why the current code editions have
expanded their use. Please
take a moment
to read through the articles found in the links below.
Please do not
hesitate to contact me at 480 350-8670 if you have questions or wish to
comment on the articles.
Sincerely,
Michael J.
Williams, CBO
Building
Official
Deputy
Development Services Manager
