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2023 Code Year: NEC 426

2023 Code Year NEC 426

NEC Article 426 details the safety requirements of deicing & snow melting equipment. Learn more about this equipment's ground fault protection requirements.

What is NEC 426?

National Electrical Code Article 426 spells out the electrical safety guidelines for all permanent outdoor electric deicing and snow melting equipment. This includes both “embedded” (underneath the structure, such as driveways, sidewalks, steps, and more) and “exposed” (on the exterior of the structure, such as roofs, drainage systems, bridges, and more) heating equipment, which can be seen as either heating cable or panels. There are a variety of subsections in Article 426, but one notes the need for ground-fault protection, which is subsection 426.28.

What is NEC Article 426.28?

NEC Article 426.28 tells what the required ground fault protection for any equipment that is categorized as deicing and/or snow melting equipment. It specifies that any fixed equipment in that category needs ground-fault protection, but states that the trip level should be dictated by the manufacturer of the equipment. While that isn’t a full explanation, we can assume that the trip level will be over the standard Class A (5 +/- 1 mA) ground fault trip threshold because if it did the Code would state it required a “Listed Class A GFCI”. We can infer this because snow melting/deicing equipment is prone to stray current leakage (due to its heating elements). A good rule of thumb should be to have protection with a trip level at or below 30 mA, as that is considered the highest stray current leakage a human can endure before becoming seriously injured.

What does this Code mean?

The main takeaway from this Code section is that, although it doesn’t state an exact trip level, you still need a degree of ground-fault protection to accompany heating equipment meant to deter ice and snow accumulation. It is also best practice, when not offered more information, to include ground fault protection equipment with a trip level at or below 30 mA to deter nuisance tripping while also protecting personnel, pedestrians, and the equipment itself.

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