NFPA 70E 2015
NFPA 70E 2015
(OP)
Hello:
Do PEs have to use the latest version of SKM, ETAP, DesignBase, et al that have the 2015 update of NFPA 70E or can they use the versions that only have the 2012 update?
Jimmy2, PE
Do PEs have to use the latest version of SKM, ETAP, DesignBase, et al that have the 2015 update of NFPA 70E or can they use the versions that only have the 2012 update?
Jimmy2, PE






RE: NFPA 70E 2015
If you are calculating arc flash based on IEEE 1584 equations, the changes in the 2015 NFPA 70E will not change the incident energy or arc flash boundary calculation. The information on the label could be impacted.
I'm guessing you already know what the right answer is.
RE: NFPA 70E 2015
Yes, I do know the answer.
A PE was hired and he did an analysis in January/2015 using ETAP 12.6 which uses the 2012 version of NPFA 70E. I have no misgivings about his calculations, but the NFPA 70E 2015 had already arrived and all the major software houses, ETAP included, had updated their software.
It seems to me that as PE's we are ethically obligated to use the latest updated software to perform an arc flash study and print labels conforming to the latest revision of NFPA 70E.
Jimmy2, PE
RE: NFPA 70E 2015
RE: NFPA 70E 2015
Typically Codes are adopted to a project based on when the Purchase Order was signed or as dpc said if the engineering scope was written in a language that points to a specific adoption. Ethically, if the consultant has a maintenance argeement on the Power System Analysis software then they should maintain the latest codes, but if that project was at the end of a code release and the delivery occurs in the new release I would not expect the finished project to adhere to the current release. If the study was not too labor intensive then the PM could use discretion to adopt the latest I code.