North Carolina Electrician PrepLicense, exam and code, in one place

Checked against primary sources 2026-09-05

The code is not the plain NEC

North Carolina Electrical Code Amendments: What Changed

North Carolina amends the National Electrical Code before it enforces it. For the 2020 edition the amendments live in two documents from the Office of State Fire Marshal, one from the original adoption and one published afterwards. This page names them, says what we could read in them and says plainly what we could not.

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On this page
  1. The two documents, by name
  2. The selective coordination amendment
  3. Why an amendment set matters more than it sounds
  4. The amendments and the examination
  5. The amendments already written for the next edition
  6. What we could not confirm
  7. Questions people ask
  8. What this page cites

The two documents, by name

The first is the 2020 State Electrical Code Amendments, compact version v3, marked original code adoption. It is the amendment set that came in with the code on 1 November 2021.

The second is 2020 Additional State Electrical Code Amendments, marked post code adoption. It is headed for the North Carolina Electrical Code, 2020 edition, and it carries changes made after the code was already in force.

Both are published by the Office of State Fire Marshal on its state electrical code page, and both are linked in the citations at the foot of this page. Read them yourself, because an amendment set is exactly the kind of document that should not be learned from a summary.

The selective coordination amendment

The additional amendments document carries a change to Article 100, revising the definition of selective coordination so that it applies to fault current events extending beyond 0.1 second.

That amendment had a delayed effective date of 1 January 2024. Before that date, enforcement officials could accept it as an alternate construction method at the owner's request, under section 102.5 of the North Carolina Administrative Code and Policies.

A definition amendment is quieter than a rule amendment and reaches further. Selective coordination is referenced by several systems articles, so a changed definition changes what those references mean.

Why an amendment set matters more than it sounds

A plain National Electrical Code is a base document here. The enforced document is that base plus these amendments, and an inspection is against the enforced document.

Amendments also do something a base code does not: they carry their own effective dates. The selective coordination change above took effect more than two years after the code it amends, which means two installations built to the same code edition can sit either side of an amendment.

So when you check a rule, check the date as well as the edition.

The amendments and the examination

The Board's Examination Information Handbook lists the National Electrical Code, 2020 edition, as the required reference. The reference list does not name the state amendment documents.

What it does name, on top of the code, is the Electrical Contractors Licensing Law in Chapter 87 Article 4 and the Board's rules in Title 21 NCAC 18B, both of them closed book study references.

So the state specific material on the paper is the licensing law and the Board's rules rather than the code amendments. Read what is on the exam for how the reference list maps onto the paper.

The amendments already written for the next edition

North Carolina has also published a 2023 State Electrical Code Amendments set, at version 3, for a code that is not in force.

Beside it sit published interpretations for the 2023 code covering Articles 702, 705, 706 and 710, which are optional standby systems, interconnected power sources, energy storage systems and stand alone systems.

Those documents are useful for seeing where the state is heading. They are not the enforced document today. The next edition page covers the status of the 2023 code.

What we could not confirm

We opened the Office of State Fire Marshal's electrical code page and the additional amendments document. We did not read the full compact amendment set line by line.

So this page does not list every North Carolina change to the 2020 code, and it should not be used as though it did. It names the documents, gives you the links and describes the one amendment we read in full.

If a job turns on a specific amendment, open the document itself, and ask the local inspections office how they are applying it. Our corrections page logs every change we make to a fact on this site.

Questions people ask

Does North Carolina amend the NEC?

Yes. The Office of State Fire Marshal publishes amendment documents that sit on top of the adopted edition, and the enforced code is the base edition plus those amendments.

Where are the North Carolina electrical code amendments published?

On the Office of State Fire Marshal's state electrical code and interpretations page. For the 2020 edition there is a compact amendments document from the original adoption and an additional amendments document published afterwards.

What did the selective coordination amendment change?

It revised the Article 100 definition so that selective coordination applies to fault current events extending beyond 0.1 second, with a delayed effective date of 1 January 2024.

Are the state amendments on the exam?

The Board's reference list names the National Electrical Code, 2020 edition, and does not name the state amendment documents. The state specific material it does name is the licensing law and the Board's rules, and both are closed book.

Are there amendments for the 2023 code?

Yes. A 2023 State Electrical Code Amendments set at version 3 is published, along with interpretations covering Articles 702, 705, 706 and 710, for a code that is not yet in force.

Does this page list every amendment?

No. We read the additional amendments document and the code page, not the full compact amendment set. Open the documents themselves for anything a job turns on.

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What this page cites

If your book is the other edition

The 2023 to 2026 section crosswalk maps every section that moved, both directions, $29 once.

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Every rule here is cited to the section it comes from, and corrections are logged in public with the date. This is study material rather than electrical advice, and it does not replace your own code book or your inspector.

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