NFPA 79-2018 PDF Download

NFPA 79-2018 is a critical standard that provides guidelines for preventing electrical incidents and unplanned shutdowns in industrial settings. This standard is aligned with the National Electrical Code (NEC) and NFPA 70E, ensuring the safety of operators, equipment, facilities, and work-in-progress.

The 2018 edition of NFPA 79 introduces several updates to address new technologies and industry concerns. Some of the key changes include replacing "600 volts" with "1000 volts" to align with the NEC, revised and new definitions reflecting current terminology, and the inclusion of a new requirement for marking the main disconnecting means as "machine supply circuit disconnect" if it supplies multiple disconnecting means on the machine.

Additionally, the revised standard allows the external mounting of the machine supply circuit disconnecting means up to 20 ft. away, permits the rating of short-circuit protective devices to be determined by the drive's rated input current for adjustable speed drives suitable for output conductor protection, and introduces a requirement for surge protection devices (SPDs) in Section 7.8.1.

The standard also revises the title of Chapter 8 to include "Bonding," clarifies the connection of the grounded conductor to the equipment grounding conductor, emphasizes that all parts of the effective ground-fault current path must withstand the thermal and mechanical stress caused by fault currents, and provides clarity on the working space conditions of industrial machines and machine tools in Chapter 11.