Bill Text - HB85 (2017)

(New Title) relative to installation requirements for arc-fault circuit interrupters.


Revision: May 19, 2017, 9:50 a.m.

HB 85 - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

 

8Mar2017... 0016h

05/18/2017   1816s

2017 SESSION

17-0036

05/10

 

HOUSE BILL 85

 

AN ACT relative to installation requirements for arc-fault circuit interrupters.

 

SPONSORS: Rep. Proulx, Hills. 44; Rep. Beaudoin, Straf. 9; Rep. Hansen, Hills. 22; Rep. DiSilvestro, Hills. 9

 

COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration

 

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AMENDED ANALYSIS

 

This bill permits an arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) device to be replaced with a device without AFCI protection in certain circumstances.

 

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

8Mar2017... 0016h

05/18/2017   1816s 17-0036

05/10

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seventeen

 

AN ACT relative to installation requirements for arc-fault circuit interrupters.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1  New Section; New Hampshire Building Code; Installation of Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupters; Exception.  Amend RSA 155-A by inserting after section 3-b the following new section:

155-A:3-c  Installation of Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI); Exception.  

I.  Notwithstanding any provision of the state building code or state fire code requiring the installation of arc-fault circuit interrupters, after repeated tripping of an AFCI device and determination the branch circuit is not causing the AFCI to trip, an AFCI device may be replaced with one without AFCI protection in accordance with this section.

II.  All receptacle outlets supplied by the branch circuit without AFCI protection shall prior to occupancy either be:

(a)  Marked “No AFCI Protection;” or

(b) Identified in a notice given by the property owner to all occupants.

III.  If an electrician installs a device without AFCI protection, within 5 working days the electrician shall file an AFCI unwanted tripping report with the National Electrical Manufacturers Association on the association's webpage for arc fault breaker safety,  and shall submit a copy of the report to the property owner and the electricians' board.

IV.  The device without AFCI protection shall be permitted to remain in place for the period of time it takes for the manufacturer to resolve the matter.

V.   Nothing in this section shall prevent a homeowner from making electrical installations in or about a single family residence owned and occupied by him or her or to be occupied by him or her as his or her bona fide personal abode.

2  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect upon its passage.