Fork it Over, Dude!
Fork it Over, Dude!
Fork it Over, Dude!
Fork it Over, Dude!
Fork it Over, Dude!

EC&M's Code Clusters

Dec. 6, 2013
Want to check out some of the worst wiring jobs ever? Visit EC&M magazine's Code Clusters.

Electrical Construction & Maintenance magazine, Electrical Wholesaling’s sister publication has always been the best source for information on the National Electrical Code – and for some of the most bizarre wiring jobs you will ever see.  In Code Clusters, a new online feature, EC&M has added a bunch of hilarious – but quite dangerous – wiring disasters to its Hall of Shame for National Electrical Code Violations. To give you a taste of them check out “Fork it Over, Dude”:

While performing work at a government site, Gary Hack of Benet Labs, Department of Army, New York, stumbled across this homemade heating unit that employees were using to flash cook their lunch. “I couldn’t find a UL label on it,” Hack wrote.

Although the NEC doesn’t specifically prohibit such a contraption, the situation does present some very serious personal safety concerns. One particular section of the Code worth reviewing is 110.3, Examination, Identification, Installation, and Use of Equipment. Section (A) of this rule focuses on examination and states in part, “In judging equipment, considerations such as: suitability for installation and use in conformity with the provisions of this Code, heating effects under normal conditions of use and also under abnormal conditions likely to arise in service, arcing effects, and other factors that contribute to the practical safeguarding of persons using or likely to come in contact with the equipment.”