NFPA Journal - Fall 2021 - 49

CODES, STANDARDS
AND COMPLIANCE
and charging EVs, the NEC will be a
critical part of building that infrastructure.
The scope of the NEC
covers residential, commercial, and
industrial applications, and when you
consider the areas where EV charging
stations will be installed-homes,
businesses, public areas, and more-
the NEC is a perfect fit. But it can
only be perfect if jurisdictions use the
most up-to-date edition of the code,
the one that incorporates the latest
technology and is best suited to keeping
people and property safe.
Electric vehicles were introduced
into the NEC in 1996, 12 years
before Tesla Motors released its first
completely electric car. As you can
imagine, EV technology has changed
dramatically over the ensuing 25 years.
A new edition of the NEC is published
every three years, meaning there have
been eight new versions of the code
in which to incorporate an array of
changes related to EV technology. The
process of creating the 2023 NEC is
underway, and there is once again a
lot of activity around EVs. Article 625,
which covers electric vehicles, had
more than 60 public inputs submitted
that proposed changes or modifications
to the 2020 NEC. Most of those
proposals are intended to keep people
and property safe. If you're involved
in any way with EVs or EV infrastructure
and you're not working with the
most up-to-date NEC, you're missing
a critical tool that can help guide
you through this exciting but complex
element of the nation's electrical
ecosystem.
Last year, the International Code
Council (ICC) voted to approve a
change to its building standards that
would require all new homes built in
the United States to be " EV-ready " -a
move that will have a positive effect
toward implementing part of the
needed EV infrastructure. While the
building standard and the EV-ready
change would need to be adopted
legislatively to become a requirement,
growing consumer demand
will likely drive legislative approval.
Municipalities within Georgia,
Colorado, Washington, and California
have already implemented EV-related
building code requirements. There
is an additional cost for homes to be
EV-ready when built, but the investment
is minor compared to what the
price would be to retrofit an existing
home to accommodate EV charging.
Adopting building code requirements
that mandate EV-ready new
homes will make a large impact on
EV infrastructure needs in a timely
manner, while keeping costs down for
homeowners.
Steps like this only underscore the
need for adoption and utilization of
the latest edition of the NEC and other
up-to-date codes. By using the most
current codes, builders and lawmakers
can work together toward the extraordinary
goal of creating the nation's
EV infrastructure in a timely and safe
manner.
Corey Hannahs is an electrical content specialist
at NFPA. NFPA members and AHJs can use the
Technical Questions tab to post queries on NFPA 70 at
nfpa.org/70. To follow the progress on the upcoming
edition of the code, visit nfpa.org/70next.
thousands of people had gathered in
Meron, a small village in the north of
the country, for Lag B'Omer, a Jewish
religious festival. At one point, a large
number of attendees attempted to
move toward exits following a festival
event. But the walkways, passageways,
and other egress routes in the tightly
packed festival area could not accommodate
the crowds, and people began
to trip and fall as they tried to make
their way out. The massive crowd
behind them pushed ahead, causing
a fatal crowd crush. Forty-five people
were killed and more than 150 were
injured. [For more on the dynamics of
crowds at events like Lag B'Omer, see
" Perspectives " in this issue.]
NFPA 101®
, Life Safety Code®
, contains
provisions that help ensure the safe and
orderly movement of crowds during an
emergency. When these safety protocols
and features are neglected, it can
have a drastic impact on the efficiency
of egress response during events such
as fire or other emergencies.
In areas of assembly occupancies
NFPA 101
Life safety in new
and existing structures
Crowd safety
requirements in NFPA
101, Life Safety Code
By Kristin Bigda
A
s pandemic-related
restrictions are lifted
around the world, and as
large venues such as
stadiums, arenas, and
ballparks reopen to full capacity, the
safety challenges that come with the
presence of large crowds must not be
overlooked.
That was evident on April 30 in
Israel, when an annual religious celebration
turned into a tragedy. Tens of
larger than 10,000 square feet (930
square meters), the occupant load
cannot exceed one person per 7 square
feet (.65 square meters). This limit is
in place to avoid overcrowding, which
adversely affects the movement characteristics
of the occupants and the
efficiency of egress travel. Where occupants
are crowded into a space too
tightly, walking becomes a shuffle;
further crowding can lead to a complete
" jam point " such that all movement by
occupants comes to a stop.
Where the occupant load of an
assembly occupancy exceeds 6,000
people, a Life Safety Evaluation (LSE)
is required. The evaluation recognizes
that fixed protection and suppression
systems alone do not ensure safe egress
where large numbers of people are
present. The evaluation must include
an assessment of a minimum of 10
conditions as listed in Chapter 12 and
13 of the code. A new assembly venue
subject to an LSE must be assessed
prior to construction to ensure that the
needed physical elements are part of
NFPA .ORG/JOURNAL * NFPA JOURNAL | 49
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NFPA Journal - Fall 2021

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