State will require electronic breakers all through houses

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Circuit breakers rule may bend

A state agency is poised to roll back a requirement that all new homes use a special circuit breaker designed to prevent fires.

The Building Code Council is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to reverse an earlier requirement that the breakers be installed for all rooms in new homes. The breakers electronically sense fluctuations in current that could be caused by a frayed in-wall wire. Such conditions could generate heat and ignite.

But the devices are expensive and unproven, say those who want to roll back the requirement.

Perdue favors requiring anti-fire circuits

Gov. Beverly Perdue supports a building code requirement for an electronic switch designed to prevent house fires.

On Friday, Perdue sent a letter to Dan Tingen, the chairman of the Building Code Council, which sets building codes for the state. The council has been considering whether to roll back a requirement that arc fault circuit interrupters be used for all rooms of new homes. The council appeared ready to roll back that requirement until Perdue asked for a delay.

The devices replace regular circuit breakers and are designed to sense fluctuations in current that could lead to a fire. Opponents, mostly from the homebuilding industry, say the devices add hundreds of dollars to the cost of a home and can trip when devices such as ceiling fans are turned on.

Faults and fires

For months, North Carolina homebuilders have been itching to overturn a new building code requirement meant to cut down on electrical fires. The hammer was expected to meet the nail this week, at a meeting of the state Building Code Council.

Instead, last-minute intervention by the Governor's Office led to a postponement of the vote until September. No reason was cited, but the effect of putting off a vote is to keep the new electrical safety rule in place -- and that's a good thing. Backing off to save a relatively small sum per new house would be a mistake.

At issue are devices called arc fault circuit interrupters. They're like the ground fault interrupters found in many bathrooms and kitchens, only the arc fault devices are designed to protect against electrical fire hazards, not shocks.

Don't pull the plug on a fire-safety gain

Last year North Carolina took an important step to improve fire and electrical safety in residential construction by becoming one of the first states to adopt the 2008 National Electrical Code. Nationally recognized safety organizations and fire and electrical safety advocates across the state stressed the importance of adopting the code -- and its key provisions for reliable technologies that improve fire safety in the home.

One such technology now in place in North Carolina is an innovative fire protection device called an AFCI, or arc fault circuit interrupter. Simply put, an AFCI is an electronic circuit breaker designed to prevent electrical fires by detecting a potentially dangerous wiring condition in the home -- a condition that standard circuit breakers do not protect against.

However, despite the proven reliability and safety, political pressure is threatening their removal when the N.C. Building Council convenes tomorrow.

Circuit breaker vote is put off until September

At the request of the governor's office, a state agency delayed action Tuesday on a change to building codes that could roll back the use of a type of circuit breaker that could help prevent fires.

The chairman of the state Building Code Council said he received a call from the governor's office before the meeting Tuesday telling the council not to vote on the change. The council will take up the issue when it meets in September.

"This is their chance to understand what appears to be a controversial issue," said Dan Tingen, a Wake County homebuilder and the council's chairman.