- Author
- Meese, W. J. | Cilimberg, R. L. | Camacho, A. A.
- Title
- Preliminary Approach to Performance Requirements and Criteria for Electrical Connections in Residential Branch Circuit Wiring.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC
- Sponsor
- Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC
- Report
- NBSIR 75-672, March 1975, 35 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
- branch circuits | electrical codes | electrical connections | fire safety | housewiring | contact resistance | performance testing | operation breakthrough
- Abstract
- During the Operation BREAKTHROUGH Research and Demonstration program the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development became concerned with the inability to properly evaluate innovative electrical connections. Innovation in electrical connections has been very slow because of the long-life requirements, stringent fire safety requirements, long established conventional practices and evaluation procedures and lack of a performance base for describing requirements. This preliminary report presents the framework for a proposed method to evaluate electrical connections on a performance basis and supplements information contained in a previous report on current technology of electrical connections used in residential branch circuit wiring. Innovations involving electrical connections may lead to significant advancements in housing construction if it can be demonstrated that functional and safety requirements over the expected life of electrical connections were adequately satisfied. Research is needed to enable prediction of long-term performance of electrical connections based on the results of accelerated performance tests.