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NFPA grants free online access to the National Electrical Code: https://www.nfpa.org/NEC/About-the-NEC/Free-online-access-to-the-NEC-and-other-electrical-stand

• mindslight 8y ago
  ... so goes their argument. Yet for their "free online access", the first thing one is greeted with is a requirement to make an account, presumably entering into a contract, meaning it's not Free. In addition to pegging your CPU because you have to use a javascript browser to view it, terrible navigation controls, and most likely preventing copypasting, and printing. From a practical user-friendliness perspective, I'd really just suggest torrenting the pdf and getting on with your project. If one doesn't actually want to digest dense technical specifications, I'd recommend a practical book distilling the subject down to what's relevant. The local library likely has such books, along with a copy of the full NEC. If you were simply trying to be helpful by pointing out a practical avenue of access, then the following rebuttal isn't directed at you. But from an abstract legal perspective, the whole point is that a private entity should never have the privilege of owning the law, and them being kind and gifting some limited form of access does not change this.
• noughth 8y ago
  While this is technically true, you are expressly forbidden from printing it or saving a local copy. Moreover, they are not made available in a format that is searchable or otherwise conducive to actually finding what you want. In other words, if you want to actually use them without being constantly annoyed, you'll have to pay up.