Adapting to the Dual Hazardous Area Classification System

Twenty-five years after it was first proposed and after five years of heated debate, the 1996 National Electrical Code (NEC) includes a new way to classify hazardous areas contained in Article 505, “Class I Zones 0, 1 & 2 Locations” This article provides an alternative path to classify hazardous areas as Zones 0,1, and 2 instead of the traditional Division 1 and 2. Most North American design engineers and owners' representatives are only vaguely familiar with the differences in equipment design between the division and zone systems. Suppliers and testing laboratories face uncertainty in the direction and speed at which markets are likely to change. What will this mean to the end-users, installers, suppliers, and manufacturers of hazardous area equipment? Some see this as an opportunity to standardize installations globally. Others view this as a challenge to manufacture or supply new types of hazardous area equipment; many are waiting to see what happens.