Checked against primary sources 2026-09-04

2023 vs 2026 NEC: The Changes That Matter in Texas

Fifteen changes, one short paragraph each, and a link to the page on this site that carries the citation. Plus the one line Texas rewrote on the way in.

Quiz yourself: did this section move?

How to use this page

This is a summary, and a summary is the wrong place to settle anything. Every paragraph below links to the page on this site that carries the citation for it, and that page names the section number and the document it was read in.

Nothing on this page is new work. If a change is not here, it is because we have not verified it rather than because it did not happen.

The changes, one paragraph each

The renumbering

Two articles changed address. Article 220 became Article 120 and Article 750 became Article 130, both moving into Chapter 1, and the nine chapters themselves were not renumbered. Sections also slid inside Articles 300, 312 and 450, by different amounts, and Article 410 did not slide at all. The renumbering map.

Load calculations

The move to Article 120 is the easy half. Inside the new article the dwelling unit minimum unit load became two figures: 3 volt-amperes per square foot for calculating branch circuits at 120.13, and 2 for the feeder and service calculation at 120.41. Reaching for one where the other belongs gives you a number that looks reasonable. Load calculations in the 2026 edition.

The medium voltage split

Article 235 is not in the 2026 book. Branch circuits, feeders, outside branch circuits and feeders, and services over 1000 volts are now Articles 265, 266, 267 and 268, and grounding and bonding above the threshold is Article 270. Four more articles in the same project arrived a cycle earlier, in 2023. Where everything over 1000 volts went.

The limited energy restructure

The low-voltage and signaling articles were rebuilt as a set. Articles 721, 723 and 742 are new numbers, Article 722 widened to take in communications cables, and Article 770 for optical fiber is not in the 2026 book. The limited-energy rewrite.

Article 750 reused

Article 750 still exists and now means something else. Through the 2023 edition it was energy management systems; in 2026 it is grounding and bonding of limited-energy systems, and energy management is Article 130. A tab there lands on real code answering a question you did not ask. The 750 case in detail.

Other reused numbers

Three more numbers behave the same way. Article 720 changed subject, 450.3 now holds a reserved template heading with transformer overcurrent protection at 450.5, and 300.4 changed title with physical damage now at 300.6. All four, with both ends checked.

The new articles

Thirteen article numbers appear in the 2026 edition that a 2023 book does not have. Twelve of them are new addresses for material that already existed, and one, Article 624, covers subject matter the code has never carried. Every new number, and where each came from.

Networked breakers at 240.6(D)

This one is on most 2026 change lists and does not belong there. The rule for a breaker whose trip setting can be adjusted over a network is in the 2023 edition, and no 2026 revision touched it. Why the date matters.

The GFCI sunset timing

The national text prints an expiration of September 1, 2026 inside the outdoor ground-fault exception at 210.8(F) Exception No. 2, and the proposal that would move that date to 2028 was still taking comment on September 9. Texas is not affected either way, for the reason in the next section. The nine day gap.

Grounding changes

Article 250 kept its number and lost the over-1000-volt material to Article 270, and 250.4(A)(5) on effective ground-fault current paths became three lettered items. The sizing ceilings at 250.66 still catch people. Article 250 in the 2026 edition.

Motor changes

Article 430 kept its sizing method and gained one section, 430.132, which bars a ground-fault circuit interrupter between the output terminals of power conversion equipment and the motor. It arrived by amendment before the book was printed, so it is already in a new 2026 copy. Article 430 this cycle.

Rules that do not start yet

Some requirements are printed and adopted and still do not apply until a stated later date. Four had already started before Texas took the edition, and six run to 2029 and 2032. The delayed dates we found.

The change marks in the margin

The book marks revisions, deletions and new material, and none of the four marks is a moved-material mark. This is the cycle where moved material is the expensive part, so the marks are least useful exactly where you need them most. What the marks show and what they miss.

Amendments issued after printing

NFPA amended the 2026 edition eight times. Seven of those were folded in before the book was printed and one was not, and nothing on the printed page tells you which is which. The eight, with their dates.

How often this happens

Every three years for the book, and later than that for the state. The gap between the two is the normal state of things rather than a delay. The cycle, and why a state runs behind.

The one Texas amendment

Texas did not adopt the 2026 edition clean. 16 TAC 73.100(b) picks up the ground-fault exception for listed heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment at outdoor dwelling outlets, and leaves out the expiration date printed in the national text.

That is not a two year extension. It is the absence of an end date, which behaves differently, and it means the day the newer edition takes effect here is also the day the national sunset does not. What else the adoption changed.

Local amendments still stack on top of the state rule, and a city can be stricter. Treat the state position as the floor.

What did not change

Most of the book. Ampacity is still Article 310, overcurrent is still Article 240, grounding and bonding is still Article 250, motors are still Article 430, boxes are still Article 314, and Chapter 9 is still the tables.

The relearning is concentrated at the two ends of the book, at the front where Chapter 1 took in load calculations and energy management, and at the back where the limited-energy material was rebuilt. Chapters 3 through 6 came through with far less disturbance.

Which is the useful shape of this edition. Knowing where the change is concentrated is most of the saving.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between the 2023 and 2026 NEC?

Mostly addresses rather than arithmetic. Two articles moved into Chapter 1, the over-1000-volt material came out of the general articles into a parallel set, the limited-energy articles were rebuilt, and four numbers were kept and refilled with a different subject. The list above links the page carrying the citation for each one.

Do I need a new code book for the 2026 edition?

For an exam sat after September 1, 2026, yes, because the Texas examinations reference the 2026 edition from that date. For work, the edition follows the permit, or the day work started where no permit was needed, so a 2023 book can still be correct for a job in progress. The book check shows what moved between the edition you own and this one.

Which edition does the Texas electrician exam use?

The 2026 edition from September 1, 2026, which is the same date the state adopts it. Before that date the examinations are referenced to the 2023 edition. There is more on the two dates and how they line up on the page for which edition applies.

Did the load calculation numbers change?

One of them did. The dwelling unit minimum unit load for feeders and services is 2 volt-amperes per square foot at 120.41, where the 2023 book had a single figure of 3. Branch circuits kept 3, at 120.13, so there are now two figures where there used to be one.

Is Article 220 gone?

The number is. Branch-circuit, feeder and service load calculations are Article 120 in the 2026 edition and Article 220 is not used, so every citation anyone memorized for a load calculation points at nothing. The method underneath did not change.

What did Texas change when it adopted the 2026 edition?

One thing. 16 TAC 73.100(b) adopts the outdoor ground-fault exception for listed heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment without the expiration date the national text prints inside it. Everything else was adopted as NFPA approved it on September 9, 2025.

What this page cites

• NEC Articles 120 and 130 Both present in the 2026 text, in Chapter 1. Searching the same text for Article 220 and for Article 235 returns nothing, which is what settles that those two numbers are not in use. Read September 4, 2026.
• NEC 120.13 and NEC 120.41 The two dwelling unit minimum unit loads, for branch circuits and for feeders and services. Read September 4, 2026, and set out with their sources on the load calculations page. source
• NEC Articles 265, 266, 267, 268 and 270 The over-1000-volt set, each present in the 2026 text with its own scope section naming the threshold. source
• NEC Articles 720, 721, 722, 723, 725, 726, 742, 750 and 772 The limited-energy set as the 2026 text prints it. A search of the same text for Article 770 returns nothing. Read September 4, 2026. source
• NEC 240.6(D) Remotely accessible adjustable-trip circuit breakers, present in the 2026 text and in the 2023 edition before it. source
• NEC 430.132 The new motors section, present in the 2026 text, added by amendment before printing. source
• NEC 250.4(A)(5) and NEC 250.66 The effective ground-fault current path items and the grounding electrode conductor sizing ceilings. source
• NEC 210.8(F) Ground-fault protection at outdoor outlets, and the exception carrying its own expiration date in the national text. source
• NEC Article 624 Present in the 2026 text, the one article this cycle covering subject matter the code has not carried before. source
• 16 TAC 73.100 Texas adoption of the 2026 edition effective September 1, 2026, with the one Texas amendment at subsection (b). source