NEC 90.14: before 2023

What Article 90 Looked Like Before 2023

Before the 2023 cycle, Article 90 of the NEC wrapped up at 90.9, Units of Measurement. The Introduction ran lean: purpose, scope, code arrangement, enforcement, rule types, formal interpretations, examination of equipment, wiring planning, and measurement units. That was it.

If you pulled a 2017 or 2020 codebook off the truck and flipped to 90.14, you found nothing. The section didn't exist. Any guidance that now lives under 90.14 was scattered across Chapters 1 and 11, or handled by product standards and the AHJ.

The pre-2023 Article 90 sections you worked from looked like this:

• 90.1 Purpose, including 90.1(C) Relation to Other International Standards
• 90.2 Scope, covering what the NEC does and does not apply to
• 90.4 Enforcement, giving the AHJ authority over interpretation and special permission
• 90.5 Mandatory Rules, Permissive Rules, and Explanatory Material
• 90.7 Examination of Equipment for Safety, pointing to listing and labeling
• 90.9 Units of Measurement, SI and inch-pound

The Gap 90.14 Filled

The 2023 cycle added 90.14 to address reconditioned equipment at the Article 90 level, tying the Introduction to the product evaluation language that had been growing inside 110.21(A)(2) and various article-specific rules. Before that addition, reconditioning was an article-by-article patchwork.

Pre-2023, if a customer wanted to drop a rebuilt 1200A breaker back into a switchboard, you worked from 110.21(A)(2) for marking, from the specific equipment article for whether reconditioning was even permitted, and from 90.7 for the listing question. Nothing in Article 90 itself tied the concept together.

Field tip: on jobs under a pre-2023 code, don't assume silence means permission. Many equipment articles in the 2017 and 2020 editions already prohibited reconditioning of specific gear, for example molded-case breakers under 240.82 language and GFCI devices. Check the article before the Introduction.

Where Pre-2023 Electricians Found Similar Rules

If you're on a jurisdiction still enforcing 2017 or 2020, the topics 90.14 now anchors were sitting in these places. Know them cold so you can answer an inspector without flipping the book for five minutes:

1. NEC 90.7 for examination, identification, listing, and labeling of equipment
2. NEC 110.2 for approval of conductors and equipment by the AHJ
3. NEC 110.3(A) and 110.3(B) for installation and use per the listing
4. NEC 110.21(A)(2) for reconditioned equipment marking
5. NEC 110.12 for mechanical execution of work, which inspectors often cite when damaged gear shows up

That list is what you lean on when a 90.14 question comes up on a pre-2023 job. None of those sections disappeared in 2023. The 2023 addition layered on top, it didn't replace them.

Jurisdictions Still on Older Code Cycles

Adoption is not uniform. As of early 2026, plenty of states and counties are still enforcing the 2020 NEC, and a handful remain on 2017. Before you quote 90.14 to a foreman or an inspector, confirm which cycle applies on that jurisdiction's permit.

Check the permit, the stamped plan set, and the state electrical board's adopted edition. If the job was permitted under the 2020 cycle, the 2020 rules govern that project even after the state moves to 2023 for new permits. The code in force is the code on the permit.

Field tip: keep a one-page cheat sheet in the truck listing the adopted NEC edition for every county you work. Nothing kills a Friday like arguing reconditioning rules under the wrong edition on a red-tag callback.

What Actually Changed for the Working Electrician

For day-to-day rough-in and trim, the pre-2023 absence of 90.14 didn't matter. You worked from 110.3, you installed listed equipment per its instructions, you followed the article-specific rules for the gear in front of you. That workflow still holds.

Where the pre-2023 gap bit electricians was on service upgrades involving salvaged or rebuilt gear, industrial retrofits where reconditioning was the business model, and any job where a spec called out reconditioned equipment without the article context. Without 90.14 to anchor the concept, disputes went straight to the AHJ under 90.4 and 110.2.

If you're training a new apprentice on a pre-2023 jurisdiction, teach them this order of operations:

• Confirm the code cycle adopted for the permit
• Check the specific equipment article for reconditioning language
• Verify listing and labeling under 90.7 and 110.3
• Look for 110.21(A)(2) markings if the gear claims to be reconditioned
• When in doubt, get the AHJ on the phone before energizing

That sequence carries forward into 2023 and later cycles. 90.14 gave the topic a front-of-book home. It did not change the practical checks you run on the install.