NFPA 70B is the standard for electrical equipment maintenance. This applies to equipment installed in accordance with NFPA 70 (NEC) standards (NFPA 70B 1.3) and addresses preventive maintenance (1.1). It does not cover consumer appliances intended primarily for the home (1.3.2).
For the typical maintenance technician, having a copy of this standard is not necessary. This is because the typical maintenance technician undergoes training, uses the procedures he writes, and performs specific maintenance tasks at intervals specified by the people for whom this standard was written.
For others, having a copy of this standard is essential. Maintenance planners, maintenance managers, maintenance engineers and CMMS managers need to know this standard. They should know this just as a master NEC electrician would be expected to know. This is true whether they are performing internal maintenance, contract maintenance, or working for specialized companies such as electrical testing companies.
The initial chapters are very short. Then you get to a series of chapters on testing, followed by Chapter Nine. This chapter talks about maintenance periods. The main feature of Chapter 9 is Table 9.2.2. This table contains approximately 4 full pages. To use it, you search for the type of asset you’re trying to hold (located in the Product column, sorted alphabetically). You then choose the scope of work from a list that may vary from just one job (e.g., thermal imaging) to several (e.g., visual inspection, mechanical service, electrical testing, etc.). Each will have an associated time interval. The mechanical maintenance interval for one product may differ from the mechanical maintenance interval for another product.
Chapter Ten relates to dangerous sites. Then, starting with Chapter 11, each chapter presents requirements for a specific type of asset (e.g., power and distribution transformers, buses, lighting, wiring equipment, etc.). This series ends with Chapter 36, Stationary Backup Batteries. Chapters 37 and 38 are “reserved” for instrument converters and control power converters, respectively.
This is followed by 13 appendices, from Appendix A to Appendix M, which provide detailed information. Three of them (Appendix C, D, E) are devoted to symbols, graphs, and figures (separately, and in that order). There is an appendix on reliability-based maintenance and another with case histories (including black and white photos).
