Michigan Has a Draft Rule to Move the State to the 2026 NEC

Michigan's Bureau of Construction Codes has a draft of its Part 8 electrical rules that would replace the 2023 National Electrical Code with the 2026 edition as the state electrical code. The draft is dated Aug. 19, 2026, carries the rule set number 2026-17 LR, and sits among the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs' currently open rules. By its own language, the rule set becomes effective 120 days after it is filed with the secretary of state.

The draft adopts the 2026 NEC, second printing, by reference, along with tentative interim amendments TIA 70-26-1 through 70-26-8, errata 70-23-1 through 70-23-6, and Annex H. It also moves NFPA 110 and NFPA 111, the standards covering emergency and stored-energy standby power systems, to their 2025 editions. Michigan's current Part 8 rules adopted the 2023 NEC, second printing, and took effect March 12, 2024, after being filed the previous November. Michigan adopts the NEC with state-specific amendments, deletions and additions rather than wholesale, and the draft continues that practice. The bureau held a public advisory meeting on it in Lansing on Aug. 27.

Two added rules carry commercial weight. R 408.30838 would require surge-protective devices on emergency and legally required standby systems, installed at the distribution equipment, with an exception for feeders under 25 feet. R 408.30870 would require a readily accessible disconnecting means on or within sight of air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment, with marking and rating requirements attached. The plan-review trigger in R 408.30819 is unchanged: plans are required once an electrical system exceeds 400 amperes at 1,000 volts or less and the calculated floor area exceeds 3,500 square feet. Permits continue to expire 180 days after issuance.

The licensing consequence is written into statute rather than into the code. Under MCL 339.5713 and MCL 339.5715, a master or journeyman electrician must complete a board-approved course covering any update or change to the state construction code within 12 months after that change, as a condition of renewal. The requirement applies only during and after years in which the code is updated, which is why it has been dormant since the window that followed the 2023 adoption. Journeyman and master licenses expire Dec. 31 each year; electrical contractor licenses run on a three-year cycle.

That makes the filing date, not the draft date, the one that matters. Filing starts the 120-day countdown, resets the continuing-education obligation for every licensed journeyman and master in the state, and changes the edition an inspector holds a job to on the day a permit issues. Texas moved to the 2026 NEC on Sept. 1 under an amended 16 TAC 73.100. If Michigan follows, crews working both states would be building to the same edition, while Michigan jobs permitted before the effective date stay under the 2023 code. The near-term work is in estimating and submittals: surge protection on standby distribution and the added disconnect requirement have to be priced into bids and drawn into plan sets before a reviewer sees them, which on a job of any size happens months ahead of the first inspection.

Until the rules are filed, the 2023 NEC remains Michigan's code of record.