The National Electrical Code (NEC, also called NFPA 70) is published by the National Fire Protection Association. It is a copyrighted document, and the NFPA does not allow it to be redistributed or embedded outside their own portal. We will not host or embed scanned copies here, and you should not trust any site that does – those are pirated and will eventually be taken down or, worse, contain modified text that fails inspection.

The good news: NFPA offers free, official, read-only access to the current NEC online. You need a free NFPA account (no payment, no credit card), and access is browser-only – you cannot download a PDF and you cannot search the whole document offline. For day-to-day code lookups that is enough.

Open the NEC online (free, official)

Open NFPA Free Access →

We open this in a new tab because NFPA’s portal sets browser-frame restrictions (X-Frame-Options: DENY) that prevent embedding. Every reputable site that links the free NEC has the same constraint – any “embedded codebook” you see elsewhere is either pirated or out of date.

How to use the free NFPA portal

  1. Click the orange button above. You will land on NFPA’s “Free Access” page.
  2. Pick NFPA 70 – National Electrical Code (it is the most-viewed document on the portal, usually right at the top).
  3. If this is your first visit, you will be asked to create a free NFPA account. Email + password, no payment.
  4. Once signed in, you can browse the full current edition by chapter, article, section, and table. Search inside the document is supported. Copy / paste and download are intentionally disabled by NFPA – this is the trade-off for the free access.

Which edition will I see?

NFPA’s free portal shows the most recent published edition of NFPA 70. As of April 2026 that is the 2023 edition; the 2026 edition is in the final ballot stage and will replace it on the portal once published. Check the cover page inside the reader for the edition year, because state and local jurisdictions adopt the NEC on a rolling cycle – your AHJ may still be enforcing the 2020 or 2017 edition.

To find out which edition your state has adopted, the NFPA maintains a state-by-state adoption map. Always design to the edition your AHJ enforces, not the latest published edition.

NEC vs NEC Handbook – what is the difference?

The free portal gives you the code itself: the enforceable rules, tables, and exceptions. That is what you need to design and pass an inspection.

The NEC Handbook is a separate, paid NFPA publication that contains the same code text plus:

  • Hundreds of figures and photographs showing real installations.
  • Article-by-article commentary from the NEC technical committees explaining the intent of each rule.
  • Worked examples for the most-misunderstood sections (220, 250, 310, 314, 430).
  • Highlighted changes from the previous edition.

If you do residential and light commercial work daily, the handbook earns its price back the first time it saves you a callback. The free read-only code does not include the figures or commentary.

NFPA sells the handbook in print and as a hosted digital subscription on their portal. We will not link a specific listing here because NFPA’s product URLs change between editions – go to nfpa.org and search for “NEC Handbook” plus the edition year your AHJ enforces. (We have no affiliate relationship with NFPA – this is just the only legitimate source.)

What to read first

The NEC is large. If you are new to it, these are the sections that come up most often on residential and light commercial work, in roughly the order they show up on a typical job:

  • Article 100 – Definitions. Read it once, then refer back. Half the disagreements between an inspector and a contractor are definitional.
  • Article 110 – General requirements. Working space, marking, temperature ratings (the famous 75 deg C terminations).
  • Article 210 – Branch circuits. AFCI, GFCI, receptacle spacing, kitchen and bathroom circuits.
  • Article 215, 220, 230 – Feeders, load calculations, services. Article 220 is the heart of the residential service-load calc.
  • Article 240 – Overcurrent protection. Standard ratings (240.6(A)) come up in every panel design.
  • Article 250 – Grounding and bonding. The single most cited and most commonly violated article.
  • Article 310 – Conductors. Table 310.16 is the ampacity workhorse.
  • Article 314 – Outlet, device, pull, and junction boxes. 314.16 is box fill.
  • Article 408 – Switchboards, switchgear, and panelboards. Working space, labeling, breaker fill.
  • Article 430 – Motors, motor circuits, controllers. Tables 430.247-250 (FLA), 430.22 (conductor 125%), 430.52 (OCPD).
  • Chapter 9 Tables 1, 4, 5, 8, 9 – Conduit fill, conductor properties, voltage drop. The reference tables every other chapter points back to.

How this site fits in

Reading the code is one thing. Doing the math fast in the field is another. We maintain a set of free, browser-only calculators that implement the most-used NEC tables, and a code lookup hub that maps NEC citations (310.16, 250.66, 250.122, 314.16, 430.22, 430.52, Chapter 9 Tables) to the calculator that does the arithmetic for you. Every result prints the NEC reference next to it so you can show your work.

If you want a printable cheat sheet for the two tables you reach for most often (310.16 ampacity and Chapter 9 conduit fill), our NEC 2023 Quick Reference: Conductor Ampacity & Conduit Fill PDF is sold separately – see the resources page for the current link.

What we will not do

  • Embed the NEC text or scanned pages here. NFPA’s copyright is real and enforceable.
  • Reproduce the NEC Handbook figures or commentary. Same reason.
  • Link to “free PDF” sites that rehost the code without NFPA’s permission. Those sites are pirated, sometimes outdated, and occasionally edited by hand – you do not want to design a service from one.

This page is informational. Code adoption and enforcement are jurisdictional. When in doubt, hire a licensed electrician or PE familiar with your AHJ’s adopted edition.