Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07

For somebody who learned on the 2017 book

Wisconsin 2017 to 2023 NEC Changes: Section by Section

This page is written for an electrician whose habits were formed on the 2017 edition. It follows DSPS rule documents subject by subject, names the section numbers involved, and says what each rule is about rather than reproducing any code text.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

What this page is, and what it is not

Two different things changed on September 1, 2026. The national document Wisconsin adopts went from the 2017 edition to the 2023 edition, and Wisconsin's own changes to that document were rewritten by rule CR 26-016.

What follows is the second one, because it is the part DSPS documented in public and the part nobody else is writing about. It comes from the department's report to the legislature and its rule draft.

For the first one, the differences inside the national document itself, you need the two books side by side. We do not reproduce National Electrical Code text or tables here, and no honest summary can replace reading the rule in your own copy.

One more limit worth stating. We could not read the enrolled rule text, and the codified chapter online has not been restamped, so the post-update wording of any individual SPS 316 section is unconfirmed. Section numbers below are reliable. Wording is not.

The stated objective

DSPS's report to the legislature puts it in one sentence: "The objective of the rule is to update Wisconsin's Electrical Code, ch. SPS 316, to reflect current national standards, to update administrative and enforcement aspects of the program, and to update and clarify outdated regulations and provisions."

Note the three parts of that. The edition change is only one of them, and the administrative and enforcement changes are the ones a working electrician meets first.

Emergency disconnects, NEC 225.41 and NEC 230.85

This is the change to know if you wire houses. The rule "creates exceptions to emergency disconnect requirements in NEC 225.41 and NEC 230.85," exempting one and two family dwellings from the exterior emergency disconnect mandate. DSPS records the reason as cost grounds raised by the National Association of Home Builders.

Those two sections are the emergency disconnect rules, one sitting with outside branch circuits and feeders and the other with services. If you learned on the 2017 book you will not have met them, because the requirement arrived in a later edition.

So the practical position in Wisconsin is that the newer national requirement applies with a Wisconsin exception carved out of it for one and two family dwellings. Read both sections in your own copy alongside SPS 316 before you rely on that.

Permits and inspection records, SPS 316.012 and SPS 316.013

The rule "clarifies that a permit is required to install electrical wiring on vacant land or in any structure, unless exempted." That is SPS 316.012 territory, and vacant land is the part people do not expect.

It also creates "a new requirement for municipal recordkeeping of inspections," which sits with SPS 316.013.

Both were created rather than amended, according to the change list in the rule report, along with SPS 316.020 and SPS 316.230(3)(c).

Authority having jurisdiction, and hazards, SPS 316.006(1e)

CR 26-016 created a definition of "authority having jurisdiction," described as an "organization, office, or individual responsible for enforcing the requirements of a code or standard," with departmental authority superseding lower level interpretations per statute.

Beside it sits a hazard provision, quoted from the rule report: "When a hazard to life, health, or property exists or is created by an existing installation the authority having jurisdiction may require that the installation be brought into compliance with current code's requirements."

Read those two together. They are what decides arguments about existing installations, and they are new wording rather than old practice written down.

Campground, defined, SPS 316.006(1m)

The rule created a definition of campground: "a parcel or tract of land that requires a license to operate under s. ATCP 79.05 (1)."

That is a Wisconsin cross reference to an agriculture and consumer protection rule, which is the kind of detail that only appears in a state amendment and never in the national document.

EMT underground, SPS 316.358 repealed

This is the biggest single change for anybody who learned the Wisconsin rules rather than only the national ones. The rule repeals Wisconsin's prohibition on electrical metallic tubing in direct earth contact and underground applications, at SPS 316.358.

DSPS's stated reason is the updated national standard allowing galvanized steel EMT "in concrete, in direct contact with the earth, or in areas subject to severe corrosive influences where protected by corrosion protection and approved as suitable for the condition."

DSPS puts the limit in its very next sentence: "Regular EMT is not rated for underground or under concrete and therefore may not be used in contact with earth." So the repeal is not a green light for any tubing in the ground. What the national rule permits there is the galvanized steel or stainless steel product, protected and approved as suitable for the condition.

If you were trained in Wisconsin on the old rule, this is a habit to unlearn deliberately. The state specific prohibition you were taught is gone, and what governs now is the national uses permitted rule with its corrosion protection conditions.

Branch circuits, outside feeders and disconnects, SPS 316.210 to 316.230

Three items from the rule report belong together, and all three carry numbers.

• Receptacle outlets at islands and peninsulas. New requirements created. Kitchen island receptacle rules changed in the national document between these editions, and Wisconsin now has its own layer on top.
• Outside branch circuits and feeders. Regulations limiting extension to 8 feet, in SPS 316.225 territory.
• Disconnecting means. Restrictions of 30 feet maximum and within sight, in SPS 316.230 territory.

SPS 316.210, 316.220, 316.225 and 316.230 were all recreated by the rule rather than lightly amended, so read them as new sections even where the number is familiar.

The rule also maintains GFCI and AFCI exceptions similar to prior versions, which is a rare case of nothing changing.

Electric fences, SPS 316.020 to 316.023

The requirements were "simplified to say that the electric fence must be used in accordance with the exact manner and purpose of the manufacturer's instructions."

In a state with as much agricultural work as Wisconsin, that is a real simplification. A detailed rule set has become a manufacturer's instructions rule.

The section list, grouped as DSPS groups it

Created: SPS 316.002(2)(g) to (j), federal property exemptions; SPS 316.006(1e) and (1m), the authority having jurisdiction and campground definitions; SPS 316.007(3) Note, alternate standards guidance; SPS 316.012, 316.013, 316.020 and 316.230(3)(c), permit and disconnect requirements.

Amended: SPS 316.002(2)(b) and (c), utility installation exemptions; SPS 316.003(3) and (4), existing installation and repair compliance; SPS 316.005 Notes, variance procedures; SPS 316.007(1), the 2017 reference updated to 2023; SPS 316.210, 316.220 and 316.225, branch circuit and outside circuit requirements, recreated; SPS 316.230, disconnecting means, recreated; SPS 316.250, 316.300, 316.310, 316.312, 316.314, 316.334, 316.400, 316.406 and 316.450, various technical modifications.

Repealed: SPS 316.003(2); SPS 316.007(1)(am); SPS 316.230(1)(c) to (5); SPS 316.240; SPS 316.300(2)(a); SPS 316.310(1); SPS 316.314(2); SPS 316.358, the EMT restrictions; SPS 316.404; and SPS 316.511 to 316.701, various equipment standards.

The rule draft also prints its own section map, running from 316.002 at the start through 316.511 to 316.701 repealed at section 51 of the order.

What the repeals actually removed

Look at that last repeal line again, because it is the largest. SPS 316.511 through SPS 316.701 covered commercial garages, agricultural buildings, recreational vehicles and recreational vehicle parks, elevators and related equipment, electrically driven irrigation machines, swimming pools and fountains, emergency systems, and legally required standby systems.

All of those were Wisconsin amendments. Repealing them means the national text now governs those subjects here without a Wisconsin layer, which is a real simplification for anybody who works on farms, pools or standby systems.

DSPS explains the pattern as eliminating "certain provisions that have been rendered redundant due to updates to the NEC." What survives as a live Wisconsin change set after September 1, 2026 is materially shorter than what came before.

How to use this if you are sitting an exam

Until the exam moves, the questions are written to the 2017 edition, so this page is background for the paper and foreground for the work. After the exam moves, the same list is the shortest guide to what Wisconsin does differently.

Either way, print SPS 316 and put it in your binder. It is permitted in the room, it is public law, and knowing where a Wisconsin difference sits is worth more than memorising the wording of one.

Read the amendment subject index next, and the edition page before you buy a book.

Questions people ask

What changed in Wisconsin with the 2023 NEC?

Wisconsin adopted the newer national document and rewrote its own amendments. The changes DSPS documented include exceptions to emergency disconnect requirements, new permit and municipal recordkeeping rules, new island and peninsula receptacle requirements, and the repeal of the state prohibition on EMT underground.

Does Wisconsin require an outdoor emergency disconnect on houses?

The rule creates exceptions to the emergency disconnect requirements in NEC 225.41 and NEC 230.85, exempting one and two family dwellings from the exterior mandate. DSPS records cost grounds raised by the National Association of Home Builders as the reason.

Can I use EMT underground in Wisconsin now?

The state prohibition at SPS 316.358 was repealed. DSPS cites the updated national standard allowing galvanized steel EMT in concrete, in direct contact with the earth, or in areas subject to severe corrosive influences where protected by corrosion protection and approved as suitable for the condition, and it adds that regular EMT is not rated for underground or under concrete and therefore may not be used in contact with earth. Read the current rule in your own copy before you rely on it.

Do I need a permit for wiring on vacant land?

The rule clarifies that a permit is required to install electrical wiring on vacant land or in any structure, unless exempted.

What happened to the Wisconsin pool and farm amendments?

SPS 316.511 through SPS 316.701 are on the repeal list, which covers commercial garages, agricultural buildings, recreational vehicle parks, elevators, irrigation machines, swimming pools, emergency systems and legally required standby systems.

Where can I read the actual new wording?

Not online yet in codified form. The chapter text still carries the pre-update wording, and the enrolled rule text would not load for us, so we publish section numbers and subjects rather than post-update wording.

What this page cites

• DSPS report to the legislature, CR 26-016 The objective, the emergency disconnect exceptions, the permit and recordkeeping changes, the EMT repeal and the created, amended and repealed lists. source
• SPS 316 rule draft and impact analysis The strike and insert adoption line and the order's own section map. source
• SPS 316 statement of scope The objective of updating to the 2023 edition and the note that Wisconsin has adopted the code by reference since 1972. source
• SPS 316 chapter table of contents The section numbers and titles of the amendment subchapter, used here as a subject index. source
• SPS 316.007 as published The adoption section that still carries the pre-update wording, which is why we do not quote post-update section text. source
• DSPS press release, September 3, 2026 The September 1 effective date for the code change described here. source